Classroom Tour

Classroom Setup, Fourth Grade, Third Grade

It’s the start of another year, and thankfully this year I don’t have to have completely separate tables/desks spaced 6 feet apart. A year of that was PLENTY! Even though there are still spacing protocols in place, my classroom feels more like a classroom this year, and for that I am grateful.

While last year was crazy and chaotic with all of the changes yet monotonous and dull being stuck at the front of a room keeping eyes glued to a Zoom screen while trying to interact with my in-person learners, it certainly pushed me to try some new things. While there are definitely parts of last year that I am gleefully letting go of, there are a few things that I am keeping. Here are my top 3 COVID keepers:

  1. My computer cart. Last year we knew that we were going to be using more technology, and I was lucky enough to get a set of laptops just for my room. I wanted it to be organized and simple enough so that every computer would be plugged in at the end of every day. It was a lot of work, but it was totally worth it. There were a handful of days when a computer didn’t make it back to the cart in the afternoon, but I can count on one hand the number of times a computer died while I student was using it. The cart worked just the way I hoped it would and while it needed a few little updates as some tape fell off, it is still in great shape after a year!
  2. Digital Morning Check-Ins. I tried so many ways to do morning check-ins with my kids to see how they were doing and what they were reading. But last year, I put together a morning check-in form for both a social-emotional check as well as a reading log. I was surprised by how open and honest some of my students were, and it was a great way to let them express concerns, frustrations or proud moments at their own rate. The loss of a pet, a sick parent, trouble with friends, feeling like they woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and one very lengthy explanation of everything that happened on the best birthday ever were just a few of the notes my kids left for me.
  3. Math Toolkits. With COVID, the rule was no sharing materials. How on earth are you supposed to give kids the chance to use manipulatives if they can’t share!? I don’t have enough of everything for every child. Enter the math toolkits. Thanks to Mix & Math 360, I got the idea to do individual toolkits. It was a ton of laminating and cutting (and letting the little blister heal before the next batch of tools), but in the end I had a toolkit for each child. By the end of the year, there were a few things missing here and there, but it wasn’t too bad considering some of the toolkits had been sent home multiple times. I also found a few manipulatives that I felt were missing, so that became a project for the summer. The kits have been updated with number tiles and 100 bead strings.

Despite keeping these few things, I wanted an overhaul of the classroom for this year. First, because I need something different from last year, and second because I have a combined grade level class and half of my students will be with me again. I’m sure they need something different, too! So, the cute forest animals had to go and the llamas and succulents are here.

Each teacher at my school has a flag over their door. I finally took down the owls and replaced them with llamas and succulents.
The llamas are a little hard to see, but I like using window crayons to decorate my windows. Once the year gets going, the welcome windows will be changed to motivational quotes. Another of my windows simply says “Be Kind” to start our year.
My new succulent motivational posters (hung directly on top of the other ones for easy changing next year!) You can find them in my TpT store if they’ll work for your classroom, too./
One of my classroom doors.
These hang outside my classroom doors.
Last year my classroom library shelves were all in front of my tables, scattered around the room in order to save space and keep everyone 6 feet apart. This year I can’t go back to my traditional reading corner, but at least my shelves are all in a row. I also went through every book and made sure my Booksource library was up to date. Each book now has a location on the shelf AND in my database.
As we begin the year, we will talk about books in different genres and create our genre board (the set of posters I use is on TpT). I also have bookmarks for each genre. As a student finishes a book, they fill out a bookmark for that book
Their bookmarks will go into these cups. They can also cross off a number on their chart to track how many books they’ve finished. The colored bookmarks are a good visual as to which genres they are reading. Generally, there are a lot of dark pink bookmarks (yep, graphic novels), and it helps to give them a nudge to try again other genres and get other colors in their cups.
One of my TpT purchases was a bulletin board of different types of punctuation. I’ve decided to turn it into a hunt to see if we can find all of the different types in our reading. I wonder how long it will take them?
My anchor chart wall. I do have some charts that we make as a class, but this space is for references that the students (or I) might need. Some of these charts end up in their reference binder so they have a copy at their seat (proofreading marks or revising vs. editing for example). They are all hanging on a curtain rod/double-sided shower hooks which are held on the wall with velcro command hooks. I also have the hand signals on my TpT page.
Quote of the day (or week?) Whenever I feel like we need a boost, I pull out a new quote. It might be related to academics, friendship, perseverence, fairness, or just a happy quote!
These are my current table setups now that I can have two students at one table again! Each student has a mini chart (which includes all of their passwords), a math toolkit, and all of their supplies. The baskets will get much more crowded once their folders and books arrive!
A few pictures of the overall room.

And there it is. A getting-back-to-normalish classroom after a year of chaos! I hope everyone has a great year!