Classroom Tour

Now that school has started I was able to get a few pictures of my classroom for the 2014-2015 school year. I honestly didn't change very much from the previous year. When you find something that works, why change it, right?

This year teach Deaf/Hard of Hearing students in grades 2-6 in a Special Day Class.  Students come and go throughout the day depending on their needs. I try and mainstream my Deaf/Hard of Hearing students into the general education classrooms with a sign language interpreter when possible. Most of my students are with me for Language Arts. My students are pulled out for speech/language services a few times a week. I have 7 students this year. 

Welcome to my classroom!

The view as you walk into the classroom.

Our new science area including science tools posters.

Our scientific method posters and science lab coats.

Junior Scientist lab coats I made for the kids to wear during science experiments. I bought them at the Goodwill, cut off the long sleeves and then used my sewing machine to sew "Junior Scientist" on each shirt.

My "command central" area near my teacher desk. Paperwork is much easier to find now that I have this AWESOME black file holder from Scholastic. On top I have my student progress binders where I keep data and work samples for each student.

Student computers for Typing and Fairview activities.

Laptop storage and check out chart for our Tech Friday activities.

Our classroom library area.

New birthday box and sign for student birthdays. They get to pick a prize and keep the sign on their desk all day.

Each month will feature a new author on the library table.

Comfy futon and pillows for silent reading time.

iPad storage and library boxes. All of my books are leveled by reading level and then subject for the non-fiction books.

The view from the library to the front of the classroom. Including my clean (for now) desk.

The back wall has a word wall. (I realized I didn't get a picture of it.) New this year is our little Writing Center.  Yes, that's another black mini pocket chart from Scholastic. I am in love!

Leveled Guided Reading books.

Front teaching area. This includes our Fairview materials and centers under the tv.

Fairview Learning binders and book boxes on the top shelf. Student reading vocabulary boxes on the left, bottom. White baskets contain our centers for our Fairview Learning rotations.

Our calendar area. Schedules for speech and PE. Behavior clip chart and student job chart.

Classroom Economy system. Students earn money and can visit the class store each Friday.

View from the front of the classroom looking towards the door.

I hope you enjoyed a little view into my classroom as we start the 2014-2015 school year.

Five For Friday- August 30th

Okay, it's Saturday but I didn't want to miss out on Five for Friday. I've been MIA for too long and it's time to hop back into blogging. It's been a whirlwind this week. It was our first full week back. AND we had Back to School Night on Thursday! We've never had it this early and I was already exhausted from the full week back! But I survived... and here I am! Here's a quick look at a few things from my week:

We started our Fairview Learning rotations on Monday. The students rotate through Guided Reading, Guided Writing, Adapted Dolch words, Bridging, Phonics (for some) and Language (for others), and centers. We have three new kinders this year that are learning how to read their schedules and rotate during this time. I am very excited about using our new Adapted Dolch Word Interactive Notebooks this year.

 

 I finally took pictures of my classroom for a little class tour. I'll post those tomorrow.

Friday's are our fun Science and Tech days. We broke out the Junior Scientist lab coats I made for the kids and learned about our first Science tool.  The kids LOVED IT! Some how wearing a lab coat makes you think more like a scientist.

We set up the laptops for the first time Friday afternoon and reviewed opening a Word Doc and saving. They did a little typing practice by typing our dog vocabulary words. We're reading a few Henry and Mudge books for our first Literature unit but I didn't get any pictures of those activities.  These guys take our tech time seriously, which is nice.

YES!! I am so looking forward to the long three day weekend! Getting back into the work routine has kicked my bum! So the extra day off is much appreciated!

Have a good weekend everyone! Come back tomorrow for a little classroom tour!

Monday Made It- August 4th

This week was all about getting organized at home and in the classroom. On Monday a co-worker and I emptied and went through our program's shed. We're getting a replacement shed so everything had to be cleaned out. Thank goodness neither one of us are pack rats. We are serious purgers. 

I was able to get two little projects done before our family headed off for vacation. I'm sitting in a cabin in Lake Tahoe in front of the fire while it rains outside. I shouldn't complain about the rain, because we seriously need it in California. But that means we had to scrap our fun plans for today. Geesh weather. You need to cooperate!

First up, these super simple magnets for the white board. I found out that paint pens and I do not get along. I wasn't too happy about how the lettering turned out. I found the little clothes pins at Michael's. They were already painted black and I added the magnets on the back and words to help keep us organized at school. Super easy.

I was very excited when I found these cute little picture frames at Michael's for 70% off plus my educator discount. They ended up being about $1 a piece. Perfect for our back wall that you see right away when you walk into the classroom. I spray painted them black and used my beloved (not) paint pen to add some detail to the frames. Right now I have everyone's names inside of the 5x7 frames. I'll take pictures of all the students and staff the first week of school and add them to the frames. I used some Command poster strips to adhere them to the wall so they are easy to remove.

School starts soon for us so it's time to kick it into high gear.  But this week I am on vacation... so it's gonna have to wait. But my shopping over on TpT will not wait. I filled my cart with lots of goodies I know I'm going to use this school year. My entire store is on sale today and tomorrow. Happy Shopping!