Tour of Heidi's Classroom

Tour of Heidi's Classroom


Before we start posting about our upcoming projects with our fabulous 2nd and 3rd graders, we thought we'd welcome you to our classrooms.  I'll go first!  I like to think of my classroom as a highly organized tornado of learning.  In other words, I know it looks a little overloaded, but everything has its place, we use and refer to all of what is out, and I take down old and tired wall art.

The view as you enter

One thing you'll notice about both our classrooms is the wall colors!  A little paint after hours works wonders.  :)

 Next is my front nook, where I keep student mailboxes, our classroom contract, and birthday chart.  I take kids' photographs the first day of school holding favorite books and post them around the classroom contract.  These serve as our classroom rules for the rest of the year.  The timer on the right side of the picture is a VERY HELPFUL management tool.  it counts down anywhere from 1-60 minutes for me, and teaches students to be self-managers.  My voice is saved by this little puppy.

Over here is my math corner, where I teach small groups. I keep pocket charts over the teacher bookshelves with math vocabulary and other important charts.  I used to have math small groups on the carpet, but this table keeps them confined a little better, and I won't ever go back again!



I have a weird little jog in the wall in between sets of student backpack cubbies.  I turned this into a sight word wall.  I have 60 or so sight word lists, ranging from K on up.  Each list of words, I printed on 3x5 cards and put on a binder ring.  We try to use these almost every day.  When it's word study time, partners will take leveled rings off of the wall, and use them to test each other or just practice the words however they choose.  Each student knows what number of list he/she is on, and they are tested at least once a week.  A fun way to learn more sight words!


This is my attendance board, and it requires a bit of a back story. I do not have the best memory.  I used to get in trouble for recording my attendance incorrectly.  I would mark some students absent who were sitting in the front row, or I would mark students who were sick, as here in the room.  Not good.  To help, I turned a frame into a magnetic attendance board.  Now I have a student in charge of attendance each day.  That student listens as I call out names, and he/she moves a student's magnet to "absent" if the student does not say "here".  The visual reminder of who we have marked absent seems to help us!  Now, if a student comes in late and their magnet needs to be moved up, the attendance helper sounds the alarm and we get things sorted out.


This is my listening library and Independent Reading seating area. Students are assigned a day to read books on CD (they can't wait for their day!).  They also get to sit on the special spots (hedgehog, turtle, spider, Mario pillow, etc) sometime during the week.  I don't have a better place to put the huge pillows, but they seem to get them stacked back up just fine.

Above the listening library is my reading anchor chart wall.  Right now we're studying reading genres.

I found a hanging shelf at Ikea that is a perfect place to store my personal CD players.  When a student is assigned a CD player to use on a certain day, he/she is also assigned a number (CD 1, for example).  The blue plastic bin just slides out of the shelf, and he/she is ready to go.

My Words Their Way schedule is posted in this area, too.  Each day a new kind of sort is assigned, and students use this chart each day to remind themselves of the task for that day.


 This is a new section this year!  I am now teaching 3rd grade math, which brings the excitement of memorizing multiplication facts.  I wanted to have an interactive, fun and motivating way to keep track of which facts a student has learned.  Each student has a card that has a 3X3 grid on it, with a multiplication set labeled in each cell (one cell is for their 1s facts, another for the 2s facts, and so on).  Attaching the card to the blackboard is a magnet with the student's name on it.  Each time a student passes a multiplication test, he/she gets a sticker to put in that cell.  Once all the cells are filled, they get a reward!  I better think of one quickly.

 This is a vinyl sticker I made over one of our holiday breaks.  I get hoarse reminding students to have enough books at their independent reading level in their book bag, so they don't get bored or run out of things to read.  This is a great visual, and it has helped a lot!

One of my students likes to respond out loud to this sticker.  "Yes, thank you, I DO have my five!"



Students use this chart to know where they are reading each day.  It seems like a lot to keep track of, but it keeps things interesting, students get to read around the room, and if I mess up and don't move a card on a certain day, they are actually quite flexible.  It's worth the time to make.

Giving the seats a predictable schedule also ensures equal access to the seating for all students.

 One of my favorite things for math!  I saw this idea on Pinterest, but adapted it for multiplication.  They are essentially Speed Stacks, but for math.  I have nine sets of them, and each set corresponds to a set of multiplication facts.  This one is for the x6 facts.  On each cup, there is a fact on colored paper.  If a student does not yet know the answer, there is an array on the back to help.  Students must call out the answers before stacking.

 I have gone through many, many editions of student book bags.  I always knew I didn't want students to keep books in their desks - too messy!  I also didn't want them on the back of their chairs as I have lots of students traveling around the room to read.  I came up with a book bag, and this summer I made a class set of them out of sturdy canvas.  With my love of silkscreening, I had to add the bookworm to the front.  I added a clear vinyl pocket so students could put nametags on them.  I attached them to desks with Command hooks, and they are magical.

 Another summer craft project.  Sew magnets into canvas bags!  These are the bags students store their Words Their Way words in.  Easy to grab, and start sorting.   These are helpful, as we only have about 15 minutes for our word study time, and I don't want half of it spent searching for the words.

 This is the view of our group meeting rug.  Daily schedule to the right, daily goals and Reading Workshop learning targets to the left.  The bins below have leveled books in them.  My library wraps around the room, so we can grab something to read pretty much wherever we are.

One last fun craft.  A must for new teachers, or really anyone!  I cut out craft paper with letters on it, and made magnets spelling out my name.  Fun to have on our white board, and they are very sturdy!





Well, that's it.  Welcome to my classroom.

Now it's Katie's turn.