Bulletin Boards

My favorite part of being a second year teacher so far is being able to take what I did last year and make it better. I had a poster of the "Mighty Writing Process" (from Brad Wilcox) last year and my kids clipped their clothespin to the sides of the poster to show their present stage. It was a nice way for me to keep track of the kids who needed extra support or extensions. I liked it, but I wished there was a better way to use this method and label each stage with proper names.

This year I just didn't have any free wall space to hang the poster, so I cut it up and rearranged it to create a writing process bulletin board.

 
The reading tests we give our students have a survey portion which asks the students to list the books they have read lately. They score higher on the test if they list books from multiple genres, so I encourage my students to read a wide variety of books. When I talked to my kids last year about reading genres they just looked at me like I had stopped speaking English. I found some genre posters on Pinterest (as well as some comprehension strategy posters) and went to work. Hopefully this year my kids will have a better idea of what it means to read from multiple genres!

I love using looks like/sounds like charts to discuss the habits we'll have in our classroom. I find that my kids are much more aware of how they behave when they get to be part of the discussion as we set up how our classroom will look and sound. I use a dry erase marker to fill out the chart as we discuss each habit, then erase it in January and we do it all over again as if it's a new school year.

This is my new favorite bulletin board. I like to post the learning objectives for each week, but last year they were kind of all over the place on both of my white boards. This year I created a bulletin board to organize them for students to see what we will be learning each week.

Welcome Sign

Last year I posted a welcome sign on my door made of laminated construction paper.

This year I thought I'd class it up a bit. I found this adorable frame at Hobby Lobby for 50% off and I couldn't leave it at the store! I designed the image on Microsoft Word, then printed it on photo paper at Costco.

I stuck the frame to the door using 3M Strips (which are my new favorite adhesives). 

I love the look!

Airplane Mobile

I have a lot of favorite things in my classroom, but this one is tops! My sweet friend Lois helped me install my airplane mobile. I projected the images I found on Google onto foam core, then painted both sides.

 

It brings me so much joy.

Table Numbers

One of my favorite additions to my classroom is my table numbers. I love my airplane theme, so I felt like we needed more airplanes in the room! I especially love that we have my favorite aircraft (the British Airways 747), as well as Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis and Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra.  

I flipped each picture in Photoshop so I could print fronts and backs on photo poster paper at Costco. I used Mod Podge (love that stuff!) to adhere them to foam core, then cut them out with an X-Acto knife. I found the cloud image on Google and cut them out, then painted the edges to make them stand out a little more. I cut out the numbers on black vinyl and stuck them on both sides of the clouds. I love how they turned out!

Back to School

I began my second year of teaching third grade a couple weeks ago. We have had lots of get-to-know-you games and I learned all their names. I’m still working on developing a relationship with each of them. I felt so bonded to my last group of students. They felt like my kids. I have to keep reminding myself that it took a while to develop that bond and I’ve only had nine days to bond with my new students. Still, I feel like a bad mother because I didn’t instantly love my new class the moment I saw their faces. I worry if it’s possible to love another group of 23 kids like my own. I’m sure we’ll get there.

I love my classroom. I moved to the classroom next door this summer, which was a ton of work but worth it for an extra window! My momma was so sweet to come up this summer and help me organize and decorate my new room. It's so stinkin' cute!