ToMoRrOw's the BiG dAy!!!

Saying good-bye to summer, tomorrow is the first official day of my school year.  (YIKES!!)

Here is some of the things I have been working on in my classroom:

(You will notice my star theme throughout the room.)

I took down most of my bulletin boards last year and redid them.  This one I use for all my calendar items so I like it extra large.  However, I do NOT like the line between the two pieces of butcher paper so I decided to try something new.  I saw on Pintrest (http://anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-i-decorated-my-classroom-for-under.html) how another teacher put scrunched up paper around there bulletin boards and I thought why not try to cover up the line in the same way.  All you do is cut strips, ball them up and them un-ball them into the shape you want to staple them to the wall.    

I LOVE how it turned out! I put all the the material I never move at the top of the bulletin board (colors & months of the year) and then all the materials I have the students manipulate during calendar at the bottom.  I still need to add my "number of the day" section to the very left (I just got done cutting out all the rest of my lamination today so it will be ready to put up in the morning).  

Next I re-did my student work wall.  I used clothes-pins with tacks on the back to hang my students work.

Also I painted the back of a bookshelf and added hooks.  The bags you see are what I use to put some of my center games in.  This way the students just have to grab the bag with the activity in it they are suppose to do and go to their designated spot.  I am going to use the side of the filing cabinet as a magnet board (more pictures to come on that center).

I also have these lovely new sharpened/unsharpened pencil labels.  Thanks again my Pintrest-teachers.  I found these at http://peacelovelearning.blogspot.com/2011/08/getting-crafty.html.

 Here is my reading area--minus a rug. I still have not found one I love to replace my old one that my husband said was too germy after 3 years to salvage.  

On the far left is the rest of my calendar corner (I have the kiddos put the number of the month up each day and the day it was yesterday, today, and will be tomorrow).  The big blue bulletin board is my word-wall with a table underneath for my sight-word center.  

On the far left is where my kiddos hang there backpacks and all their cubbies are located.  I use my "super star" wall for stickers the kiddos can collect for positive behavior, turning in homework and/or other important papers they take home to get signed.  Every 5 stickers they earn the kiddos get to pick a treat from the treasure box.

Here is the sign I am going to use for my Whole-Brain Teaching "score-board".  When I see that they are all on tasks and following the rules I am going to say "Wow" and they are going to respond "Ooh Yeah!" and when they are not I will say "Uh-Oh" and they will respond "Ooh No!".  Every day they get more "wow's" then "uh-oh's" they will get the next letter in the saying they are trying to earn (I think the first one I am going to have them try for is "Wow, popsicles here we come" to earn a popsicle party). If you have not heard about Whole-Brain teaching google it or youtube it immediately.  I am excited to start this new teaching tool!   

This is the wall I am going to use for Anchor Charts.  I am a huge believer in anchor charts and will blog more about them as they start to go up.  At the table below I have my listening center and my computer center.  

I forgot to take a picture of my desk/small center table.  I'll try to get one up soon. 

Here is also what my tables looked like for "Meet the Teacher":

This is what was waiting for everyone when they walked in:

The parents signed in and told me how their kiddo was getting home on the first day of school and then they got to do a "treasure hunt" with their little one to find different places in the classroom. 

My fellow teacher Kristen (http://idowedoyoudo.blogspot.com/) got this lovely gem from http://littlekinderwarriors.blogspot.com/.  The kiddos LOVED it and it made the night more fun and smooth for everyone!!

Good luck everyone on your first day.  I am starting this year with high numbers (over 25-eek!).  Let you know soon how the first week goes!

Happy Teaching!

Special thanks to my amazing husband who helped me make all my bulletin boards perfectly straight. I could not have done them without you!!

He needed a nap by the end just like my kinders do at the end of their first day! ;)