Surviving in a classroom without wall space

Hi, it's Aimee from Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks.  Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about my classroom.  It's a very large classroom, and I love all the floor space that it has to offer.  Students are able to spread out around the room and work without being on top of each other.  However, there is a downside.  My classroom has very little wall space.  I have a wall of cabinets and counters, a wall of windows, a wall of book shelves, and a wall with a dry-erase board and Smart Board.  Luckily, I still live by the old preschool adage, "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit."  Here's how I deal with my lack of wall space...

1.  I hang anchor charts on anything magnetic.  The back of my room houses the entire leveled library for the 3rd/4th grade high ability program where I teach.  Lucky for me the book shelves are metal.  I use clip magnets to hang charts to them.  The charts are easily removed when I need to grab a set of books.

2.  I have a decent sized dry-erase board in my room that is magnetic as well.  Since I have a Smart Board, I don't need it for direct instruction.  I placed my focus wall on the dry-erase board.  I type up each week's focus and hang them with clip magnets.

3.  I use every flat surface in my room even if it happens to be a door.  My WOW wall hangs on a closet door in my classroom.  Students each have a clothespin with their number on it.  They hang quality work that they want to share with others on the door.

4.  Behind my easel is the only wall space that is available in my classroom.  Seriously it is maybe 5 feet wide and is sandwiched between my Smart Board and classroom library.  I use the space to hang more anchor charts.  Some are hung with 3M hooks while others are hung on a ribbon strung between two hooks.  I rotate my charts depending on the skill/strategy that we are working on during the week.  Since this space is front and center in my classroom, it is visible from our group space as well as student desks.  (Click HERE if you are interested in seeing all the anchor chart tool kits that I have to offer in my TpT store)

5/6.  I have an very long row of very small cabinets in my classroom.  The cabinets are above the sink and computer area.  I utilize this space for our Indiana History Timeline.  This works perfectly since the cabinet doors aren't large enough to display much else.

The south wall of my classroom is nothing but windows (Don't get too jealous!  My view is of the Village Pantry gas station that is right across the street).  I make the most of this space by displaying multiple things on the windows.

7.  This window displays our math fact masters.  Instead of making a chart to display student progress, I printed and laminated a photo of each student.  When a student masters an operation, their picture goes up on the window.  This is a real motivator!!

8.  This is one of my data windows.  I have a bar graph made out of painters tape for our math topic tests.  This too is a motivator for students.  They can't wait to see if the class average is higher than the previous test!  Above the bar graph is a decorated book spine for our read alouds this school year.  We are hoping to make our way across all of the window shades.

9.  This window displays students' birthdays.  I was lucky enough to find this for free on a blog that I follow, but unfortunately I accidentally deleted the file and can't find the source.  If anyone knows, please leave a comment, so I can give credit to the creator!!

10.  Every teachers needs a spot in their classroom to display all the cute notes and artwork from students.  I hang student creations on the pull down shade behind my desk.  Some are taped to the shade, while others are clipped to the shade and pull chain that opens and closes the shade.

There you have it!  This is how I survive in a classroom with very little wall space.  If you have any ideas that I haven't mentioned or more suggestions for making the most of little to no wall space, please leave a comment below!

Flexible Seating in the Classroom

Hi!  It's Aimee from Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks. This year I began my 22nd year teaching!  Crazy!!  Even after 21 years of teaching, I am still looking for ways to improve my classroom environment.  This summer I did lots of research on flexible seating.  I know that I want to be comfortable when I'm reading a good book, writing lesson plans, or working on a new product, so why wouldn't my students want to be comfortable when they're working in the classroom.  We've been in school for 24 days now, and I can't believe the difference flexible seating has made!  I wish I would have offered flexible seating options years ago.  Students are happy doing their work or collaborating.  Believe it or not, flexible seating has made a huge difference with the off task talking during work time.  It's amazing!

In my classroom, my students still have a desk (many flexible seating classrooms do not have assigned seating).  I wasn't ready to completely give up individual desks.  I felt it was important that students have a "home base" during the day.  This gave me the option of returning students to their seats, and also gave those students who like the comfort of a chair and hard surface the option.  Besides their desks, students have many other areas where they can work.  Here are some photographs from the flexible seating arrangements in my classroom...

My students love the trampoline chairs!  If I had more room, I would have several more of them.  I also have two free standing stability balls that can be moved to any area in the room.

 This area is a favorite of the girls!  They bring their work to the lowered table and relax on the cushions.

 I also have a desk with two stability balls.  This area is great for students who can't sit still for long periods of time.

 My classroom library has many seating options.  I've had the two chairs from IKEA for several years, but this year I added the wooden bench.  I found the coffee table at Goodwill and spray painted it to match my room.  Students like to sit on the floor and work here.  I also have several pillows that students can take to any area in the room.

I love my row of milk crate seats!  Students can sit or lie down while working.

t's been lots of fun coming up with new areas for students to sit.  If you do flexible seating in your classroom, I would love to hear from you!!  I'm always up for suggestions!

Using anchor charts in the classroom

Hi, it's Aimee from Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks.  Today I want to talk about using anchor charts in the classroom.  I love anchor charts!   Anchor charts make thinking visible to students.  Posting anchor charts around the room keeps current and relevant learning accessible to students.  Students can refer to the charts and use them as tools all year long.  Due to wall space, I can't display all of my anchor charts at once.  When a new anchor chart replaces and old one, I still like to keep it available for student use.   Here's how I store my charts:

Anchor charts can be a spur of the moment thing or a resource that is used year after year.  For anchor charts that I plan on keeping, I laminate them to keep them in good shape.  Since chart paper is larger than most laminators, this is how I laminate my charts:

 I also like to label my anchor charts when they're put in the anchor chart bin.  Here's how I label my anchor charts:

If you don't have room to display or store all of your anchor charts, you can use personal anchor charts.  My Anchor Chart Toolkits contain all the pieces needed to make an anchor chart, but also include personal anchor charts for your students.

I would love to hear how you use anchor charts in your classroom!  If you would like to try a sample of one of my Anchor Chart Toolkits, click on the picture below.

Using Jar Activities in Workstations

Hi, it's Aimee from Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks.
Workstation time can be a hectic part of the day.  It can be impossible to keep all students engaged and on task while you are trying to work with small groups.  Through lots of trial and error, I finally found a way to make stations fun and to keep students learning.

I've been using jar activities in my classroom for several years.  Activities in a jar seemed like a great way to focus on certain skills, make stations portable, and keep students engaged.  I get most of my jars at the Dollar Tree.  They are the perfect size, and they're only $1.00!

I keep the jars that students are using at the time for ELA workstations on a shelf in the room that is easily accessible.  

I store jar activities that aren't in use in plastic storage containers.  This makes them easily accessible throughout the school year since I rotate jars about twice a month.

I started with my Voice Jar.  This is still a favorite of all my students.

This jar activity can be used across grade levels to work on fluency through expression.  Students can use this jar with any genre.  They simply choose a voice card out of the jar and read their passage in that voice.  When I taught first grade, I would use this jar during shared reading time.  We would use our different voices to read poetry and other short passages.

I have made 62 jar activities for students to use throughout the school day.  Many of the jars are ELA topics, but I also use them for math workstations, early finisher acitivities, and community building.  One of my favorite jars is my End of the Day Jar.  The end of the day is one of the most hectic times in my classroom!  This jar encourages students to pack up quickly, so they can have an opportunity to pull a question from the jar.  It has been a life saver!  If you would like to try this jar for free, you can download it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Check out my blog for other jar activities!

Teaching students to think about reading

Hi, I'm Aimee from Pencils, Books, and Dirty Looks.

How do you teach students to think about reading?

We all have those students in our class that can read anything.  You know the ones that can decode words like disestablishmentarianism, but the second you ask them to talk about what they've read they're clueless.
I have a class full of above grade level readers this year.  They can decode anything!  Often we forget that decoding doesn't necessarily mean comprehending.  Even the best readers need to be reminded to stop and think while reading.  Thinking about reading is one of my favorite strategies to model.  I made cards to hold up in my classroom to remind students to stop, think, and question during independent reading time.
I display this card when I want students to read:

I hold up this card when I want students to stop and write what they're thinking:

I hold up this card when I want students to stop and ask a question about what they're reading:

I also made a tri fold to display during guided reading groups:

Often my students like to read with a friend, so I made cards to display when students are buddy reading:

And finally, I hold up this card when I want students to stop and talk with their buddy:

The cards have worked really well since I introduced them to my students!  First, I spent a week or so modeling the cards during our read aloud time.  I would stop and think out loud, ask a question about the story, or have them buddy talk about the story.  Next, I introduced the cards to my small groups during guided reading.  Each student has a dry erase dot on their spot at the table.  When I flip the tri-fold, they know to pick up their marker and write.  We don't discuss what they've written until the end.

My next step is to use the cards during independent reading.  Hopefully, within no time, they will become as good at thinking and comprehending as they are at decoding!

These cards, along with an included worksheet for students to write their thoughts and questions, are available in my TpT store.