School's Back in Session

School officially starts next week, but for teachers it mentally started about a month ago. As the days got closer to inservice, we began thinking about our Pinterest ideas and how we would design our classrooms and lesson plans for the upcoming year. Since I came late in the year, I inherited a plethora of teaching supplies that needed to be filtered through. I pretty much left the room as is when I came in February, but was very excited to give it my own spin when I got in my classroom a few weeks ago.

My brother came and helped me by hanging border around the room. He did a great job and really saved me because this pregnant lady isn't getting on a ladder.

To bring more of my personality to the room, I bought a Mumford & Sons and a Downton Abbey poster to represent my British taste.

I saw this on Pinterest (this phrase has become a common saying out of my mouth lately) and really wanted a Boggle board for my room. These are actually Scrabble tiles, but I made them work. I'm hoping that I will remember to change the letters around every 6 weeks or so. This will be a fun activity for the students to do when they finish their work and keep their brains active.

I also saw this on Pinterest and thought it fit so well with junior high students. It says, "Before you 'message', 'Facebook', 'Skype', 'phone', 'Instagram', or 'tweet'...THINK! Is it?... True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?" I need to remember this as an adult as well. Bullying gets serious in this age group and maybe this will stop someone from making a bad decision.

 

My classroom in a collage

One more Pinterest idea...I promise! 

We have open house this week and I wanted to give the students something to remember my class and let them know that we are a team. I got the inspiration from Pinterest, but created this on my own. 

I created a tag using shapes in Word and added the text, "We're off to a bright year!"

I attached glow sticks that I got on clearance from Walmart and tied a ribbon using school colors.

Here's the final product.

 

I'm really looking forward to this school year. There are so many positive changes to my school and I cannot wait to see how we will all grow. I'm going to miss the last of the fall semester, due to Eli's arrival, but am working with them to find a suitable substitute for my time off. 

Here's to a successful school year to all of my fellow teachers!