A Walking Tour of My Classroom

What my class looks like if you walk in and turn to the right.

The view from the doorway into my classroom.  The window looks out on to the Wyoming Range! Great sunset views!

My word wall.  I add each student's name under the letter that their first name begins with.  We also add each of the 60 kindergarten sight words as they are introduced.

The first thing you see to your left when you walk into my classroom.  It has all of the information that I need on a daily basis.  The students use the mirror all the time to check out what they look like!  We use the Lego Word Walls during literacy centers.  The frame contains my National Board Certification certificate!  It is something that I am very proud of and brings a smile to my face every day.  The students "sign in" on this table every day.  Eventually, my computer center will be there as well. 

After taking a graduate class this summer, I learned that my classroom may not have been as kid friendly as I once thought.  The research showed that if a teacher used calming colors like blues, greens, or purples rather than reds, oranges, and yellows, students were more apt to focus on learning in a classroom.  I decided to choose lime green and black:  lime green because I liked it and it was a calming color and black because it coordinated.  In August when I was setting up my classroom, I invested in a lot of spray paint and changed the color on many of my items from red, orange, yellow and blue to black and green.  If you were to walk into my classroom tomorrow, you would notice that I changed as much as possible.  It's amazing the effect it has had on many of my students as well as myself.  I personally notice the items in my room less and spend more time focusing on the task at hand. The students in my class are a lot more focused and calm this year as well.  Here are a few pictures I took of my classroom right before open house in August of 2012.