Current Year's Classroom Decorations

I always get such nice compliments about my classroom decorations when another teacher comes in my room. So I am decided to share some pictures/labels of my current classroom. My current classroom has a Chevron theme but, I think that I am going to change it to watercolors next year. Still undecided.

When students walk into my room: 

• Students pick up any papers that I have laid out in the bins on the bookshelf.
• If they were absent, they look in the absent work folder and find their class period with their missing work (It takes me less than 10 minutes at the end of each day to staple all student's absent work and stick them in their class period).
• If students are missing assignments, then they look in the extra papers folder for their missing work (I have extra papers separated by notes, assignments, homework, and review).
• I picked up the bookshelf from Walmart for $10 and the bins at Target. I put moroccan shelf liner (couldn't find chevron) on the back of the book shelf. 

Once they pick up their handouts, they grab their INB from their class period crate (if they left it in the basket). I picked up these crates at Walmart for $2 (back to school sale). 

Students Desks and Materials:

• On most days, I have students arranged into groups of 4 with a supply bin and trash bucket on their desk (the trash bucket is SO helpful in keeping my room clean). I have a person from each group empty it out the last 2 minutes of class. 
• I picked up the supply bins from Walmart and the trash buckets at the dollar store. I'm going to replace the trash buckets over the summer since several buckets have cracked.
• Materials in the supply bin varies on the activity that we are doing for the day but EVERYDAY students have highlighters and calculators.

Classroom Board

• We're required to write the objective and essential questions on our board everyday. We don't have to do it by week but, I like to front-load students with our agenda for the upcoming week. If I forget to write on my board, students are QUICK to ask me "what are we doing today?"
• I have a TOC and WWK section for those who are tardy the beginning of the class period. I like to do math dates (courtesy of Sarah Carter :))

Classroom Organization:

• Students turn work into these trays according to their class period. Any papers that are in here are papers that need to be graded.

• Once I grade the papers and put them in the grade-book, I stick them in the wire baskets on my bookshelf according to class periods. It helps remind me to pass back these papers.  I bought the wire baskets from Target.

• I have a bookshelf in the back of my classroom that I never used for the previous 2 years. This year, I decided to buy the blue bins for a dollar at the dollar store and  put the copies that I will be using in the "designated day" spot. This system has helped me with organization and with what handouts I still need to make copies of and what days I have not yet planned for. 

Miscellaneous Classroom Decorations:

• I put all of my extra supplies in the following storage container (labeled of course) just in case a group runs out of supplies. Students know exactly where to find new supplies without asking me or interrupting the lesson. 

• My Geometry word wall that I try to keep updated throughout the year. You can find those classroom posters when you click here

• A picture of my filing cabinet that I also put shelf liner on :) and on top of that, a printer that I use when our workroom printer runs out of ink (received for free from a fellow math teacher).

• Below is something new this year that students actually came up with. The previous 2 years I have put important documents or posters on the black sheet. However, this year it all started with one sticky note that a student wrote and stuck up there. The black is a small bed sheet that I stapled up there and covered up the edges with that chevron border. I love this because on the worst days, I can be reminded that I do make a difference and that I am appreciated by some. :)

• My "no name" papers door that I share with my next door teacher neighbor. The posters are from Sarah Rubin at everybodyisagenius.blogspot.com. You should check out her blog, her classroom posters are amazing!

• My exit ticket door that I will be using more of next year. I like to post it on the back of the door because when students open it, they can stick it into any folder without their peers looking and they are more honest about their level of understanding. I saw the concept on Pinterest and I loved it. You can find the exit slips when you click here

• My fancy chevron calculator labels that I stick on the back of my calculators. My calculators are always returned to me if a student leaves it out in the hallways after one of our class activities. :)

You can find the following labels here:

• Classroom Labels

*I included my chevron calculator labels and desk numbers in it as well :)