Classroom Tour Around the Kampfire

We’re a few weeks in and my room is finally coming together enough to give you all a little classroom tour. Each year I move things around a little and organize a bit more. I’ve learned not to stress myself out by trying to have everything done before the first day of school.  I’ve finally had a chance to grab a few pictures and give you all a peek into our home away from home.   My classroom decor is more a color scheme than a theme and as you can see, blue just plain makes me happy!

I made matching labels and simple, circle themed bulletin board headers to give the room a calm and consistent look.

Our guided reading table sits next to the class library at the back of the room. I’ve moved this area several times throughout the years, but this spot in the back of the room provides me with the best view of every part of the room without blind spots.  Some of our center baskets live on top of the classroom library as well as various work spaces around the room.

I keep a cloth laundry basket from Big Lots next to my reading table with all of the generic charts that I reuse each year.  I often laminate charts before using them then use Mr. Sketch markers or sticky notes to record information.  With their water base, Mr. Sketch markers wipe off cleanly with a damp paper towel, so no more smudgy charts. The label can be found in my birds in blues classroom decor set.

Our desks are arranged in color coded groups that serve as teams. Each team has a table box with team color labels to hold white boards, data folders and other materials that get used several times throughout the day. This picture was taken last year during the week of our 100th day. You can see our 100th day portraits and writing displayed on the student work wall.

During the first days of school I teach my class how to stay organized and what the expectations are. I also model what to do and where to find supplies if they need them.

Students keep individual supplies like crayons and glue sticks in their desks, while extra community supplies are stored in labeled baskets that serve as “drawers” inside a desk at the front of the room.

 

Our birthday display and daily schedule is to the left of the SMARTBoard at the front of the room. These black drawer units hold extra teacher supplies, colored paper and card stock. I use colored poster board and scrapbook paper cut to fit the sides of the drawers to hide my  supplies, cut down on clutter, and give the space a cleaner look.

I use a very simple, and easy to switch out bulletin board to display student work. To make the board I sprayed lots of clothespins at once by attaching them to the lid of an open pizza box.  I sprayed one side, then closed the lid and sprayed the other side. Easy peasy!

I then made a simple circle template and copied it on colored card stock to match my color scheme.  Using a hot glue gun, I attached the clothespins and simply stapled the completed circles to my bulletin board.

This is the word wall I use with smaller versions of my alphabet line printed two per page. I love these blue and green labels from Ladybug’s Teacher Files!

Our classroom news bulletin board is communication central, located right by the door.  It displays info for parents, volunteers, students, and admin.  Things like our weekly newsletter, lunch menus, extra copies of homework, field trip info, my class split list, and lesson plans are labeled and posted on boards like this one.

 

 

I hope you’re enjoyed this classroom tour and maybe even found some classroom decor ideas you can use.

Happy teaching!