No longer a blank canvas.... Classroom Tour!

Well, friends... it's FRIDAY! I know every teacher just loves a good Friday! 

This week, I had new teacher orientation and was busy finishing up setting up my classroom for a little meet and greet I had with my parents and students this morning! I've linked up with Courtney Bartlett from Swimming Into Second and Corinna from Surfin' Through Second to share with you my classroom tour!!

Now the last time I gave you an update on my classroom it looked like this....

It was a blank canvas and honestly, walking in there was 1000% overwhelming. I had way too many thoughts and ideas streaming through my head and I didn't even know where to start.  But... with the help of some more experienced educators (especially Stacy), friends and family, I'm excited to "welcome" you into my first second grade classroom through pictures. 

First of all, a couple of weeks ago we offered a fun poster freebie remember featuring our favorite obsession, Melonheadz Graphics! If you missed it, click here! I ordered it from Vistaprint and hung it on my door to welcome my little munchkins right from the start! 

Here's the view of my room from the door!

If you turn to the right, you'll see my word wall and a little bit of my Guided Reading/Small Group teaching area! I just LOVE how my word wall turned out- it brings so much color and fun into the sea of white that it once was!

This next picture is a view of my classroom from the back! You can see my morning meeting/calendar area and SMARTboard... and a brand new rug which I just adore! The blue strip of ribbon will (next week-AHHH) hold my daily schedule and beside it I will display our objectives... always important for our kiddos to know why we're doing what we're doing!

If you were to turn back and to the right from here you'd find my back wall where I used Tangled Up in Teaching's "How We Go Home" packet as well as the 2nd Grade Expert Club display from A Year of Many Firsts Back to School for Second Graders Packet. Lyndsey is probably my very favorite TpT/blogger ever- all her stuff is just too darn cute and I find myself having to resist buying it all.

 If you were to be back in the middle facing the SMARTboard and were to turn left, you'd find my reading area. I think this is one of my favorite spots in the classroom and the kids that came in today to visit certainly thought so as well! I just adore the curtains that Emily- my old college roommate and world's greatest friend- made for me. They're PERFECT and make this little room feel so much like home. We'll use this space during Daily 5 and centers during our Guided Reading block.

The next picture is a continuation of that half of the classroom where you'll find my desk. I have bookshelves going all around the room and I tried to display some of my favorites in front of my desk for now. The Giving Tree is my all time favorite children's book, and one I'll be using for a read-aloud with my kiddies on the first day! On the easel is the poster we'll write our class rules/contract on as well!

And then for my desk area... You already saw some of it up above at the top of this post with the flowers and piggie calendar. Here's the rest of it... the view from my desk... really just some emails and one of my all time favorite pictures of myself and my favorite 'siblings' in Disney World from last year. The only one who is my real sibling is my sister, Kerri... but the boys are like brothers to me, so they count too!

And behind my desk I have the most adorable present from the curtain angel, Emily..... She painted me a mason jar filled with pencils that says "You'll be an ah-mason teacher". Seriously? Too stinkin cute! I also have a recommendation letter that little Rahab wrote me in Kenya. I also just love this wooden pig and just knew it needed a home in Room 130.

.... So there you have it! My classroom feels more and more like home every time I walk into it! I'm working on hanging up some brightly colored pom-poms I bought too.. Not sure how to make that happen with such tall ceilings but me and the custodian are tight and I've gotten permission to borrow the 6ft ladder for as long as I need....... We'll get to that Tuesday. 

ps- I also got my first apple from a student today. 

I can just tell this year is going to be so special and I can't even wait!

For now, I'm going to enjoy this long weekend!

Happy Labor Day, sweet friends!  Enjoy your friends and family!