Organized Spaces:

Another space where organization is important is the around the guided reading table. You can not see it, but I took a metal oil pan, painted it, and used it as my focus wall. It is behind my seat. I post my anchor charts on it as well as our objectives for the period and any other teaching tools I use. I also keep my kids materials in color coded baskets as well as highlighters, sticky notes, organizers, and interactive notebooks within arms' reach for quick transitions.
All summer, I worked on little projects to give the room a personal touch in order to make my students feel special. I made curtains for the windows, crate seats for my reading nook, a cool stool for Author of the Day, and recovered a mailbox with decoupage (animal print of course).
I also have printed and displayed quite a few things I've listed on Teachers Pay Teachers. In the photo above, my phoneme posters are on display for use with word study instruction. My kids refer to them especially with writing when they're unsure of a pattern. These are the black chevron patterned set, but I created 5-6 versions to coordinate with various color schemes. You can find them all in the word study category in my shop.
Bulletin Boards:
The bulletin board to the left is my "testing" vocabulary wall. I refer to it often and review the words so that my kids recognize them and KNOW them. Half of the challenge with testing is not getting hung up on vocabulary. Here is the link to the resource in my shop.
At the front of my room, I have my Smartboard for whole group modeling. In the foreground, I have a second guided reading table for the time when I have a teaching assistant in the room. She tutors and runs some small group intervention with me.
To the right of my Smartboard, I display anchor charts we're using on magnetized curtain rods I found at Walmart. I used the clip rings to hang them. They hold 3-4 posters max, but they are handy.
Well, my room is done, but my lesson plans are not. Enjoy the day off everyone. I've put things off for a bit, so it's time to get busy!
