Creating a Calm and Content Rich Classroom - Decorating My New Space

The countdown is on.  After 22 years at the school I started at, I'm moving to a new school this year.  Like any good introvert, the prospect of change is a scary one for me, so I'm excited that my new school isn't so new to me.  In fact, I'm heading to my own kids' elementary school ... and MY old elementary school.  I do enjoy a whole full circle thing.  ;) 

While packing up my old classroom, I decided to change my classroom theme and colours.  I thought this would help me purge more, but the stacks of boxes in my basement report that was a lie.  Oh well.

If you're redecorating your classroom, or just starting out in upper elementary, I have a few back to school classroom decor tips for you, and I will be back to share more as my class comes together to match the calm and organized classroom vision in my head.

1.  Set the Tone with a Calm Atmosphere

Creating a soothing classroom environment is crucial for students to feel comfortable and engaged.  Consider using a soft, neutral colour palette for your walls or bulletin boards, that way you can make the important academic pieces POP on your board, rather than compete with bright colours everywhere.  Cozy rugs or pillows, soft lighting like fairy lights or table lamps, and different textures and fabrics work together to create a sensory calming space that encourages relaxation and focus.

In my new room, all the walls and bulletin boards were painted the exact same bland beige tan colour.  Like, the whole room.  I was going for neutral, but that's a bit much.  I also know my classroom may change in a year or two so I didn't want to take on repainting.  Instead I chose a calming neutral colour theme that matches the walls, and chose to not paper the bulletin boards.  Not buying bulletin board paper leaves me a little extra to get some fun touches for the room that I can't wait to show off a little later when they're done.

I'm using a combination of "Everyone is Welcome" and "Home Sweet Classroom" pieces from Teacher Created Resources to create this calming classroom atmosphere, and adding in some extra special pieces to spark learning and joy.  In an upper elementary classroom, I don't worry as much about an overall decor theme as much as I try to pull together a pleasing colour scheme with matching decor pieces when possible.

2.  Thoughtful Wall Displays

THIS is where the magic happens.  Decorating these wall spaces, like bulletin boards, is very important.  You know your students and their needs better than anyone, so make sure the information on boards is important, relevant, and engaging.  Plan bulletin board displays around their actual work spaces so it is a content-rich classroom environment they can pull from when working.

This is the start of my math wall.  Yes, that's a big chalkboard (it's actually twice that length).  Apparently 50 year old classrooms still have these.  haha.  I used a roll of whiteboard wall sticker to make 6 "thinking boards" for the wall, and this is where groups of 2 - 3 will work on problem-solving while other students work with me, independently, or in small groups.  These groups are always rotated.  

I want to provide students with useful tools while working at the boards, so the first thing I created for my math wall are these Factor and Multiple Number Posters.  I've seen the great skip-counting number posters on classroom walls on instagram, but I knew I wanted something where students could see BOTH factors and multiples, so I made some.  My students really need this visual reference in the classroom.  I will be adding our math response goals next.

My language wall is huge and will need to be divided into smaller sections for morphology, writing. and reading.  I'm actually quite excited about all the space I have.  Since cursive writing is coming back into the curriculum, a new alphabet was put up first.  And then I started on the borders (keeping the same neutral calming theme through all the borders).  As I was finishing up the borders, I got the idea to turn my grammar dots into a fantastic bulletin board border, and I absolutely LOVE how it turned out.  This Grammar Dot Bulletin Board Border includes 45 common grammar errors - ones that I definitely want my students to be aware of as they're writing.  My students used my old grammar dots all the time in the classroom, but the sizes and colours wouldn't work for me this year, so this new resource is perfect.  I can't wait to get back into my classroom and hang it up!

And lastly for today, my agenda wall.  This space is SO important in my classroom - we refer to it all the time, so I wanted it to have the same matching colour theme.  Again, more blackboards, so I ordered magnetic borders this time.  I don't like the way paper borders hold up on blackboards that get cleaned all the time (even when laminated).  This 'motherboard' has everything - our daily agenda, homework, reminders, new vocabulary, learning goals, and catch-up space.  I even started to include our "You Try / I Try" spelling technique on the board last year - just another way to keep them looking at the board.  You will notice I don't have the times beside the subject labels on the agenda board.  Totally intentional.  I have found that when the times are listed, that's all the students pay attention to.  The last 10 minutes of the class are spent watching the clock rather than in lesson consolidation, and that's not an awesome thing.  And I frequently run over time in some lessons, and borrow time from other lessons, and that's perfectly ok.  But the students would struggle with this if I had the subject times on the board.  So, a few years ago I kept the agenda schedule, but ditched the times, and it's perfect.  Students look at it first thing every day, even if it is just to check if we have gym that day. ;)  My Agenda Board Subject Labels resource contains over 40 different labels and subjects, so you're sure to be covered.  Better yet, assign it as a student job and have them post the agenda cards each day.  I leave all the extra cards in a magnetic cup holder beside the schedule.

That's it for now, but I'll keep sharing tips and ideas as I get my new space set up.  Happy Back to School!

You can take a peek at some of my newest resources by clicking on the pictures below.

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Mad Scientist Day

Mad Scientist Day!  This is seriously one of the best days of the year in my classroom!  As a class, my students have the opportunity to earn points for excellent behaviour and excellent learning - with the points going towards earning extra excellent learning days!!!  Mad Scientist Day is our first one of the year.

This is my second year doing Mad Scientist Day.  This year I switched up the activities a bit. Last year we had Mad Scientist Day the day before Halloween, so our activities were very Halloween based.  This year, that wouldn't have worked.  All of our activities are aligned with the science strands we study during the year, so they have a little information to draw from when we get to the particular units.

I "set the stage to engage" first.  A fun costume and a few props did the trick - something quick and easy to set up.  Students were also invited to dress up as Mad Scientists for the day.

Our first activity was a STEM activity for making catapults (tie in to Simple Machines - levers).  I divided my class into small groups and gave each group a plastic spoon, two popsicle sticks and masking tape.  They were also allowed to use anything in their desks.  Last year, before Halloween, I had small plastic rats to use as the load and we called our catapults, "ratapults".  This year we used hershey kisses and "chucked chocolate".  I gave them around 15 minutes to build their catapults.  Once we were done, we had a chucking chocolate competition.  Students had to measure the distance they could "chuck their chocolate" in metres and centimetres.  Each group had 3 attempts, and then we compared and ordered the distances (YAY for a math tie-in!!!).

Next, the little Mad Scientists got to smash some rocks - cracking open geodes for our tie-in to Rocks and Minerals.  I bought some geode kits from Amazon (affiliate link to the product below).  This was definitely the WOW activity for the students.  It definitely took some time to get through the whole class, so I used the time to take some awesome pictures of my students dressed as mad scientists sitting behind the prop desk.

As we completed each activity, students worked in a little Mad Scientist booklet I made for the day (the AWESOME clip art was part of the Mad Scientist Set by Melonheadz Illustrating - you can see it HERE).  For each activity we had to fill in "What we Did" and "What we Learned".  You can download a copy of this booklet I made HERE (just a note - it's not editable if you are doing different activities, but it can definitely serve as inspiration).

Next up was Making Blood Models (tie in to Human Body unit).  I've blogged about this as a full lesson before - you can see this blog post HERE.  Each student had a water bottle.  We added a drop of yellow food coloring to the water for the plasma.  Then we added cheerios (dyed red with a full bottle of food dye) for the red blood cells.  Mini marshmallows were added for the white blood cells, and we used small circles of paper from the hole punch for platelets.  We watched a Brainpop video on blood before we made our models to further our learning.  The students LOVE this one!

For our last activity, we had to blow something up!  Mentos and coke fit the bill - and was a fun tie-in to Matter and Materials.  I have wanted to do this FOREVER!  So much fun!  We added 7 mentos to a bottle of coke (I read online that 7 is the perfect number) and watched the fun!

Mad Scientist Day was a perfect way to reward students with an awesome day of learning they will be sure to remember.  Engaged students LEARN.  Period.

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Get Up and Moving in Math Class

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, hopefully know I'm not much of a "worksheet teacher".  If there is a way to get my students to learn the material without a worksheet or textbook attached, I'm all over it.  And even when a worksheet is necessary to consolidate the learning, I try to make sure it has a certain collaborative or reflective nature to it to take it a step further.

The one area I've been trying to get my students more active in is in math.  Again, I'm not too tied to worksheets or the textbook in math.  My interactive math journals are just that - students INTERACTING with and reflecting on the material - not simply gluing a work sheet into a composition book and completing it with colored pencils (which I have seen way too much of lately ... but that's a post for another day).  We do collaborative problem-solving like my Stick-It Responses and group and paired work with Building Better Responses, and work with manipulatives all the time, but all of these still have my students sitting through the activity.  And that's just not good enough.  I want them moving.  I want them fully immersed in the concepts - mind AND bodies.

I've done a little of this in the past - some work with place value and having the students wear a number and then build different numbers based on questions I've asked them.  I've also done some in geometry where I've asked them to model certain concepts or shapes with their bodies.  And each time I've done something like this, the students have had a blast.  And they retained the information by the end of a unit.  Problem was, I haven't done it enough.

Students modelling an acute angle

And then, just about a month ago, when I was working on a drama circle, I had a great idea to turn these kinds of math activities into Math Circles - just like the drama circles my students enjoy.  I turned the questions I was already using into a more student-centered activity, where they need to collaborate with each other and follow along to complete the instructions on the cards.

Students modelling 3/6 (or 1/2) of the hands in fists

These math circles are just like the drama circles in which there are 40 cards - each one with a different direction or instruction.  Similar to the "I have / Who has" format, students follow the instructions on the card to know when to perform their card.  However, the math circles are more collaborative in that students must work with other students to perform the task.  Because of this, I encourage a little more "turn and talk" at the beginning of the activity - when they first get the cards - this also helps alleviate a little of the anxiety for students who are unsure of how to carry out the task they have.  Also, because the cards vary in difficulty, I can choose which students get which cards when I hand out the cards, so there's differentiation built in, too.

Students modelling an octagon with their feet.

I can't wait to bring these math circles into the classroom in September - starting with Place Value.  I'm going to continue to add sets through the year as we do the activities - I think they will be a perfect Friday activity for review.  You can click on the links below if you wish to see some of the math circles I have already finished:

• Geometry Math Circle
• Fractions Math Circle
• Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Math Circle
• Place Value Math Circle - Whole Numbers
• Place Value Math Circle - Decimals
• Math Facts Math Circle
• Rounding Math Circle
• Factors and Multiples Math Circle
• Numbers Math Circle for Physical Activity

My newest Math Circle is one I've done for years as a warm-up before gym class, or as quick brain breaks in the classroom - Numbers Math Circle for Physical Activity.  It follows a slightly different format, as for this one, the teacher has all the cards.  Number off your students starting at one (I just tell my students their number, but I have also included number cards in the resource in case you think your students may need that physical reminder) and then start reading off the cards.  For example, "If you are a prime number, do 10 jumping jacks".  All students whose numbers are prime will stand up and complete 10 jumping jacks.  It's a great way to integrate a little math review into your phys ed classes, or a little physical activity into your math classes ... and my students LOVE it!  There are 40 different instruction cards included in the resource, but you can pick and choose any number to complete.

If there are any other circles you would like to see, please leave a comment below.  I'm currently working on a few more, but I could always use some great ideas.  Also, if you have another way to get your students up and moving in math class, I'd LOVE for you to share your ideas below.

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Keeping Parents Involved at Home

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how to get parents more involved in the learning that happens at school.

In my board, more and more over the years we have been discouraged from sending home work that is to be assessed.  There has also been a major reduction in homework in general - homework is not something to be assigned for the sake of giving homework - if work is sent home, it is usually something the student didn't complete during class time.  

Now, don't get me wrong - as a parent of three, it's lovely having that home time free of homework most nights.  My kids are quite busy with their extra curricular activities, and we do read nightly at home (along with other learning rich activities).  But, as a teacher, I have noticed an increasing disconnection with parents involved in their students' learning.  Yes, they support the school, and are kept aware of activities and the learning we are doing through newsletters, phone calls, or apps like Remind 101, but they just don't have the same opportunities to get involved in the learning - to actually SEE the learning their students are doing until after the fact when the completed and assessed work is sent home.

I asked my followers on my Facebook Page how they keep parents involved in the learning, and they (as always) had some great suggestions to share.  

• Send parents links to websites or apps to support students' learning (update regularly to match classroom work).  You can even make your own videos to send home (showme app) (Katie)
• Have a "Secret Reader".  Parents sign up for a time once a month or so to come in and read to the class, and then do a craft.  It's so neat to have the kids figure out who the reader is using clues from the parent, and it's also pretty amazing to see which book/craft the parent picks.  (Christina)
• Have a classroom blog or website where the students chat about what they are learning and invite the parents to ask questions and make comments.  Some of the more reluctant students really blossom when their blog post gets comments.  (Carol-Anne)  
• After class assemblies (twice a year), parents are invited into the class afterwards to take part in topic-related activities with their child for the morning.  (Holly)
• Use a twitter account that the students post to about their learning for the day (with parent permission first). (Karen)
• Monthly parent meetings on different school topics.  (Amy)
• Show parents a minilesson during conferences or on parent night.  (Kathleen)
• Have students create youtube videos to share with parents.  (Meredith)
• Challenge students and parents to "beat the teacher score" on online math game websites.  (Alan)
• Send home Friday folders with all the completed and graded work for the week.  (Stephanie)
• Family Math nights once a month - have centers and games with food and music.  (Katie)
• Instead of traditional math homework, send home math games which parents need to play with their children to complete the required homework.  (Ellen)
• Send home half-sheets for parents of each of the standards or expectations in math.  It has the "I can" statements and example problems on one side, and then the answers and any notes/explanations/steps on the other.  (Eildh)
• Have a parent discussion question each week that students write in their planner.  During the week, they discussed it with their parent, wrote the response, and parents signed the planner.  (Krista)
• Send home weekly reflection sheets that the kids write about themselves, their behaviour, and their work.  (Kathleen)
• Have leadership nights where students share their data notebooks and goals.  (Laura)
• Have a science kit with fun experience that goes home with a student to complete with a parent.  (Laurie)
• Setting up online challenges through the class website.  (Marci)
• Weekly homework sheet that has a current math concept, mini reading log, and quick reading piece with short questions to answer.  Parent participation was encouraged.  It kept parents in the loop and gave students practice with current work.  (Kathy)
• Phys ed portfolio that is sent home with a family fitness challenge.  (Melissa)
• Pose a question on the classblog about something learned each week.  Parents check the student responses before they post ... that way they learn about something we learned, and help their children with spelling and grammar.  (Kristen)
• Send home math extension menu activities and get parents to try them out, too.  You can then have the parents do a reflective note back to the teacher about the experience.  (Melissa)
• When preparing for tests, have the students teach their parents a lesson/skill from the unit.  The parents write to the teacher, telling what they learned ... and they get to brag about their child as a teacher.  (Lisa)
• Through the shutterfly blog, you can take pictures of students actually completing the work, and parents can order the pics right through the site.  (Jen)
• In the Friday journal, there are 3 specific questions about the learning from the week.  Students choose 1 of the questions and write a letter to their parents explaining what they learned.  Parents are supposed to write a short letter back to their child.  (Jennifer)

Thinking about this particular topic led me to create my Math by the Month resource.  Once a month, the corresponding math sheet / poster could be sent home for students to complete with their parents.  To encourage completion, students could be given a small reward, coupon, or entry into a monthly draw if sheets are returned by a certain date.  The posters also include the answers, where applicable (some of the questions are open-ended, or depend on the number of students in the class or number of members in the family).  A parent reflection checklist is also included for the parents to complete alongside the student (if desired).  You can take a peek at this resource by clicking HERE.  Be sure to download the free preview (I have included a free poster for you to try out in your classroom). :)

If you have any other ideas about keeping parents involved with the learning at home, I'd love for you to leave them in a comment below.  :)

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