Finally a Classroom Reveal!

Remember that list I made for summer? The one that said I'd try my best to just enjoy my time away from school, spend my summer with my girls at the pool, and not work? I did it!

             This was the day we arrived at the beach for our summer vacation. We stopped in Calabash (you've heard of the shrimp, right?) for lunch before we even got to the house, but then it was straight to the surf!

The awesome thing about living where we do is, we can be at the mountains in an hour or so and at the beach in about three. We went to both several times this summer! We also love spending time at my parents' lake house, just 30 minutes from home! The girls climbed up Caesar's Head Mountain one afternoon and sat on this huge boulder, surrounded by rhododendrons and azaleas.

Life just wouldn't be southern if ya didn't have some tractor shots from summer! Honestly, we took these at the Biltmore Estate on Callie's birthday. We really don't have a tractor, or enough land to need one, but they looked so cute up on that big ole thing I couldn't resist!

My mom found these belly tats, and everyone had
one on Labor Day weekend...aren't they hilarious?

I promised a classroom reveal, so here it is...I just wanted you to know that I really did take the summer off, not just from school, but from blogging, Teacher Pay Teacher-ing, and anything having to do with work, at all. It was a first!

                                   




I rearranged this year, because, for the first time EVER, I got a classroom rug! It is so stinkin' cute I can hardly stand it! I found it at www.KidsCarpet.com for less than $300, and it's 12x8 and beautiful! My friend Jen made me the adorable pencil, and I painted my name on it with a paint pen. It might be my new favorite thing. But, maybe it's my classroom library, because, for the first time ever, it's all leveled! Woot! Woot! Student teacher to the rescue! She worked for one afternoon straight and found every single book I have on Lexile.com or Scholastic and leveled every single one. Next, she's going to type all the titles in Accelerated Reader to see which ones have tests available. LOVE!

 My small group area is better than ever this year - same table, same stools, same teacher chair, but I moved it to a weird corner in the room, and I love it there! I can see everybody everywhere, and keep and eye on them during their station work. I know they should be accountable for themselves, but, let's face it, seven-year-olds still need a little extrinsic motivation (read: the raised eyebrow) once in a while.

 
I'm loving my chalkboard themed alphabet, CAFE board, and number line! You can find them here. They are a great reference for the kiddos to use. I never realized how confused my kiddos were by my word wall, until one of my princesses was saying the alphabet wrong, because she was looking at the word wall. There's no room in my little class for a straight-across-a-wall kind of word wall, so it's on cabinet doors. Wherever a letter's words happen to end, a new letter begins, and sometimes that looks like the alphabet's all out of order, so I love the pennant banner alphabet I made this year! The number line has been a lifesaver, as well, because my littles can't quite read all those number words, and my number line includes the words, tens frames, and numerals - it's great!

 

Here's that fabulous rug, y'all! Isn't it cute? My kiddos have all kinds of room, it's all clean and bright, and it totally keeps my pink and orange thing going, but brings in the blue for the boys.

I do have to say that the very best thing about my room this year is my class! They are the best I've had in years! So sweet, so good, and trying so hard! I'm still teaching that little group of twelve, but they're in a special program, sort of like a transition class between first and second grades. They're behind in reading and math, so that's all I teach, but, y'all, they are working so hard I know they'll be all caught up by the end of the year, and ready for third grade!

Now that I'm back in the swing, I'll keep you up-to-date on all our learning...promise!

XOXO,

Brooke