Being from Chicago, I had to add a little bit os White Sox in my room! Each student then decorated a jersey to hang up for the beginning of the school year.
I found these reading posters on Teachers Pay Teachers. What I love most about this set is that it is can be used no matter what the grade level. I bought these for my 7th grade classroom even though it was designed for an elementary room. If you are interested, you can find it on this website.
One thing I started working on at the end of the school year was short answer responses. With our new testing procedures, short answer response is pretty important. I loved the acronym RACES for the middle school. I would have liked this to be printed in black, but it was one of the last things I finished for my room.
I like the 6+ Writing Traits in theory. I am not a huge fan of the way they expect teachers to grade, but I do like different categories. I found this site via Pinterest and created my own version that fit my classroom's personality. I even changed my rubric to include these terms.
I have a procedure I use to work with my students and the writing process. I created the posters for the bulletin board (I have no idea why Publishing ended up being blue and the rest are black). I found the title here on Teachers Pay Teachers. I loved it so much, I plan on creating the same thing for my reading board.
I'm sad that this turned out a little blurry, but this is my reading board. Another Teachers Pay Teachers purchase. It is a little primary, but I love the color coding aspect of this. I am going to try Close Reading with my kids this year. This was the method that made the most sense. Staples sold Post It note cubes for $5 before school started. I bought a couple of packs and hope they last! I also found these Text Evidence posters on Pinterest, so I grabbed those to add to the reading section as well!
Teaching in a Catholic School, I have my religion board. I did this as a back to school board last year, and I really liked it. It was simple yet effective.
Keeping Charlotte Danielson in mind, I came up with a simple method to showcase the students' work. I came up with this idea after talking it over with my cousin. I saw multiple teachers with paper hanging up to organize student work. My cousin was telling me about a teacher at her school who allows the students to pick what work they want to show case. I just added a fun title and The Fridge Door was born! The students are allowed to put any work they want on the board, but they have to have something put on the board at all times.
My classroom was built in the 70s. It is full of beige, brown, and a pop of a teal-ish color (hence the color of the counters). I made these fans as just another way to put color in the room. I taped them up with masking tape, snapped the picture, and then three fell off. I am going to hot glue ribbon on to the back of them and try hanging them up again in a week or so.
I fell in LOVE with these signs. There were three signs that fit perfectly, but I had to recreate two of them on my own. I found the frames at Michaels, and spray painted them some fun colors. I thought I took a picture of them hanging in my room, but must have forgotten.
Well, my classroom is almost the exact way that I want it to look. I have a few more things to hang, but overall, it is very colorful and full of information. I hope that this year comes together the same way my room has! I know I am not the only teacher who feels jitters every year. 15 years in to this gig, you would think they went away at some point!
