Classroom Snapshots 2016-2017
By Mary Montero
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Just one more post with classroom snapshots around classroom set up, and then I promise it will be back to my regular content-based blog posts! Now that all of our seating options are in, here are a few pictures to show our different seating arrangements and to get a feel for the classroom I spend my days in! 🙂
Stability Balls
Here is a picture from the front of my room. The paper looks extraordinarily bright in this picture and our rug also hadn’t arrived when I took this, but it does a good job of showing most of our flexible seating options!
I LOVE our stability balls from WittFitt. They have little legs on them and they pop up instantly when kids got off of them. No balls constantly rolling around!
Seated Desks
This is a view standing in the front of the room looking at the door. You can see here the one pod of regular desks that remains. You can also see that we have to store our recess equipment, which is why there is a hula hoop in those cubbies! 🙂
Stools
This is easily my favorite part of the room! I LOVE our green Hokki Stools from WittFitt and so do our students. They wobble and allow just enough movement!
Teacher’s Desk
This is directly on the opposite side of the Hokki Stool table. It is our teacher desk turned student seating area with an IKEA bookshelf to store binders. You can also see some of our storage on the cabinets as well as on the counters. We use the bins on the counters to store our iPads, lessons, lesson plan books, etc. It really replaces our teacher desk.
Here is a close up view of how we use the teacher desk as student seating. On top of the bookshelf, there is a turn-in basket and a paper basket.
Standing Desks
Here’s a view of the back of the room with our standing desks! These are definitely a favorite among students!
Kneeling Desk
Just beyond the standing desks is our sitting/kneeling height table. We have a lot of pillows and cushions for students to sit on. You can also see the way we store our student supplies (in the supply boxes). I love my portable dry erase board, too! 🙂
There’s one MAJOR thing missing from the classroom: a class library. We have had one every year until now. However, our school has a Designated Power Library, with an open door policy and a HUGE variety of books. It’s absolutely phenomenal and has more books than we could ever supply–just two doors down! We are trying the year without a library and seeing how it goes! 🙂
Hopefully these classroom snapshots help you with your own set up. I hope everyone is enjoying their first few weeks back to school. It’s such an exciting time!
Mary Montero
I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.
I'd like to incorporate the fitness balls for seating in my 1st grade classroom but I'm a little leary. I also went on the stool website, but they are a bit pricey. Did your school give you an allowance to spend on your room?
Hi There! I don't suggest having a full class of stability balls, but I LOVE having a few of them as an option. My school gave us an allowance to pilot flexible seating while doing action research on the effects of student engagement, movement, etc. Donor's Choose is also a great option for funding projects like this!
Your classroom looks GREAT! Love the varied seating options, and the cool color theme (I use blue, green, and purple and love it!). We have just one of your standing desks, but I love it (as do the kids). Now I need to look into those stools, and I NEED to know where the elephant rug is from!!
Hi Lisa,
Thanks so much! The stools are ABSOLUTELY amazing! I can't say enough about them. The elephant rug is from Wayfair. It's called the Metro Turquoise Area Rug by Unique Loom. 🙂
Mary
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Your colorful room looks phenomenal – lots of seating variety! The elephant rug is amazing! I'm looking forward to learning more about this power library two doors down. Happy Friday!
Your room looks beautiful! I'm curious to know more about the power library – I've never heard of that. Also, do you team teach or have a partner teacher? You referenced "we" and "our" a lot, so it made me wonder if maybe that was your situation. 🙂
~Cassie
I team teach with a Spanish Immersion teacher, hence the "we" and "our" often showing up! 🙂
LOVE your room! Definitely provides inspiration for my own room!
I am curious what size your stools are. I currently teach first grade and am considering moving up to 3rd or 4th and am wondering if my current 8 stools would be okay in size.