Baby Steps

We came in to an empty classroom (this is how we left it in May), which is nice, because I'm a big fan of a blank canvas.

We started the day off with a staff meeting, and then Amanda had to go to CPR and first aid training (I'm up-to-date, so I didn't need to attend either session). While she did that, I got to work organizing our files. The files in our classroom are several years' worth of lesson plans, craft ideas, finished crafts, etc. And they were a hot mess. I really should have taken a pic of the "Christmas" folder before I broke it down into multiple folders...it was horrifying. I wouldn't even use the files last year because they were so overwhelming.

We also figured out the general setup we want for our classroom. It's quite different from last year.

On  the carpet, we've gotten rid of the circle time rug. We only have eight students currently signed up, so we moved one table to the carpet for table activities. We also decided to move the dramatic play area to the carpet.

excuse the mess...it's a work in progress :)

We moved the rug and the two-sided shelf (which holds blocks on one side) to the corner of the linoleum, where our new block area will be. The other side of the shelf will hold art supplies, so the kids will be free to grab whatever they need when they need it. The sensory table will be in the other corner of the linoleum, and the remaining table will be the art and snack table. We also made a change with our cart. Previously, it held teacher-only items, but we've decided to make it into a circle time cart instead. The top shelf will hold teacher items for circle (stamps, dry erase markers, the day's story, etc.), while the bottom two shelves will hold activities for the kids, like puzzles.

We also went to get our TB shots, and then went to pick up some small gifts for birthday bags :)

As for the theme, we've decided on a soda fountain/sweet shoppe/Candyland kind of thing. I can't wait to see it all come together!

It might not seem like a lot, but we made a lot of progress. I can't wait to make more!

Classroom Sneak Peek

I really should have taken more pictures of my classroom some time over the past couple of days, because my room has been finished and decorated for Parent Orientation Night and Visitation Day, but I forgot to.  Instead of showing you a bunch of half-finished pictures, I will show you one I took the other day of the first thing I completed in the classroom.

All of our classrooms are supposed to have a theme. The Pre-K class is owls (and puzzles), the Preschool II class is the ocean, and the Preschool I class is Adventuring/Exploring (pirates and the like).  I wanted to do something cool, but a little unexpected.  Last year, the teacher in my room did a jungle theme (So. Many. Monkeys.), but that's not really my style (I'm really not into monkeys).  I decided to go with a space theme; it's cool, it's educational, and it doesn't automatically scream preschool (not that that's a bad thing). 

I didn't want to go overboard with decorating, because I like to let the kids' artwork make up most of the decoration, but I wanted to use lots of stars.  Not only do they look cool (a star is my favorite shape), but it reinforces the idea of a star as a shape for my group of mostly two-year-olds.

So anyway, here are some of my stars :)

Sometimes You Just Need To Improvise

My classroom doesn't have a bulletin board, inside or in the hall.  In order to have the kind of displays I want, I have to make them myself.  Unfortunately, we were out of black bulletin board paper, so I had to improvise.

My first bulletin board is on a piece of black posterboard.

Now I realize this won't work for everyone (I lucked out because I only have a handful of kids), but it really works well in a pinch.

Since there was no cork to staple anything to, everything had to be attached with sticky tack and tape (as a result, it's not as awesome as I'd like, but it gets the job done).

I think my favorite part is the shiny holographic letters :)

How do you improvise in the classroom?