My Polka Dot Classroom and Teacher Gifts

So I actually didn't plan on having my theme be "polka dots." It kind of just happened that way. I'm actually really happy with the way everything turned out! My AMAZING 84 year old grandma made me my BEAUTIFUL polka dot seat sacks and pretty in pink curtains! I LOVE THEM!!! I am so lucky to have her! She is the best!

Here is what you see of my room when you stand at the door.

This is the polka dot themed behavior chart I found for free on Teachers Pay Teachers. I used circle magnets I found at the Dollar Tree and put the kids numbers on them.

Here is my calendar and clock. I used Amy Lemons awesome idea for clock numbers as well. :)

Here is my everyday word wall made out of chalk board contact paper! I actually LOVE it and can't wait to start using it. I put a whiteboard behind my small group area/ desk so that I have a white board to use during small groups.

 Here are my crate seats that I made with the left over fabric I had from the seat sacks. They are so easy to make. I was going to use them for the seats at my small group table, but they are too short for 2nd graders.  I'm storing the extra BIG supplies the kids brought in these so it's easy to get to throughout the year. (binders, folders, loose leaf paper, etc..)

I store the kids smaller supplies in a over the door shoe holder. I write the kids numbers on each pocket. That way if "Joey" needs some more pencils he can ask me to get some for him, and I'll be able to easily get to his extra supplies. It's so much easier this way!!!

Here is my polka dot themed classroom job area. I proudly made this myself. I will be putting this on TPT soon!

This is a picture of my centers and half my classroom library.

I only store one or two centers at a time in each bin. I rotate them out throughout the year depending on what we are learning. Some centers stay the same so the kids really get to know how to use them. :)

Here is the view of my entire classroom library.

I bought these awesome letters at Michaels. A fellow 2nd grade teacher (Melissa White) had the idea to put them on the polka dots so they'd stand out better. That was a brilliant idea!! Go Melissa! You Rock! The second picture also shows my Accelerated Reader board. The first polka dot says, "I earned 5 A.R. points." The second says, " I earned 10 A.R. points"...and so on until 50 A.R. points. I'm giving the kids prizes each time they reach a new polka dot. The prizes start out small (pencil, eraser, book mark)...then get larger( 10 Cubcash, 15 minutes of free iPad time, no homework pass, etc..). Finally at 50 A.R. points they earn an A.R. T-Shirt. I even do prizes for kids that get more than 50 points. 75 points ( lunch with the teacher) and 100 points ($10 Books A Million gift card!!!). The kids were super excited about that one. Needless to say, I have kids going crazy on A.R. already and it's only the first week of school.

Here is my set up for open house. Last year I had the kids make brochures for the new class coming up. I don't know how this happened, but I had less than 18 so I didn't have enough to put on each desk. I decided to put them in a basket so the kids could grab them when they came in.

Here are some pictures of the set up I put on the board. I absolutely love pinterest. I used a similar I idea I found on pinterest and made it my own. I had about half my petals missing at the end of open house. My parents rock this year!!!

Here are some other pinterest inspired ideas. I used one of those garage oranizers for screws for all my small desk items. It actually is keeping me more organized. As I look at this picture, I realize I need more pictures on my pink bulletin board!

Here is how I do my reading and math work shop. I use a flow map so it's easy for the kids to see where to go next. I don't have the kids names up there yet. I'm still in the process of making groups. (We just finished our first week of school!)

Here is the entry to my room. I love it!!! Thank you Melissa for all the polka dots!!!

Last, but not least, here are the teacher gifts I made for all the ladies in my building and on my 2nd grade team. I found them on this site: (Hands On House Wife) and just printed them as size 5x7 at Wal-Mart.Com. I found the frames at the Dollar Tree. Super easy, cheap, and cute. I hope they all liked them!

I wrapped them all in tissue paper, and attached the circle tag I made to the gift. The tags read: "Welcome Back!

 Here's to a new school year!

<3 Callen"

Well, I hope you enjoyed my room! Let me know what you think!

xoxo,

Mrs. Rhoads