Saturday, July 20, 2013

Back to School 2013

Wow, I really can't believe that school starts on Monday - the start of my 10th year of teaching! This past week was filled with inducting our new teammates, a couple of short meetings, some good PD on RTI and co-teaching, lot's of prep, and meet-the-teacher night!

I'm kind of proud of this sign I made to hang in my window. The lighting wasn't ideal, but it says: Orange you glad to be in 5th grade!


I made a few changes to my classroom. You'll notice something a bit different about my tables. If you were following me last year I posted about putting contact paper on my tables. The main reason I did this was so that my tables would match; I had a few different styles of tables, and the contact paper gave it a cleaner, more cohesive look. As I was removing the contact paper from last year the custodian came in and said that one of our teachers was switching from tables to desks and could get me MATCHING tables! I was thrilled. I was even more thrilled that none of them were loose and creaky (this drove us mad last year). These tables are also a bit longer and so the kiddos will have a bit more room.


I don't know how I got it in my head that I wanted plants on each table (could I have possibly had an original idea and not something seen on Pinterest?!?!). Don't they look lovely! When they are in our way there is plenty of room on the window sill. Plus, they were cheap! Ikea pots = $.50 each, Ikea placemats = $.99 for 4, and 99 cent store plants = $.99. 



Last year my tables were continents. When I taught 6th grade my tables were the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. I wanted something more creative this year, but inspiration has yet to strike. For now they are just color coded. I love these FREE frames from Ashley Hughes.


I now have more room in the back, although you can't tell in the photo, to meet for Reading/Writing Workshop. You can see my book boxes on the shelf. I wish I had taken a photo because I added numbers from the lovely Ladybug's Teaching Files, and they look great! I used her FREE labels for the boxes and their Reader's Notebooks.

Meet-the-teacher night went great! Most of my new 5th graders stopped by and it was great to meet all of the wonderful families I will be working with this year. It was also great to see some of my class from last year.

I still need to finish scripting out week one, but I'm really excited for Monday!

Don't forget to join in on my Pinterest Top 10 for Next School Year Linky Party! You have until the end of the month to join in!


8 comments:

  1. I have long tables just like that in my classroom - it is nice to be able to see how someone else has set them up. I like the idea of the plants in the middle - it kind of separates the tables a bit.

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  2. Wow, you are starting early! I thought we were early, but we have 3 more weeks. Your room looks wonderful! I wish I had room for those tables!

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  3. Love, love, love the idea of a plant in the middle of your tables like that. I've got desks, but if I could do tables I would 100% do it!

    Lauren
    The Sweetest Thing
    Follow me on Bloglovin'!

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  4. I LOVE the long tables. I'm a stickler for matching tables too. I'm a little Type A and OCD. Lol!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  5. Good luck on Monday and I hope you can get some rest on Sunday! I always can't sleep the night before the first day of school. Your classroom looks great!

    Erica
    Shepherd's Shining Stars

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  6. I LOVE your room setup. The plants are a great idea and thanks for the link to the free labels. I haven't learned how to make anything yet and am in desperate need of labels. Heather

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  7. Your room looks so cute! Love your set-up. I'm struggling with how I'm going to manage my tables this year in my rectangle shaped room with huge student computers right behind them and a classroom library. I'll keep ya posted!
    ~Amy
    http://middleschoolminions.blogspot.com

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