Come Visit My 4th Grade Classroom!

As usual it’s been a very hectic start to the new school year! Come join me for a quick tour of my 4th grade classroom!

After four years in 5th grade, I have been moved to 4th grade. This was not by choice but I am embracing my new grade level, new teammates, new students and enjoying it already! One of the biggest challenges of changing grade levels? MOVING! I had to pack up all of my stuff at the end of last year and then had to wait until the carpets were cleaned before I could unpack in my new room. I was a bit miffed about not being able to get into my classroom earlier but in hindsight I think it was for the best. I spent the least amount of time I’ve ever spent setting up my classroom and that means that I spent more time enjoying my summer and my family!

This is the view of my entry way. I happen to LOVE the color of the walls – it’s my favorite color and it makes me smile every single day.

Right next to the entrance is my classroom library area. My books are not totally organized yet but I will be putting my students to work on that soon! I have a toy box that I found in my attic that is stuffed with a pile of fluffy pillows, some re-purposed patio chair cushions, a bungie chair and a small ottoman. Over the chair, are reading genre posters and in the large tall bookcase in the corner, I have leveled readers, math books, and a collection of puzzles and games. The bulletin board is empty and awaiting our Language Arts anchor charts and book challenge materials.

This is the view of my room from my desk. I have 22 desks set up – three rows of 2 pairs of students plus one row of just a pair of students and then a long row of 4 students on each end. I like my students working in groups and needed a layout that would accommodate the large desks. So far this arrangement is working well!

I LOVE that my classroom has a huge wall of windows (it’s very difficult to take a good photo here due to the light). There is a whole wall of cubbies that I’m using to store manipulatives, dry erase boards, clip boards, centers, and extra textbooks. This area here is my homage to Space Camp! I had the opportunity to attend the Honeywell Educators at Space Academy this summer and it was the most amazing professional development experience! My flight suit is ready for “Flight Suit Fridays” and I have my newspaper articles, autographed astronaut photos and other fun stuff. My students love looking at my mementos and they love hearing stories about Space Camp (thank goodness they love it because I LOVE talking about it!).

This is my desk. It’s small and I don’t sit at it much during the day but I do most of planning here in the afternoons. My favorite item over here is my coffee maker in the corner! I splurged on myself this year and love having a cup of coffee in the morning and after dismissal. This splurge was totally worth it.

On the front wall, I have our essential questions and our class schedule posted. I also keep my Friday “gift bags” here. I pass out raffle tickets throughout the week and raffle off these 3 surprise bags every Friday. My students are really working hard to earn tickets and it has made our Fridays very exciting!

This area is where I spend most of my time. This computer is connected to my projector and document camera. My students use the document camera to share their work and strategies. My favorite read aloud EVER also sits there (can you tell what it is?) and you can see our classroom rules – we only have 2 very important rules!

This is my small group table. When the floor lamp is on, it signals “Do Not Disturb”. My students love coming to the table and love sitting on the stools I found at Family Dollar ($5 each! For real!). I also have growth mindset posters on the wall behind my chair. We are working on growth mindset every day and we discuss it when we work in our small groups. I will also use this area for conferencing, discussing their data, and setting goals with individual students.

Thanks for stopping by my happy little classroom! I can’t wait to share some of the things we’ll be working on throughout the year!