Ready Made Classroom. Just add kids.
Ahhh....a clean desk! Is there anything better? Well beautiful desk-See you in June! Lord knows it won't stay like that long!
Hi everyone! I have been super busy out at school this past week getting the classroom ready for the 24 little souls that will make their way to my room on Tuesday morning. With some help from my dear friend, and original K teaching partner, Lauren (shout out to Mighty Mac!), we finished up the last few things to be ready for day one and I'm so excited to share the classroom with you here today! Plus, if you are a new parent of mine and have read the paperwork that has come home thus far, you'll get a sneak peek of the classroom before you come with your child on Tuesday. High five to you for checking out the website ahead of time!
Welcome to the room! Today's post will take you through some features of the classroom and give you a little information on how we use our space!
The first stop each morning is your locker. Here, you'll store your normal school
needs...backpack....jacket....iguana...you know. The normal stuff Kindergarten kids might bring.
(In all fairness, iguanas are not common Kindergarten supplies.
But once I DID have a child tell me 1/2 way through the day that they brought a bug collection in and that it was in their backpack. I also once had a child bring in a butterfly in a chrysalis. That was very cool. Kids never cease to amaze me...)
Once they've carefully hidden the iguana in their locker, your student will come into the room with their
lunch/snack and folder. They will place their snack and folder in a bin by the door and then move over to make their lunch choice. Students move a clothespin over to mark their lunch choice. Can I get an "AMEN" for clothespin use to strengthen fine motor skills? AMEN!
Next classroom feature....CUBBIES! With little goodies inside for the first day.
This year I have more students than my cubbies have room for, so there is cubby overflow in the white bins in the art space. My art supply cabinet got a facelift this year with some chalkboard vinyl
my momma shared with me.
Thanks mom!
I'll keep a much better eye on upcoming art projects this year! Plus, I love a place for me to doodle some chalk art. It soothes the soul...
Ok. Back to the classroom.
The job chart near our writing area shows our students weekly jobs. Last year I made the new job chart hanging in the room. This year because I have more students, I added more jobs. The classroom jobs this year are: line leader, caboose, lights, door keep, lunch, office, mailman, clips, materials, calendar, weather, inspector, hall monitor, librarian, recycling, and mole patrol!
Some of these jobs are self-explanatory but some others require a little more information.
The student in charge of clips moves the lunch choices back to "home" at the end of the day. The materials manager is in charge of checking tables to make sure there are 4 erasers, 4 glue sticks, and 2-3 nicely sharpened pencils for each child at the desk. If not-they replenish from the materials space.
The Inspector is always called on to check the room after a choice time clean up to see if things were properly returned. The inspector can also be called on to check the room if it needs to be picked up before recess.
The Librarians keep our book shelves organized and tidy, but also carry library books down to be checked in on library day.
The recycling person makes sure that only paper is placed in the recycling bin and also makes sure it's ready for pick up in the hallway on Fridays.
And one of my favorites! MOLE PATROL! This consists of a team of 4 students that "burrow" (crawl) around and under desks to see if our students were respectful in cleaning up their space during the day. Pieces of paper, crayon wrappers, trash, anything that is littering our classroom the mole patrol alerts the table back to clean up before they can leave for final recess. I LOVE this job, and the kids always think it's a whole lot of fun to be on the MOLE PATROL!
While we're near the job chart....isn't this reading area the cutest?? If I were mini-sized I would absolutely want to curl up and read in this space!
Again-THANKS MOM for helping me with pillows and seat covers. I thank you to my dad for the groovy peace sign pillow-the kids love it :) Parents are the best.
Behind the reading area are the kids computers, and there is also a bulletin board with our behavior chart on it. The behavior chart is what we call an "extended stop sign" because it's not just as simple as "green=good, yellow=warning, red=consequence." What about all those kids that are better than good? That are leaders! That are winning at the day!?
What about them? Well. In our room those are either students who are "taking the lead" or "purrfect panthers." If your student moves up to "purrfect panther" they will come home with a nifty difty little purple square that says they were on purple today, and they also earn a sticker on a chart. Every 10 stickers your child will earn a reward for their behavior choices. Hooray for positive reinforcement!
Oh-and the "beAWESOME" sign is new this year-channeling the tagline of the adorable Kid President. If you don't know him, you should.
Here's his website: Kid President and if this picture ----------------------------> doesn't make you want to listen to what he says, I don't know what will!
Ok. Here are some other pictures from around the room that don't need a whole lot of 'splainin' (ala Ricky Ricardo).
Alright. I'm off to dinner with the husband for a little quality time before he and I both start school again and life gets crazy. So, get some good sleep tonight, pick out your clothes before bed, pack your lunch, and set the alarm. SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION! See you soon, little ones! Another year with my Magnificent Kinder Kids!
