Sunday, October 26, 2014

Classroom Design


I should start by introducing myself! My name is Molly Whetstone and I am a first year teacher at an urban school district in central Illinois! I teach third grade and could not be more in love with my job. The start of this school year has been crazy...especially since it's my first time putting everything altogether. I have to say that putting together my classroom has been one of my very favorite parts of the start of the new school year. Because I've had so much fun getting organized and decorating I thought I would take an opportunity to share some of my ideas! I hope you enjoy! :)

I decided on a colorful, but gender neutral color theme! I love the bright colors..they really allow for some creative thinking! Here are a couple pictures of my classroom library. The colorful pillow came from Gordmans...and they were relatively cheap I might add! The bins came from Big Lots as part of their "back to school" decor. I attached the library labels by laminating, hole punching, and running a ring through the label and the container...(I know how much of a pain stray library labels can be!!)




I am so fortunate to have many bulletin boards in my room. I love designing bulletin boards inside and outside of my classroom! My favorite is probably the bulletin board dedicated to our current anchor charts!
Aren't these huge google eyes adorable? As soon as I found them at Michaels I knew I had to use them somehow! :) So, so cute!






This bulletin board is reserved for student work! ...SUPER STAR student work! The kids love looking at their hard work in the classroom!
 This is how we keep track of our math workshop rotations!
I saw the idea of a move-able word wall on Pinterest. I can't wait to start using the word wall for word work activities!

Along with our math workshop rotations we practice the Daily 5 in reader's workshop using a similar schedule. I printed, cut, and laminated the labels. I hot glued magnets on the bag so that the labels can be switched out easily! The labels include (read to self, reading response, listening to reading, buddy reading, and word work). My students rotate through the rotations using the tables they sit at!

 My super talented father built me a book bin organizer! This was before the bins arrived. On top of the book bin organizer are our word work centers. I purchased the color coordinated bins at Dollar General. Below the counter are the students' math bags (each student has their own). They are held up by a shower curtain rod. Below the bags are our math center games!
...Finally! The book bins I ordered from really good stuff were on back order forever! The kids were oh so excited when they finally arrived.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of my classroom! A lot of the design inspiration came from a classroom decor blog and shop. Check out Schoolgirl Style! Her classroom themes are amazing and at a reasonable price too!

Please, please borrow any ideas and comment with questions or suggestions! :)

The Sunny Side

2 comments :

  1. Oh my goodness, I'm SO glad I found this blog... LUV your ideas, Mrs. Ippy! I'll keep coming back for more. :)

    Cheers to you!

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  2. Thanks so much!! I could not be happier that you found some ideas! :) I'm glad I've gained a follower!

    ReplyDelete