New Floor Plan

Yesterday, I went into my classroom for the first time since I closed it up in June.  My goals for the day were to put the supplies away,  and to arrange the room.

Putting supplies away didn't take long, because there weren't many of them.  I did check in the office, and fortunately, I do have more coming.  The kids will bring in lots more.  Our students bring notebook and copy paper, dry erase markers, notebooks and composition books, pencils, pens, and glue.  Oh yes, and most important tissue!  Each grade level decides on their own supply list.  I ask for only the basics, but it is always enough to get us through the year.  The only thing I usually have to ask for during the year is tissue, because some years we go through a lot of that.

The trick this year is trying to figure out where to put 30 student desks.  That is five more kids than I had last year.  I have been in this same classroom for nine years.  For the first time last year, I moved my reading table to the center of the room and arranged all the student desks around it.  I really liked this set up, because it put me closer to everyone.  When I was working at the table with a small group, either for reading or math, I could much more easily monitor what was going on in the rest of the room.  I just didn't see how I could do that with 30 student desks.

I like the arrangement I came up with.  I still have room to walk between pods, that is when there is no one here.  We'll see how it works when the chairs are pulled out, and kids are sitting in them.

I kind of like setting up my classroom for fall.  Everything is clean and uncluttered.  Our newly polished hard wood floors gleam.  Our custodians are fantastic!  It is the opportunity to try out new ideas.  We will have open house before school begins, so my strategy is always do the surface stuff that makes it look like I know where everything is and am ready to begin.

Next step, create the cards I will send home to students welcoming them to 4th grade.  I want to get those mailed by the end of next week.  There are also lots of other creative jobs I do at home, like making name tags, desk tags, bulletin board design, and a display for the door.  I make them at home, and when I get to school, I can easily install them.

August 19th is our official back to school date for teachers, but we will all be in there lots of times before that.