Back to School...First Grade Classroom Tour!

Hello there! 

I'm so happy you stopped by for a visit. I have been absent for quite some time and I am truly sorry. I have been meaning to blog but it seems like life has been getting in the way. I had good intentions to blog over the summer when I was off work but I worked a lot over the summer getting lots of little things accomplished as well as preparing for a new grade level this year. Of course, over the past month I have been preparing my classroom and now I am going into my third week of school with my firsties so life is still busy. Add the beginning of our bathroom remodel to that and oh my! Life is great though and I am so blessed. Now...hopefully I will be sharing a new bathroom with you before too long and then a new bedroom after that, but for now, I am sharing my new classroom.

Welcome to Mrs. Vicky's First Grade Class.....

Here is my desk and little office space in my room. I love the setup and especially love the ribbon garland and faux chalkboard look I created on the front. 

All of our classrooms have a full size stove in case we want to do any lessons involving cooking or for party days and so on. I rarely use mine and would rather not have it, but I just decorate around it.  I loathe the mauve color of the cabinets...our school was built nearly 20 years ago and it was popular then.

Here are a few close ups of this area....

My mini fridge and microwave are in the far corner near the back door leading outside. I decorated the top of the cabinets with a few new things as well as things students have given me over the years. The back of the stove also holds things students have given me. I made labels to put on the outside of the cabinets telling what is inside. This will be helpful for substitute teachers and students as well.

My reward system and some student supplies.

I added the monsters after the first picture was taken.

Above the water fountain area. 

Here are some random views of the room. I won't explain everything but if you have questions about anything, be sure to ask. This is standing near my desk from left to right around the room.

The door below is to my HUGE closet. It is amazing...I need to take pictures. I have two closets...the other one is used to house extra first grade curriculum and supplies.

Here is the door to the other closet.

My small group area...still tweaking!

The student library...which they love! The rug came from Ikea. I have wanted it forever and finally bought it this summer.

The hubby helped me make this little bench. It took two file crates and a piece of plywood...all of which I already had. I just bought a new piece of colorful fabric to cover it and he attached it to the crates for me. The pencil pillow also came from Ikea. This is a favorite thing in the room!

I made the button banner to go with the rug.

My schedule which changed slightly so I am redoing it tonight.

My chair in our whole group floor area where we learn reading skills.

This board is to the left of the chair so students can easily turn to see it.

My behavior chart which goes along with an online program I use called Class Dojo.  They get rewarded for positive behaviors which encourages them to try hard to display good behavior. They each have a clothes pin with their name on it and clip up or down on the chart. They get to draw a number to one of the drawers you saw earlier when they get 25 points. The drawers hold a variety of things...candy, toys, fancy pencils and erasers, coupons for things like sit at the teacher's desk for the day or eat lunch with the teacher, etc. The students love it so much!

Our class motto.....

My writing board which will eventually have some things on it...lol!

I am using flexible seating this year and students can choose an alternative "seat" and choose where they want to sit.

Here are some more options. The counter holds our chrome books. Every child in our district has one this year to use at school. High schoolers get to take theirs home. 

My para pro's (teacher's aide) table. She is with me for half an hour a day and works with two groups of students during centers.

The birthday cupcakes now hold student  birth dates.

Another view of my small group area.

This was taken on Meet the Teacher day. I had paperwork in the folders for parents and a treat for the kids.

One of my Ikea carts holds math manipulative's.

Another favorite of the students...lol!

This area is to the right when you walk in from the hall. I have work posted there now. The student cubbies are to the right and left when you walk in from the hall.

I used paint chip cards from Lowe's for labeling the student cubbies this year. I love it! They each have a book bin that matches in their cubbies now. I should have taken a new picture. They store backpacks and lunches in their cubbies as well as a few books in their box.

The cubbies to the left of the door and the student mailboxes where I put their graded work and notes to go home.

Tissues and hand sanitizer are essentials in a classroom! I bought this colorful place mat at Ikea and it houses these things nicely.

A few close up shots of the area behind my desk. A parent made me the burlap painted pencil a few years ago. Another parent made the straw dispenser full of pencils last year. It has a teacher quote on it.

I have tons of necessities in my teacher toolbox...paper clips, binder clips, band aids, and so on. It is so handy...I use it all the time! The colorful words like teach came from the Target Dollar spot over the summer. They had the cutest stuff this year. 

One of my favorite things this year is my organizer my amazing hubby built for me. I labeled it using vinyl letters I cut with my Cricut (which by the way has been so handy). I have one slot for each day of the week and one for extras. I put my curriculum for each day in the slots. I have laminated some bright colored paper to divide them if I have two weeks worth inside. The middle holds my most used binders. This piece has been a lifesaver. I am all about organization as most of you already know. :)

So, I know that was super long...but I hope you enjoyed visiting first grade for a bit. My classroom is my home away from home and it is very special to me so I wanted to share it with you. I am sorry I haven't been around much lately. I actually visited everyone a week or so ago but didn't get to leave comments. I am trying to catch up today between helping the hubby with the bathroom demo. It's a mess but it is going to be so worth it! Have a beautiful week my friends and until next time....

Craft Room Update Reveal

Hello friends! 

I am so excited to welcome you into my newly redone craft room...aka...my happy place! It is definitely making me happy these days. I have been wanting to repaint and refloor for a couple years now and am so excited that it is finally done. The walls are a very pale grey called Possibility by Valspar. It goes really nicely with the flooring and the existing white walls. I just love it!

Ready for a tour? 

Grab a drink and maybe a snack...it might be a long one!

Here is the view from the door. It makes me smile every time I look in at it.

Come on in....you may want to sit in my new grey butterfly chair. I wanted a comfy new chair for this spot but really don't need to spend the money on one now. I found this one at Big Lots for $35. The color is perfect and it is so soft. I can move that vintage case under the window over for a foot rest when I sit there. I have a blanket over it to make it softer.

We'll start with the Kallax shelf that I have shared on Instagram. I purchased this amazing shelf from Ikea for $109! It is such a well built shelf and was super simple to assemble. The hubby and I were very impressed with the ease of the assembly. This unit holds so much goodness! The 3 blue bins hold fabric. I got rid of some to make it all fit in these 3 bins. They are stuffed but they held it all. The other shelves hold a variety of items.

This cube holds my Crayola collection and my antique teddy. 

This one holds paints and paintbrushes. The box beneath the tray is sand paper and other supplies I might need when working on a paint project.

This one holds a few vintage Pepsi bottles, a wooden box full of colorful fat quarters, and my various twines.

The other cubes hold things like scrapbook albums and papers, my sewing machine and sewing supplies. and a host of other things. Moving to the top, I added this tiered wire basket that used to be in my bedroom closet. I used it to hold my vintage pillow case collection which I love! I also placed a vintage canister beside it with my nesting doll from Prague. The New York apple is a Christmas ornament I picked up on my trip in June. It looks cute sitting here for now. 

Moving to the right is my stub jar and my vintage Polaroid which is sitting on top of my Chatbooks. Chatbooks is an app that places all my Instagram pictures in these little albums. They send them out every 50 pictures. I love them! If you are interested in signing up, let me know. I think I have a referral code that saves you a few dollars on your first book. They are around $8 I think.

Next up is my letter board I found at Wal Mart for just under $10! I was so excited about this since I have been wanting one for months now. I spray painted the frame gold. A little decor sits beside it. 

Last is my marquee "V" and a ceramic dish that houses thread and pins I use frequently. My little TV sits on top of my Dish Network receiver.

I think the top turned out really cute! I especially love the bunting hanging over it all. That was handmade by Kelly-Anne from The Diary of a Country Girl. She sent it to me a couple years ago and I just love it! If you don't know Kelly-Anne, go pay her a visit. She is a precious young lady. She and her family recently lost their home to a wildfire yet she remains so pleasant and full of faith. She is an inspiration. (If you are reading this Kelly-Anne, please know that you and your family are in my prayers,)

Moving around to the right you see this wall to the left of the window. Not much changed here...just a couple pieces of decor. I added that vintage chalkboard that I found at school in one of  the trash piles outside a teachers door.

To the right of the window I added my corner shelf that holds paint, paint, and more paint!  I placed my Harbor Freight caddy on top which used to sit on my large desk.

A little closer view. I hung a couple things above it. The pink flower painting with the blue background is a recent art project with my kinder teacher team. We all painted the same thing just using the colors we wanted to use.

Moving on around is my big wooden desk. Not much changed here either. I did rearrange a few things on top and on the desk top. This piece holds a lot as well. It holds lots of stationery products, rubber stamps, and many different embellishments. The wire basket on the desk top holds a few future sewing projects. 

Beneath the desk is different now. It used to house bins full of pictures and memorabilia which now reside in the closet. The cart to the right holds scrapbooks papers and embellishments. It sits in front of a cart you can;t see that is full of Christmas craft supplies. The cart on the right holds yarn and a few other things and houses my printer. It rolls out easily when I need to use it.

I was thrilled to find a steal of a deal on this piece. It is an Iris cart. You can find the Iris containers at Michael's. They are $10 each but you can get them on sale 3 for $10 occasionally or 2 for $10 pretty often. I already had 5 of them but they wouldn't fit in the Kallax unit so I needed this cart. It usually costs between $50 and $65 for the cart and 6 containers. I found it on Jet.com for much less and ended up paying $26 for it! Score!! I am taking the containers I already had to school to use for storage there.

The top has recesses to hold things which comes in handy when I am scrap booking my pictures every month. I just finished my June pix a few days ago.

There's the printer cart again.

Here's the left side of the unit...

the middle...

and the right side.

My file cabinet and file drawers sit to the right of the big desk next to the door, My basket of wrapping papers sits beside it. On top of the file drawers are vintage apothecary jars full of embellishments....buttons, beads, rhinestones, and so on.

My Raskog cart sits in the little corner across from the doorway. My trash can sits beside it. 

The cart hold lots of different things. And the trash can is full...sorry! Real life there...I have been using this room a lot lately.

Moving on around you see my desk chair. I placed an afghan on it for some cushion.

Behind the chair are these two little yard sale shelves. They hold things I reach for a lot...my bill pay box, a basket of lotions and tissues, markers and colored pencils and so on.

The glass desk top is held up by two inexpensive shelves. You see this one when you enter the room. I have a variety of books and planners on the bottom shelf as well as camera batteries. The pink box holds cell phone accessories. I recently upgraded to an iPhone 7 plus with loads of storage. I am loving it! A few other things fill the shelves.

Here's the view from the end.I am loving the light we installed. I picked it up on sale at Michael's a while back. I was happy to finally get to use it.

I love the gallery wall above the desk. I already had some of the pieces, but I did purchase the large gold mirror on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $16. The small white peg board to the right was a Target dollar spot find for $5. I would love to have a large per board but simply don;t have the space in my small room. This little one makes me happy though. I just changed it a bit and will try to remember to put a picture on soon.

On top of the two slim shelves are my two vintage mail holders which hold stickers, note pads and so on. I use things in here a lot and like them out where I can see them.

My washi tape drawers are within reach as well. The gold polka dotted container holds things I use in my planners. The acrylic container to the right holds file folders.

I purchased a real succulent at Ikea and have managed to keep it alive so far.

I have had this spinning book easel for a few years. I painted it and now house my current planners on it. The rose gold one is my new fitness planner and the other one is my weekly planner.

A pitcher with sold flowers, a wooden box with jars of pens and pencils and a small picture of me and the hubby taken last summer in Charleston round out the space.

Down the right side is my stapler, tape dispenser, post-it note holder, and coaster as well as my to do list pad.

This is the view of the desk from the window. I placed another chair on the other side. Someone can sit there with me or I can put my feet up on it. 

If you read all the way to the end...thank you! I told you it was long...sorry! I wanted to get it all done at once since I am having a hard time getting around to blogging lately. I have been getting so much done though so it's all good. Another recent project I crossed off the list was cleaning out and organizing the shed. Not fun...hot and sticky in good old humid Florida, but it is done and I am happy about that! I hope you are doing well. I hope you have a wonderful Friday and weekend. 

Until next time.....