Lyndsey's Classroom Reveal

Welcome to my room!! 

       We have been in school for a little over a month now and I have had time to get things in order, or get them messy, whichever way you want to see it. I do not have an overall theme, but rather a wonderful color scheme (pink, green, and zebra with a little polka dots thrown in!) It makes me happy every day I come to school. This is my 6th year in this room and I think I almost have it perfect (that is until next summer when I come up with new changes). I hope you enjoy the tour. . .

      This is my welcome bulletin board for this year! I saw it on Pinterest and since I love ALL things Apple I just had to make it myself! The students names were written in the screen part of the iPod (and yes, I know that this looks like and OLD iPod, but the kids still knew what it was).

     Here is the view from the front door of my "learning cabana". Every year I struggle with the seating arrangement because I can't find the one I like best. I saw another teacher at our school use the Chevron set up so I thought I would try it. I love it so far!  Each student also has a chair pocket that my mother and I made three years ago. They have held up well and are now called the "Book Pockets".

And the view from my back door!

My Whole Brain Teaching Rules!!

     After multiple years of watching others do whole brain through YouTube I am now doing it in my own classroom (thank you Susan for giving me the push!). This board shows the Whole Brain rules which we recite every day and the kids have a blast. The rule posters came from Teacher Pay Teacher (sorry I cannot remember the source). If you have never seen Whole Brain teaching in action take the time to look it up. It is a fantastic way to keep your students engaged and incorporate multiple learning styles.

     Above the board are my voice level signs. I use the number system to manage the voice level in my classroom during different activities. These signs are available for FREE on TPT.

Classroom Library

I have worked for 5 years to build this library and am quite proud of the turn out. The books are organized in baskets according to genre (mystery, historical fiction, fantasy, etc.), author, series, and by Lexile levels. I also keep bean bags and pillows so students can be comfy while they read.

     This is my check-out system. (Again another Pinterest find! What would we do without it?) Each pocket is labeled with a name. The student signs the card from the book they check out and place it in their pocket until they return the book. This allows me to see who has books and to make sure they are reading books appropriate for their level.

Another comfy area for students to read and work on individual work.

As teachers we must use ALL available space. This is my daily schedule. I glued it on the side of a file cabinet that holds my laptop. The subjects and times are changed daily with Velcro on the back.

     Twitter is now my "ticket out the door". Each box is labeled with a number. When we complete tickets on post-its the students put it in the box that corresponds with their class number. This way I know who has and who has not completed their tickets. Finding time to complete these can be tricky so this year I am implementing "Twitter Tuesdays". Each Tuesday the students will complete a ticket out the door based on a prompt given by me.

Time to Write . . .

     Here are pictures of our writing center. The board is above the desk and shows students examples of things they can write. I still have a couple of examples to add, but am waiting for some student work. The desk was acquired last year. It was my very first project from Donor's Choose. We were super excited to receive it and the students cannot get enough of it. It holds class journals, note pads, greeting cards, and writing centers. 

Classroom clock labeled with the minutes!

Math wall where students can go to find key words, order of operations, properties, place value and more. I love having all my math terms in one spot so students know exactly where to look when they have a problem.

     Last year I got rid of my teacher desk to make room for more student computers and to give the kids more room to move around in the classroom. This became my desk and guided reading table. (Sometimes is hard to tell when papers are all over it!!) I found these dry erase wall circles at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and put them on my table. Very easy to apply and work well. This allows me to save paper and have students write without having to bring their white boards with them. Also, they enjoy it because it is just like writing on the table :0! I also bought stools from Ikea to keep at the table. They stack nicely and slide under the table too!

     Each week my students are responsible for jobs in the classroom. This board behind my desk is the "Job Spot" and students names are placed under the job they have for the week. (These jobs will be placed on TPT soon!) The bar underneath the jobs is from Ikea and I LOVE IT!! I have two in the classroom. It is fantastic to hold pens, pencils, scissors, highlighters, etc.

     At the front of my room (by the Smart Board) I made this large bulletin board. I call it my "Objective Board". The objectives for each subject are written on dry erase sentence strips in "I can" or "I know" statements for the students. The calendar is here as well as weekly vocabulary and reading groups. It is an excellent resource and I thoroughly enjoy using it.

     This is one of my favorite parts of my room (and it is so little, but pretty!!) I have had a love/hate relationship with the pencil sharpener for years but no solution. So, when I saw this idea from another teacher last year I knew I had to try it. I bought an acrylic straw dispenser at Amazon.com (I read blogs saying the plastic was better than the metal ones). I found some of my unused scrapbook paper and decorated the inside. Added some sparkles and now have a fun pencil dispenser!! Students leave the dull pencil and spin the handle for a new sharpened one. NO more sharpener noise (until the end of the day, that is a job we have). Now if anyone can tell me how to make sure the students LEAVE a pencil before they take one . . .

     Well, that is it for now. I hope you enjoyed the tour of my 3rd grade classroom. I know I enjoy peeking into everyone else's rooms!