Teacher Week- Where It Goes Down Wednesday and Three for Thursday

I'm catching up on Teacher Week, hosted by Blog Hoppin'!

Where It Goes Down Wednesday:

Sorry I couldn't link up yesterday folks.  I couldn't post pics of my room because, well, it was nowhere near done.  But I put a few hours worth of work in today and here's what my partially finished product looks like.

**Note: I changed my usually-centered post to left-align so pictures could be easier to see.  Sorry if it bugs you as much as it bugs me. **

This was as I came in this morning, so not very done.

As you can see, my room is very big with high ceilings.

As you enter, my desk area is directly ahead (under the wreath), 

the white boards and Promethean is on the left, 

and directly to the right (not pictured here) is an additional white board, 

two large bookshelves, and a storage cabinet.

Here's my desk area.

1) My "Upcoming Patriot Events" board.  Will put fliers, permission forms, and so on here in addition to our class calendar on the whiteboard.  The whole red/white/blue thing isn't quite my color scheme but it's Patriot High, so I'll deal.  :)

2) My sweet "to-be-returned" file organizer.  I'm terrible at returning papers and this is my new motivation to do it well.

3) I made this felt wreath myself!  Tutorial to come.

4) Some bookshelves from Target that I got once I realized the big bookcases weren't going to work as storage for my own binders and reference books.  Home to the bobbleheads.

5) A sweet altered organizer for files and plans.  Tutorial to come.

Back left corner (pardon my chair/stepstool for the day):

1) I framed scrapbook paper in pre-matted frames from Ikea (about $10 each) for wall decor that wasn't hokey posters.  And yes, they're crooked.  I'm working on it.

2) Journal storage.

3) Filing cabinet.  I'm the only teacher I know who doesn't use a filing cabinet as directed.  I don't believe in having massive amounts of paper files, so it usually turns into storage for random junk I don't want to look at anymore.

4) Check out these boomerang desks!  Round these parts they're might fancy.  Very easy to move, create formations, and good for righties and lefties.

Back center:

The Wall of Awesome, where I'll display exemplary work.  I got this idea from a pin I saw on Pinterest.  I bought a book of 20 pieces of blue and green tones cardstock from Walmart, on sale for $4.  I took Velcro adhesive circles, applied one side to the back of the cardstock, attached the sticky side using the Velcro (so the sticky part would be facing out) and stuck each piece on the wall.  Easy as pie.  I stuck a silver binder clip on each one for easy attaching.

Back middle-right:

This is my tiny and sad storage cabinet.  The Ikea frames with scrapbook paper make another appearance.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to make the "Student Station" for sharpening pencils, grabbing highlighters and other materials, and turning in work.  I do worry about having my work collection box (that's the silver thing) so far from my desk though... I might use some Command hooks to attach it to the wall in the front of the room like I did to my papers-to-be-returned organizer, but I worry about causing a traffic problem getting in and out of the room.

Back right:

My sad-looking bookshelves.  This picture is from early in the sprucing process, but hasn't changed much.  I despise whoever put these together, because there are only two shelves large enough for textbooks to be right-side-up.  This whole half-standing, half-laying down is driving my OCD insane.  The right side is going to be my classroom library, which is looking very sad at the moment,  I have a lot more books to bring in, but I'm going to go through them one more time.  I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to fill these bad boys.

Above this bookshelf is two feet of empty wallspace-- any ideas for what to put there?

Opposite wall (wall on door side):

1) My sweet $2.99/each posters that I made myself on the Staples website.  I posted about it a few posts back.  I recommend doing this.  I got the poster frames for $10 at AC Moore (If you need them, go there.  Everywhere else is sold out-- darn those college kids.)

2) This is going to be my 7 Habits bulletin board.  I love my black, gray, aqua, and lime polka dot fabric from Hobby Lobby.  For the first rotation through the 7 Habits, I'm going to post the habit at the top, then self-assessment questions on the left side.  The mirror on right will have text around it that says, "Do your habits reflect a leader?"  (Reflect!  Get it?!  Get it?!)

3)My overflowing trash can!

Current view from my desk area...

So there it is folks.   Looks pretty shabby compared to the wonderlands I've seen through the link-up, but hey, we have a different audience to cater to.  My room is still a work in progress.  One more week to tweak it and make it perfect!

Three for Thursday:

My Favorite Font:

I love it because it's a little retro!

My Favorite Blog

This is a hard one to pick.  I love so many blogs, but if I could only read one for the rest of my life, I guess it would be

Young House Love

They have a literally endless supply of extremely affordable and creative home ideas, plus they make me giggle.  They have a cute dog and baby.  They are overall awesome.

I don't necessarily have a teaching blog I love.  The majority of teaching blogs are for primary grades and so, while they are fun and adorable, they don't have any practical ideas for my room.  I find a lot of great teacher resources on Pinterest.

My Favorite Online Resource

 

Linda's Links to Literature has been a lifesaver for me as I try to plan for teaching about 10 new novels this year.  This is a database with links to tons of online resources searchable by nook.  For example, say I needed some ideas for research related to To Kill A Mockingbird.  I just type it in the search bar and out comes two pages of links to discussion questions, novel guides, webquests, and so on.  It's a subscription site, but in my opinion it's worth it.

I can't wait to find some new blogs and resources, so head over to Blog Hoppin' and link up!