Classroom Photos 2011-2012

 

2011-2012

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This is our writing bulletin board. Writing concepts are very important in 4th grade, so we must make it visually appealing to all!

You can also see to the right that I post a daily schedule. This is not only to keep me in check, but also for the students to know what time we are doing one thing or another. Keeps those "What do we have for specials today?" questions to a minimum!  

Like those blue and green magazine holders? I bought them at Joannes during the college "back to school" sale...

less than $3/each!

This year I have started a challenge board. Most of the time this board includes a Math problem of the day, quote of the day (something to think about), analogies, and a Wordle, also known as Plexor. What is a plexer you might ask? Well, it is a word puzzle where words are made into a picture that stands for a saying or expression. 

I have a book of them, but check out this fun website: http://www.wuzzlesandpuzzles.com/wuzzles/ I try to motivate the students to think critically! It takes a few weeks for the students to catch on, but well worth it! 

This is my classroom library and focus wall. Kids love to read when sitting in the fun chairs and using the pillows.

Here you see my technology! I won an AverMedia document camera from their monthly contest! I also won a Mimio Xi which turns my regular ole white board into an interactive board.

This is where my guided small group activities occur. As you can see I have many teacher resources which I have found best to organize in baskets. The books on the left side are picture books I use for mentor texts when teaching writing. The books on the right are teacher resource books for each subject. Students turn in their finished work in the subject labeled blue bins.

Here is our door to the classroom along with our calendar where students can see what special (P.E./Art/Music/Media) we have today and any birthdays or important dates

Our word vitamins take their home on this bulletin board. Students will learn SAT level words to build their vocabulary and begin to develop their love for words! You can see our dwarf hamster cage. Our class pet Ms. Diggs is a dwarf winter white hamster! Her coat changes color in the winter (when Florida has a winter) which is a great intro to discussing adaptations! The kids LOVE her, and are always begging to help clean her cage, watch her during vacations, and hold her! Looking for a class pet? Check out PetSmart Adoption Days! They always have hamsters or guinea pigs for adoption (very inexpensive) and they almost always come with a cage!

This is my teacher desk area. Also used for an extra computer station for students and where we can view the morning school news.   You can clearly see our posted learning goals for the day, along with our guidelines for success!! Just FYI- that is not actually a teacher desk, but just a long table just wrapped around by some black fabric I got on sale. That lamp in the corner- $1 at a garage sale!!!

This is our homework board. It has all the homework for the week up all week long! The white board is actually shower board I bought at Home Depot. You can buy a large sheet about twice the size as seen here for approximately $11. It is not as fabulous as a real white board, nor is it magnetic, but it works! This particular board was warped. I had him cut off the ruined parts and the customer service guy who cut it for me (so I can get it into my car) practically gave it to me. Just $2!