classroom pictures.... FINALLY!

I’m amazed at the amount of blogs that I have been reading where the students are starting this week! I can’t imagine starting this early – we never start until after Labor Day… this year I go in the Thursday before for our Superintendent’s Conference Day, have the long weekend, and start with kids the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Anyway, I have taken a few whole days to sort out my classroom and transform it from a 2nd grade room to a 3rd grade room. I was lucky to be able to stay in my room, since I begged not to have to move only one door down the hall to the newly empty 3rd grade room - I HATE budget cuts, and knowing that I am taking over a friend’s classroom and that she is now out of a job :(

The days I have spent in the school, I have gone through the 3rd grade room and taken out the things that I will need. I kept all my 2nd grade materials, since it isn’t that far off. Needless to say, with the extra materials and more students (this year I’ll have 23 compared to last year’s 16), my room is crowded! I can’t walk in a straight line to get to anything! My room is so tiny compared to the wonderfully huge ones I have been seeing here in Blog Land.

I am posting some of my photos of the work in progress. There are still a lot of little things that need to be taken care of, that add up to a lot more time! I will be going in again tomorrow, but a friend will also be in her room across the hall, so I may do more talking than working! J You see, the two of us are still bitter that after being the closest of teammates and doing everything together last year, we were separated when I was moved to 3rd. But, at least I’m not going far.

Enough talk… here are the pics!

This first one is the view from the door. Can we say cluttered?!?! Anyway, you can see my reading table. Next to that is my meeting area with the rug – used a lot in 2nd grade, and I still plan to use it in 3rd! My desk is in the back corner in front of my cupboards. You can see my vast seas of desks – 4 sets of 6. I only have 23 students as of right now, but last year got 2 new students on the very first day of school! Not the phone call you want to get from your principal while you’re in the middle of taking attendance!




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This is the back wall. Two computers sit on the counter, 2 more are on a computer table behind the centers pocket chart. I kept my word wall from last year, and will make it more grown up and 3rd grade by making it a Wonderful Words wall – we will add words when we hear interesting words in any of our readings, and then there they are for easy reference to spice up our own writing! Along the back counter are small white supply drawers and bins to sort their finished work by subject. You can also see several center tables just waiting to be filled with materials! The pile mess on the back set of desks is all the posters I still have yet to hang.




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Front corner of the room – you can see the reading table and student mail center – this is where I put graded papers, and they are emptied on Fridays only. You can also see my SMART Board – the best addition to my classroom! I’ve taught with it for 2 years, and don’t know what I did the 3 years before that! The rolled up screen above it sits lonely remembering the days of my overhead use (I finally just got rid of the overhead this summer!).



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My reading materials shelf. This has all my reference materials, as well as my bins for small groups. They keep me organized, and when I call a group to the table they grab their bin and we have all the right supplies rightthere! On the counter are more things that need to be hung up!




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One of my centers. The bulletin boards on either side were just made – in our school we have to have our ELA skills and strategies for each week posted for the students. This wall is actually the back of the cubbies and along the top I have my 2nd and 3rd grade EOR (elements of reading) kits for comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency.




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These are my cubbies, which are to the right when you walk in the room. They may seem like a good thing to have in the classroom, but I hate them! They take up too much room and too many students go there during the day to get something they absolutely MUST have! Along the top are my theme bins – these are holiday bins and also center themes. The small cupboards have my Shutterbug books for both 2nd and 3rd grades. The door is our classroom bathroom, and on it is my Text Talk list. This is from last year (but having the same kids this coming year I wanted to keep it up to keep referencing. Text talk words are interesting words we hear in read-alouds. We write them down, discuss, and try to use in our speaking and writing. I am thinking of making these words the first additions to the word wall.



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Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy post! I hope you saw some things you liked! I am so OCD that it was hard for me to post these, knowing things are not finished yet! :)

For more fun, head on over to TBA for more classroom photos! Click the pic below to join their party!

Laura