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Dianna Radcliff

Teaching Upper Elementary & more

Extreme Makeover: Classroom Edition 2014

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Hello Friends~

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone has had a great start to their brand new school year! Over here in NC I’ve just completed my 6th week of school with the students, 7th week for the teachers. WOW! 3 more weeks then it’s time for Fall Intersession! I LOVE our year around schedule:-)

I’m linking up with Amanda over at the Primary Gal to bring you my classroom reveal…

So a little background, last year I was in half a portable. Then over our Summer Intersession I had to pack up & move to the stage. I didn’t have a spot in our building during pre-planning, I was finally given a spot during our first day of school with the students. So basically, I’m not really done yet! I never had the uninterrupted time to move during the summer or pre-planning. I’ve got a few little things I still want to do. Also, I went from part time Literacy Coach & part time Title I 2nd Grade Teacher to a full time Literacy Coach who still wants to pull reading groups! With all that being said, I moved into room 7, aka the conference room. I have a third of the room. 1 part is for me, 1 part is for meetings & conferences, & 1 part is for our 3rd grade Title I Reading Tutor.

FYI~ I can’t find the pictures I took of the room before… I can tell you it was empty with a few pieces of furniture & the large conference table in the middle. So I had it pretty easy to set up at least. Also, I apologize for the glare in the photos.

So here we go…

The view from the door…
This is my section of the room…
 Here you can see the 3 sections… Mine front & left, the conference/meeting area on the right & the back area is for our reading tutor…
My favorite table…
This is my loved table a room mom painted for me in 2006! My seat crates are used just for storage these days, but I can’t part with them either.
 These classroom rules are FREE HERE… I used my colored poster maker to make this at my old school. Then I bought a Walmart frame for it.
Mini-Reading Area / Supplies…
On the left wall I have these hanging cubbies… So I’ve put a few things in them & above them…
 The view over my desk…
 Organizing my folder reading centers…
 I don’t need my classroom library {it’s packed up at home}, but I wanted a little area for students who are visiting me to be able to read & relax in…
The wall behind my desk…
Also known as my office area…
 Ignore the cords!!! This is a little thing I still need to do, I need one of the clear mats for under my desk chair…
 These are my K-5 ELA Bookmarks we started all using last year with our focus of academic vocabulary through the Common Core Standards… I color coded them & copied them on card stock for my teachers. You can find them for FREE HERE… Look half way down where it says ELA Standard Bookmarks.
My desk… Ugg…
This another thing I haven’t gotten to yet… It’s driving me nuts! It had 2 layers of gross blue & pattern contact paper on it… I peeled it off & cleaned it. Then I applied the black contact paper… But that’s as far as I have gotten… So this is on my list still:-)
Quick fix…
This is an ugly but good blue bookshelf dividing my area & the reading tutors area. So I used some black butcher paper, teal duct tape & chalk to fix the eye sore. LOVED how it turned out!
My Focus Board…
I have this as an example of one of many ways you can create a simple but effective Focus Board… Plus I’m going to put it to use next week when a pull 2 groups a week. I just have to work with students!
 You can grab these Punctuation Friends HERE…
Text Talk Focus…
I started using these frames last year for oral & written comprehension… LOVE them! So simple & they work, I use a sticky note to guided students when talking & writing. You can grab these FREE FRAMES HERE…
Reading Strategies…
These are my newest addition & I couldn’t resist! I LOVE them! I love how they are easy to read & have picture clues. The students can refer to them easily & remember them while reading independently. You can find these READING STRATEGY POSTERS HERE…
More views…
Reading Meetings…
Every 3rd Wednesday I meet with each team… Although I see, speak & work with everyone on a daily basis… Our staff meets on Wednesdays with one of the coaches for Literacy, Math & Technology to discuss different things. We already have a school focus, well a few: Close Reading, Text Evidence, Academic Vocabulary, Continue to work on Daily 5/Readers Workshop, Written Comprehension & a few more. But this is the list of what each grade wants to work on right now. We are also starting a book study next week for PD: Close Reading in Elementary School. I’m excited to see where this journey will lead us!
Hope you enjoyed seeing my portion of a room! Have a great weekend!

    • Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. lorena says

      Your "portion" of the room looks FANTASTIC!!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing the link to the ELA Standard Bookmarks, those are awesome! I'm going to share those with my principal and email the link to the staff, too. 🙂