Classroom Tour 2012

Hey, well the end of the year has come and gone! Whew!!! I didn't know if I was going to make it this year (I say that every year! :0) I LOVE looking at other kindergarten classroom so I thought I'd give you a little peek inside mine.
While my room is not over-the-top cutesy, it is a productive, engaging learning environment for my students.....What more could I ask for?!

This is a shoe organizer where I keep all my office supply things. I do not have a desk (and haven't since my first year of teaching). You name it, I have it here (sentence strips, stickers, post-its, scissors, paper clips, staples, glue sticks, etc.)

You can also see the corner of my wonderful behavior management clip chart. I got this idea from ClutterFree Classrooms and I will never go back to the old "3 chances your out" system. I love how motivating this clip chart is. Kids start out on green and work to "climb the colors". They love it and so do I!

This area shows my pocketchart center. It actually doubles as a listening center as well. I love combining these 2 centers. They tend to be 2 of the most high maintenance centers because kids get bored. But, by combining them, I have found that my students stay engaged because of the choice factor. You can read more about how I combine the 2 centers HERE. 

Here is my Math Tubs shelf. I follow Debbie Diller's system for math tubs (actually used it before I read her book, but it is a great read :0) I have only 2 children per math tub  which really helps cut down on playing, fighting, etc. and they stay more focused on the work. 

The top 10 tubs are my "active" tubs in use and the ones below are the stored manipulatives that we are not currently using. I like to have everything right at my fingertips. That makes it easy to switch math tub materials.

Here is the infamous "Home" center. 'Nuff said! :0)

Here is my "Center Chart". You can see I have 2 children for each center. The center cards just get rotated down one each time we switch centers.  We normally go to 3 centers a day....so we just rotate down. I usually switch partners once a week.  I also have math tubs on the same chart (the big number cards - they correlate to a math tub) and are rotated just like centers. 

This is my word study table. Early in the year it is a sandtable. However, after the first month it becomes a word study center.

Here is the runway! Hahaha!! Not really.... this is their backpack hooks. This class is WONDERFUL about not leaving their stuff laying on the ground.....Boy I will miss them! :0)

Blocks center - I add lots of stuff here (blocks, legos, balance, construction books, traffic signs, and even some retelling pieces). Notice the hot pink zebra stripes boundaries I have. The kids know their place in centers and they do NOT leave those boundaries.....works like a charm!

Here is my Family Board. You can read more about it HERE! It's a fantastic way to develop a sense of community in your classroom. 

Here is my writing center. I took the legs off the table and the kids can kneel at it. They love the novelty of this. It's so important to have an organizational system going for writing center so it doesn't become a mess.

Of course, my writing center is right at my word wall........OF COURSE!!!

 This is home-base. You can see my little blue rocker I picked up at the flea market for $10 - best darn $10 I've ever spent because it is SUPER comfy!

This is an ariel view. Please be nice as it is the end of the year! I know - very busy looking! :0)

I can also show you a couple of pics of my room at the very end - when it's all packed up and ready for summer. This is a couple of snapshots as I left my room earlier today.

Well, that's all folks.....until next year! :0)