Not a pretty site and enormously , a wee bit overwhelming! I moved classrooms this year and the custodians moved my things over the summer. Then they took everything out again and waxed the floors. I moved into a classroom that is smaller and with less shelving and lower ceilings. It opens to the outdoors and is next to the janitors closet. I knew I had to make my space into something that was "me", something that I would enjoy being in hours upon hours everyday and one that was different from my previous classroom since I looped up with the same kids from last year. I wanted them to think they were in a 2nd grade classroom and not a first grade one.
It all started with this beautiful thing right here:
It just made me so happy! I loved all the bright colors and prints. I just knew I had to incorporate it into my new space. You see, I am a huge Meg Duerksen stalker fan. She is fun, sassy, mega creative, loves the Lord, loves color and loves chickens. In that order! :D She is MY kinda girl!
I also completely fell in love with this sunflower print. I ordered it on a large canvas. It was expensive but it just spoke to me. Every time, I would see it on her blog I was mesmerized.
And then there was this sassy thing :
I mean, seriously, look at that face! I'm already thinking of inferencing lessons with this girl! What do you infer that she is thinking boys and girls: "Get me outta here!", "WHO ate the last piece of pecan pie?!?" :D hahaha I love chickens. Like I said, Meg and I are BFF's. ;P
I rounded off the Meg Duerksen extravaganza with these 2 prints and got to work pulling my room together.
Oh, almost forgot one MORE Meg Duerksen fabulousness that inspired my classroom!
I fell in love with the bold spring green with white furniture and black and white accents. I had just scored an awesome sturdy bookcase at Goodwill and knew I would paint it this green color in my new space. It turned out amazing!
To start, I HAD to paint the walls in the classroom. They were a dingy, dirty pale taupey color that made me ill! With the help of family and friends we got to work painting everything that wasn't nailed down! haha We painted 3 of the walls bright white and one bright yellow.
At first I was seriously overwhelmed with how bright the yellow was but it really works in the space.
Here we are shopping, crafting, sewing, spray painting, hot glueing ourselves into oblivion!
When you're a Texas girl, you have to have some metallic gold spray-painted deer horns in your classroom, right??? :P
It takes a village to revamp a space like this and of course you need the assistance of your principal!
Oh, Hobby Lobby, you have my heart...
These photos are about 1/2 way through. We can now see the space taking shape! woo-hoo!
LOVE this old wooden photographer's paper my friend Angie found! $12 a roll on Amazon! Score!
One of my favorite spaces, ahem, for OBVIOUS reasons!
bawk-bawk ;D
I had an extra bit of wooden paper left over so I thought, "stick it on the ugly file cabinet!" haha. (I need to order some more to finish the other sides.)
This sand and water table fit perfect for my science area. Thank you to my old Kinder buddy for hooking me up! xoxo
Then here we are at last!
This is taken standing at the door looking in
This is looking across the room from my teacher's desk. Love my chandelier, btw. ;D
This is taken from the back of the room looking toward the door.
This pic is from the back of the room looking to the front of the classroom.
Here is part of my calendar area and shelving for sharpened pencils, fluency and word work baskets.
I LOVE how this turned out! The wooden table was gifted to me by my old team mate from Kindergarten. It has a hole in the center for an umbrella. I covered it with cute Mary Englebreit fabric and cut a hole in the middle so ALL the obnoxious computer cords would fit through. LOVE it!
Part of my math area. LOVE that my students know that literacy happens all throughout my room. Not just in the classroom library!
I scored this cutie polka dot rug at Goodwill. I absolutely LOVE my classroom library. It is still in the revamping stage coming from 1st grade, but we are on our way!
Love my READ bookends I got from Scholastic Teacher Resources!
Besides my classroom library, there was another space that I knew was "non-negotiable" for me and that was my science area. Kids LOVE science. They love how hands on it is. How engaging it is. They get to explore, investigate and observe using their 5 senses. Who wouldn't love that! And of course, my students will find another space that incorporates literacy.
We will be having a special delivery very soon with our newest little classmates joining us!
cheep-cheep! We are SO excited!!!
This is where I house most of my science and social studies items. I also am obsessed with anchor charts and never throwing anything away! haha So, I just taped some ribbon to hold all my anchor charts. I'm not crazy about it but right now it's working. I have serious space issues in this room! uuuggghhhh
There were SO many things that I wanted to change for my students as they moved up to 2nd grade. My behavior chart was one of them. I found this Dr. Seuss quote that I had never heard of before! "Today I shall behave as if this is the day I will be remembered." Wow! Beautiful and so perfect right next to my Behavior Chart.
Right behind my rocking chair is my "no kid zone" teacher area. I had to give up my BIG teacher desk that I had in my old room. It was just so large and I couldn't see wasting student space with my big ol' hunkin' desk so my sweet friend Angie found a corner desk (no drawers-ugh) at a garage sale. Size-wise, it's perfect in the space. I've learned how to make it work even though it is itty-bitty!
Well this is were my Meg Duerksen prints have made their home. I bought cute cheap frames and painted them using Valspar paint for $2.50 a pint. Wow! The colors are SO rich and the coverage was perfect with one coat. Love how this space turned out. I'd like to make a sink skirt in the near future. All my extra Kleenex boxes are under there right now.
I call this the "brown bear basket" even though it is not a basket. haha I think when I taught Kindergarten it actually was a basket and the name just stuck. Plus I like the alliteration! ;D This is where my babies turn in their completed work. Love my old metal file.
This is my favorite teaching space: My guided reading area. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE guided reading and the work that goes on at this little table!
This is kind of a catch all space right by my door. It houses our headphones, nurses basket, treasure box, giant hand sanitizer etc. LOVE the color that we painted this old bookshelf!
It's SO hard to pick one favorite area in my room! There are SO many! But... I must say that the following pics have got to be my fav's:
I'm completely in love with my fabric skirts that hide all of my evil crap precious teacher must haves. LOVE, love, love them SO much!
To make the space seem larger and more open, I knew I had to have the blinds up. BUT our classroom looks out over the playground! 20 classes going out to recess everyday can be a bit of a distraction for young learners so... After buying a bazillion yards of various fabrics, we made rag cafe curtains. LOVE how they turned out and they were so EASY, albeit time consuming to make.
This vignette is right above my desk. It has everything that I love in one spot!
And of course on the other side of my desk is my beautiful Sunflower print from Meg Duerksen.
L-O-V-E.
All of this fabulousness would not have been possible without the help of my beautiful, creative, inspirational friend Angie Moline! You should be a professional decorator sister-girlfriend! xoxoxo
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