Classroom Theme: Finally Decorating! ( Setup Day 8)

Decorating my classroom makes me happy.  :)

On Sunday I did a little shopping, just to pick up some shoe boxes for my math manipulatives.  In the past I went with white lids, which are fine, but this time I found teal which goes with my color scheme so I couldn't resist.

The shelf is nearly finished in terms of organization!  Isn't it amazing how much more space can be utilized with just $10 worth of bins?

Oh, and just an aside, readers.  Are you familiar with Cuisinaire rods?  Not base ten blocks, (although the orange one totally looks like the base ten rod.  And I believe it represents ten).  I mean the color coded rods from the fifties.  I seem to have lots of those and the second grade teacher had never seen them before.  Does anyone use them anymore?

This weekend I worked on a little craft project for my classroom.  Think of it as not quite working during my vacation (if I wanted to do that I could look at new curriculum) but not quite taking a break from school stuff either.

I found a heavy duty set of mailboxes for my room at a discount, so I didn't have a choice in color.  The frame itself is an inoffensive light grey, which is fine.  However the shelves themselves were particle board colored.  So I covered them with wrapping paper!  I sealed the edged with washi tape, which was a bit of a waste since the black strips cover that part.  But still, it makes the front of my room more attractive, yay.

The last thing I worked on was the backgrounds for my bulletin boards.  These seem to be hung higher than in my old classroom, so I had some trouble reaching.  :/  I'll have to stand on student desks to finish the corner near my metal cabinet.  I started but did not quite finish the ones in the back of the room.

In the meantime, my husband numbered every single Fundations letter board, pouch, and letter tile (yes, every single one).  So say Aaron has board number 1.  The back of all his letter tiles has a 1 on it.  If someone says, "I found the letter m laying on the floor," I can check the back, look up who has number 1, and give it to Aaron to put away.  Likewise, if Billy with number 2 has lost his letter w and tells me Carly took his, and upon inspection Carly has a w with a 2 on the back, we know who to give the w to.  Would I have bothered with this in fourth grade?  Not a chance.  However, I figure in first grade the kids need more help staying organized, need supplies that are more clearly labeled, and need safeguards to make things more fair.  So glad I have a helper this summer, because it took him nearly the whole 3 and a half hours.  It's a good thing there's an ice cream shop on the way home.  :) 

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