Classroom Set Up

I believe I have mentioned before how small and odd shaped my room is for a middle school classroom. It is a oddly shaped pentagon with a very small back wall.  I have found the back area of the room to be wasted space so several years ago I moved my teacher desk and materials to the back corner.  I have heard that when they built the addition to our building that included my pod they scaled back the dimensions by a square foot.  No matter what these classrooms are too tiny and the shape stinks, but we all make the best of it.  I am incredulous when I see some of the ginormous classrooms teachers post photos of on their blogs.  Color me jealous!

A bit of advice for those of you setting up your rooms is to take pictures of all views.  When you sit down to write out your classroom set up to do list you will most likely not forget anything because of being able to see everything you are working with.  I used these photos to make my classroom set-up list.

This post is only focusing on the physical set up of the classroom.  I will do a separate post about lesson planning and any computer/printables that need to be made for the beginning of the school year.

Wall #1 the front of the classroom.  That chalkboard was my Word Wall last year .  The table you barely see had all the math games my kids loved to play on it.  This year I plan on making that corner my Learning Stations area and will be adding a bookcase to store all materials so the table can actually be used by students.

Wall #2 the side wall.  That board is my agenda/assignment board  you can see a photo here of what it looks like.  The blue cabinet on the right store math materials and manipulatives.  The green cabinet next to it needs to be decluttered.

Wall #3 is the diagonal wall that my SMARTBoard is on (covered in orange).  The right side of the blue cabinet has all the things I need to set up my desk/teacher area.  I store everything for the beginning of the year there for easy access when setting up my classroom.  I know where everything important is and after setting up my room I have an empty cabinet for storage.  Genius I tell you!  On top of the cabinet are my two paper sorters that will go on the vertical file cabinets.  Then all of the boxes will be neatly stacked on top of the cabinet and I MUST declutter those boxes this year!

You can barely see tiny wall #4.  Those vertical file cabinets will store the paper sorters and other materials.  The bookshelf houses my teaching binders and other important books/resources.  The shelves behind the desk are teacher storage and also for frequently used manipulatives.

A more close up view of my teacher corner.  I have two 4 drawer file cabinets and one 2 drawer cabinet.  The microwave will end up sitting on top of the fridge next to the computer table.

A better view of the computer table.  Lots of file organizers get stored on that table.

Last but not least wall #5 or as I call it, the window wall.  Can you believe the gorgeous view I have?!  It is the best in the whole school.  To the left you can see what will be the Learning Stations area I am setting up this year.

Classroom Set Up TO DO:

Bulletin Boards/Decor:

(X) Front of Door
(X) Window ledge welcome border
(X) Window ledge decor
(X ) Welcome sign on wall next to door
(  ) Window clings
(X) Hanging decor (off lights)
(X) Assignment Board
(  ) Math Learning Stations area
(  ) Teacher info area
(  ) Diagonal wall area
(  ) Vertical file cabinets (personal items)
(  ) Desk/file magnets
(X) Word Wall
(  ) Posters
(X) Mathematical processes frames


Organization:

(X) Paper sorters 24-slot (2)
(X) Vertical file cabinets
(  ) Teacher storage back wall shelves
(X) Computer table
(  ) Teacher desk
(  ) Teacher bookshelf
(  ) Four drawer file cabinets (2)
(  ) Learning stations bookshelf
(X) Learning stations bookcart
(X) Learning stations table
(X) Trapezoid table
(X) Storage boxes- out of the way for now, but definitely a huge project for this school year!
(X) Blue wall cabinet- I will organize this at a later date
(X) Blue wheeled cabinet
(X) Green cabinet-  I am not doing anything with this cabinet at this point
(X) Student desks
(X) Pink cart

Hook-Ups:

(X) SMARTBoard
(X) Computer Cords
(X) Fridge
(X) Micro


Hope this post is helpful to you!  I will be checking back and updating when items are completed.  It makes me want to get into my classroom and get started.  :)