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!

                                                         

iPad Rules

Our school is a 1:1 iPad school. Before we deployed, we talked a lot about rules and expectations. The kids had lots of questions as to what they would be allowed to do, so we worked together to make a list of rules. Then I guided them to a list of 9 rules. 

THINK before you post 

APPropriate

Tool, not a toy 

Keep Clean and Keep Safe 

Charge It! 

Safe, Respectful, Responsible

Balance Screen Time with Activities 

Alert Adults of Problems

Bring it in your Backpack every day 

Then students got into groups of 2-3 to design an app to go along with the rules. I made a big iPad for them to glue it on. It turned out really well, and the kids are excited that they got to help make the rules. 

APP Document I made this little PDF with the outline of the app and explanation of the activity. 

Year 9!

I thought it would be fun to look back at my 9 different classrooms and how it has changed over the years! One of my favorite things is being able to re-do my year each year!

These are all 5th grade pics... hard to keep track! 

2014 Classroom
2013 Classroom
2012 Classroom
Throwback

2nd Grade- My First Year Teaching

 First Grade @ Pawnee - 2nd Year Teaching

First Grade at Tomahawk 3rd year teaching

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! 

2015-2016 Classroom Reveal

I took a little blogging break, and I have a lot to share! School has been in session for 4 weeks. This year they took out the desk top computers in my room, and it made me have so much more space! So I went on a few trips to IKEA and got some new furniture to make a gathering area and a book nook!

 

This was attempt 1, it was not awesome.

This area is used for our gathering and group lessons. Half of the class is allowed to sit in the "special chairs" and half is on the floor. They switch every week. The rug, table, lamp, and bench are all from IKEA!

I made these new crate seats. They are awesome because I can store stuff in them too!

This area is new too. I like having the different areas for the kids to work.

I finally decided on the horseshoe layout for desks. It seems to be working well with this group.

My desk and math wall, didn't really change much from last year.

Here is the fun pano of my room! 

I'm trying out flexible seating this year. I do regular seats during instruction. In the morning they have DEAR time first thing and can sit wherever (my room has never been that peaceful in the morning). When I do a lesson at the back rug, I let them spread out and and sit in chairs/on crates, on the rug. They actually behave better than all crammed on the floor making them sit on their pockets. Half of the class is on the floor and the other half are in the chairs. Today during our tests on the iPad, they just went around the room without even asking, and I let it go. They are focused and comfortable. The kids with ADHD or that need to move around, were actually more focused I think, because they could wiggle and not interrupt people.