Too Much Pinterest Makes Stacey a Crazy Lady

I’ve been on Pinterest way too much today…and now I have a ton of ideas on how to re-organize my classroom.
I sketched it out and it looks pretty snazzy, IMHO (in my humble opinion), but I wish my brain would learn to shut off at times, haha.  😀

I think my classroom looks good now, but I *love* organizing things and making things more practical and useful and Pinterest is amazing for new ideas.
I’ll try and take pictures of how it looks now once I get back into the classroom on Monday so I can get some comparing and contrasting in.
Sprucing up a classroom is a bit difficult when you only have 2 weeks off per year, so I actually try my best to change things as I go along.  I think it helps keep things fresh and the students get excited when they come in and something looks different.  Example:  I moved the bookshelf from being flush against the wall to perpendicular to the wall (trying to create a nook-like area) and they all got super excited and loved the change.  haha.
I also used to have the tables arranged differently, but it always bothered me that some kids were further from the board than I liked but I couldn’t figure out how to fix it.  Better now though 🙂

Grandma/Family–if you’re reading, my room is roughly the size of your living room (minus the kitchen), but anyway, here are some rough sketches I drew out.  I’m hoping to organize the walls a bit more into bulletin board/typical classroom style.  I’d like to make the walls look a bit neater and brighter.

For the birthdays, I’m using this idea:

http://scrappingwest.blogspot.kr/2010/08/birthday-cupcakes.html

Community Helpers (LOVE THESE!!! And Free 😀 :D)

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/kadeenwhitby/free-community-helpers-posters

I’m planning to put up some velcro and put a spotlight on only 3 or so (depending on space) and change them out every 1-2 weeks.  The pictures are adorable and I love the multi-cultural aspect on the posters as well.  And they’re beautiful 🙂

To make this new wall, I’d also be removing the colors and numbers, which worries me a bit because they still use these for spelling purposes.  It’s also a bit different because with these after-school type schools, we get new students all the time and sometimes without notice, so I don’t change displays too much because there’s likely always a newer kid who might still need them.
However, I found these on Pinterest:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Monster-Theme-Name-Plates-34-Unique-Designs-Editable-767893

They’re nameplates for the desks!  SO CUTE…and practical!  Yay!
Another challenge is that my classes are two hours long and then I change students.  I have 3, 2-hour long classes a day.  They’re back-to-back with 5-10 minutes “break” in between.  Another thing about teaching ESL over here is there isn’t a defined “school year” when you teach in the academies after school.  There’s a heavier registration time, but otherwise the classes continue on.  My particular classes “re-set” every 3-4 months and then we shuffle the kids around depending on where kids are currently at ability-wise.  Some kids work harder and they’re ready to advance and some kids aren’t.  So they’ll stay in the same class or might get bumped down.  (THANK THE LORD that my current school lets us bump kids down to a lower level…several schools (including my last) didn’t want kids to go lower because they thought the parents would be angry and pull their kids out of the school.)

Anyway, I was thinking about getting some of these and laminating them (makes it easy for kids that are new or “trying out” the class).  Then, we could stick them onto the desks with Velcro, and the kids could change them as they came in for the day and hang them up at the end.
ALSO, this would free up some wall space.  😀
Granted, they would still need the numbers, but I could just add them to my fancy new word wall.

I’m thinking of making something out of the little fake window and actually using it to pretend it’s a real window.  I’m thinking of going to Daiso (our version of the dollar store) and getting a cheap curtain to rig up. I’ll laminate some weather words and pictures and we can change them each day.  I’d like to also move the seasons from the front wall to this wall so everything “weather” can all be in one space.

Again, just sketches for now, but maybe it’ll help give an idea better than me just rambling on about it.  Anyway, I’m also hoping to make a little “student center” somewhere where they can get their pencils, erasers, and bookmarks (new idea!) and how to make it look a little better than it currently does.

I need more wall space!!!  I love this idea too!

http://fieldofpoppies.blogspot.kr/2012/09/shades-of-meaning.html

Other things I’d like to do:
*create a super cute and functional reading nook from minimal space for minimal wons (or dollars…)
–I have the beginning stages, but I want better, fun seating for them.  Some throw pillows or cushions for the area and some Christmas lights when the time comes.
*customized pencils would be AWESOME.  Ideally pencils with my name/borrowed from/etc and/or other pencils with the school’s name on it.  I haven’t seen much customization anywhere in this country… Granted, I am in Asia, and the group is more important than the individual usually, but still…the students would freak out (in a good way) if they got pencils with their names on them.  I’ll have to see what I can do when I get back to the US.
*I want to be able to use these or these  or these somehow! 😦 🙂 😦 🙂

And yes, I know, these things cost money, but I don’t mind spending the money when I feel it helps my students or makes them excited.  Plus, I get excited about these things too, so it’s a win-win.  Also, I’m also at work nearly as much as I’m at home (or more sometimes, it feels like) and I’d like to make my second-home as cozy as possible.  I also hope that the students like the room so they keep wanting to come back and that it feels like a little home to them too.

Anyway, it’s late, so off to bed 😀

Edit:
LOOK AT THESE ROOMS!!!!
http://www.theschoolsupplyaddict.com/room-setup.html

AND how cool is this?!?!?
http://newadventuresinfirstgrade.blogspot.ch/2011/09/where-it-happens-wednesday.html

I want to be in their classes!  How do I go back to elementary school?
So so fun!