Classroom Tour

I know, I know... This is long overdue, my apologies! With new kids, backpacks and all the joys of starting a new year you also get lots of germs, and unfortunately I caught something... Can you imagine a worse time for a teacher to get sick?! I think it's just a bad cold (so I have been teaching and utilizing cold meds and hand sanitizer) but after two weeks of this I'm finally going to the doctor tomorrow.  Anyway, long story short, my evenings and days without kids since school has started (last Wednesday) have consisted of hot tea, naps and the occasional low brain function required school assignment.

So the new year has started, I love my room and I love my kids! I say being two for two is an AMAZING way to start a new school year.  One plus of my job this year is that I moved from teaching 5 periods of 7th grade history and 1 period of 8th grade history last year to teaching 4 periods of 8th grade history and only 2 periods of 7th grade history, which means that I got to loop with a lot of my students.  It makes the beginning of the year that much easier when over half of your students already know your routines and procedures.  Obviously they need reminders and I still go over it, for everyone's benefit, but there's less complaining about the rules they don't like (no chewing gum, for example). Oh my 7th graders, they are so little and cheerful, it's fabulous!  We did a couple ice breakers that were fun, informative and went really well... You never really know with middle schoolers, some things they think are awesome and others they think are the lamest thing on the planet.  I'll do a post about those later, but here's what you actually want to see, my classroom: I'll give a tour first and then focus in a some of my favorite things!

This is the view from the front of my room, my desks is in the back left corner, student notebook bins are under the tables in the back and center table is my supply table the student tables are in a modified horse shoe.

Yes those are mason jars, since I work with middle school kids I can get away with mason jars knowing that they probably (fingers crossed) won't get dropped/broken.  I keep popsicle sticks in them with each students' name to use to call on students equitably.  Each class period has their own jar.

 This is the left side of my classroom.  The door to my room is on the far left, left side of the wall is for student data (standards proficiency) and exit tickets for each class period.  The grey bulletin board says Social Studies, that is where materials on our current unit are.  For the beginning of the year I have the Declaration of Independence reproduction, a poster on the Presidents and a poster visually showing the history of the US flag.

And here is the front of the room. The little black rectangles to the right of the Ms Willhite's Class sign have exit procedures.  I have my teaching point and the standard(s) being addressed on the far right side of my board, one column is for 7th grade, the other for 8th.

 My "About Ms. Willhite" board, and my teacher's toolbox. 

The "Influential People" board and my clipboards on the bottom.

My desk :) please excuse the mess, this was before school actually started... I was still in chicken with my head cut off mode trying to make sure everything was ready for the kids to arrive.  The table under the Influential People board houses student supplies like pens, pencils, rulers, kid scissors, highlighters, etc. a hole punch and a paper cutter.  You can see a plethora of small white binders on the book shelf; I keep one per class period, which has student information sheets, behavior logs, hard copy attendance, allergies logs, and a class list. The white roller bins act as my desk drawers, as I actually have two tables acting as desks. And of the course, class mascots Minnie Mouse and my sock monkey zebra watch over the class from the bookshelf with my Spirit Week award trophy from last year... Yes, I am that teacher that dresses up for spirit week.

And finally, the back wall... The white graphs will be for class period data tracking.  For each standard addressed, the class proficiency average will have a pin at that number, yarn will be tied to each one, with 80% being the goal (hence the line at 80%), with the unit test score average as the last pin.  It will be redone for each unit. The numbered black trays are turn in trays, the milk crate is where absent students find what they missed and the black bins are labeled with class periods as well, which is where students keep their notebooks. 

Okay.... That might have been the longest post ever... If you're still with me, you just be a teacher or family, otherwise I'm sure you got bored by bulletin board 2.  More to come from the world of Middle School Social Studies soon, in the meantime, more tea and cold medicine and seating charts! Hope everyone's school year is going fabulously!

Until next time!

~Karissa