I am linking up with Ashley and Angie for July's Together We Are Better Linky!
I am getting in on this Linky a little late, but it is still July :)
I am starting a new grade at a new school this year, so I will have lots of classroom improvements or things I am debating on changing. I am going from teaching Kindergarten to First Grade.
I start preplanning July 27th. The first time I've been up to my school (after waiting on the floors to be cleaned) was yesterday morning and then again this morning. I really wish I would've taken more photos, but here is what I am starting with.
One thing I am changing is my theme that I have had for about 4 years in kindergarten, I've always had an ocean theme. This year I am planning to combine a monster theme and just an overall black clean look.
For example:
On my behavior board, instead of ships moving towards a treasure box on a bulletin board. I've come up with the idea of using small monster magnets on my white board. This will take up a lot less space, but serve the same purpose.
I've explained in more detail how this behavior board will work HERE.
I also bought Monster themed calendar set from KinderCraze aka Maria
I liked her Black Series so much that I bought the shapes, numbers with ten frames, number line and word wall letters.
I created and am planning to use an Alphabet, Color Words and Library Labels that have REAL PHOTOS. I feel this will make my classroom visually appealing and have students build their vocabulary with real life pictures.
Alphabet Posters HERE
Color Word Posters HERE
Library Labels HERE
All in all, these posters will make my room look completely different than my old Ocean Theme and Lakeshore Learning Alphabet and Numbers. I think I am going to love it!
I've realized that being in a new classroom, you learn really quick to repurpose things. In my old classroom the dimensions and set up was totally different. So, I have curtains that fit perfectly over there and are not going to work in this classroom. Luckily, I figured out I can velcro them to this shelf and use it to cover the items I store underneath this shelf area!
Also, here are some curtains I also already had, and I am planning on hemming them and using them here to "hid" book bags after students hang them up each day. This will be new for me, because I used to have cubbies that kids put their book bags in.
One thing I am currently debating on is GROUPS!
Why is it so hard to decide how many groups to have and how many students are in each group. I had my husband at the school today and we rearranged the desks about a million times and I am still not completely satisfied. I don't know how many students I will have, but I am setting my classroom up with 24 desks.
Also, can't decide if I should number the groups, color code the groups or as I saw on instagram today by Polka Dots Please she uses VOWELS to label her groups. She will call our group E or say the sound for E. How neat!!....but then I could only have 5 groups and I just set up 6 groups of 4......
decisions...decisions.....
Thanks for listening and be sure to check everyone else's blog post about Classroom Improvements HERE!
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