10 YEARS?! Flexible Seating and Daily 5

Today was the first day of my 10th year teaching! I think every year it gets a little easier, but I am always learning something new. This year, I really want to embrace flexible seating, Daily 5, and CAFE.

For the first time in 10 years, I did not assign kids seats. They got to pick, and will get to pick each day! I can already tell they are going to love it! One of my kiddos has a lot of energy, without asking, felt comfortable moving for each activity we did. He was on the floor, at his desk, and at the writing station. My flexible seating includes: A $10 loveseat, low tables with pillows, crate seats, yoga balls, IKEA benches, a re-do foot stool, more pillows, clipboards, desks, a circle table with cushions, and a few other chairs. I found the hashtag #starbucksmyroom on Twitter and really wanted to go for that vibe.

I turned the desks the other way and won't let them put stuff in them.  Instead, they have plastic shoe boxes that can move around with them. I also made book bags with my new heat press!

             

You will also notice, I took out a lot of the bright colors I have always had and made it more neutral with a little inspiration from Joanna Gaines! ;) The wood is fadeless paper I bought off of Amazon. I had fun re-doing the old $6 window from Re-Store to make a memo board.

This summer I participated in a Daily 5 and CAFE book study. I am excited to implement both this year. I did a modified Daily 5 last year and LOVED it!

I'm excited to begin this journey with a new teaching partner too!

                                                         

Back to school gift

Back to school gift for the kiddos that I made. It is a freeze pop and a label that says "Wishing you a cool school year!" These were simple (5 minutes) and cheap to make! The kids thought they were pretty COOL too! 

2014 Classroom Reveal!

In honor of the first day of school, here is my classroom reveal!

The decor this year looks very similar to last, however, I did some major rearranging in the furniture department! We got rid of our desktops, so my desk is no longer tied to a certain area of the room. 

I love having fabric backgrounds, because it lasts forever! I just changed up the borders. That wall looks a little bare! I put kids work on the blue bb.

The picture frames are pics of all of my classes. I need to go buy a few more frames.

The clothesline will have banners that the kids make on it.

New desk area... still a work in progress.

Homework Hot Spot with new fun folders!

So nice to only have 23 desks! Last year I started with 27!!!

This is where I keep all of my copies and stuff for the week.

I might have a labeling problem... but the kids know where everything is!

Best part of my classroom. I'm so glad I labeled all of these a few years ago!

A little reading corner, something I have always wanted to have in 5th grade, but never had the room!

This is what it looked like when I walked in from summer break: 

Back To School 2013

 Back To School activities! I blogged about these last year, but switched them up a bit this time.  I used their Wordles as my door decorations.  I hope they stay up all year!

The Guess Who activity, I had to do smaller, since I have a larger class. I shrunk down the clues, and under the flap is their first day of school pictures! 

 They loved guessing, some of them were real tricksters! I have 7 kids with J names, so lots of them used that clue!

We are still working on our Top Secret stories, but they will be up soon!

Fantastic in 5th- Chevron Style!

School has started! This year I have TWENTY FIVE Fantastic Fifth Graders! Last year I ended the year with 16, so this is going to be an adjustment! One nice thing is I that I know a few of these kiddos & their families, as I had them in 1st grade.

In order to fit 25 desks in my room, I had to do some rearranging.  I took out a file cabinet, moved my desk back, and moved the computers around.  I also added 2 new bookshelves to hold the new books we got to go along with our new reading series.

Here is the picture dump!

My cousin helped me make these flowers.  I still have a few I need to hang. 

My cousin Gabby, who is in 7th grade, helped me sew these curtains!
Today a kid asked me where I got them, because he needed some for his room!

Name Tags- I printed their names on card stock, then used washi tape to decorate.

New bookshelves!
I have my kids store their school boxes here, so they don't lose supplies in their desk

My updated Common Core math wall!

I got a lot of these cards from TPT-Ginger Snaps
 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-Math-Vocabulary-Cards-for-5th-Grade-242338

Still love these metal buckets for supplies! They have lasted all all 6 years of teaching!

My document camera! LOVE! I started using this last year for math.
 I like having it at the front of the room. 

Coffee maker is always a must! 

I had my kids take a picture holding this sign on the first day of school!
I found this for free at http://www.mops.org/first-day-of-school-printable-signs 

This is the best time saver! I have black paper under these, and put washi tape on clothespins.
The kids can hang up their own work, and it is straight!

My desk makeover- I used chevron contact paper I bought on Amazon.

I may have gone a little overboard on the chevron, but we love it! Kids, Parents, and me too! There is more, but I am giving it its own posts!