Classroom Reveal 2014-2015

Hello friends! Boy, it has been a little bit since I have been able to link up to anything or even post for that matter! We are back in full swing of things at school and my first graders are learning routine. I feel so much more prepared than last year and feel like I can relax a bit. I have been busy, busy, busy as you can all imagine and relate to getting settled into the new year!  I am so excited to share with you my CLASSROOM REVEAL! I am a tad upset about how the pictures turned out a little "yellowish" and off colored. The lighting was horrible, but you will get the idea! Sit back and enjoy your scroll;)

This is my most popular TPT product. I finally got it printed and hung up myself and I am in 

LOVE.

These are also available in my TPT store, my ESL students have been using this like crazy! I have one little girl who is from Mexico and does not speak any English at all. This seemed to make her feel more comfortable.

In the black, empty space, I play to add weekly sight words for my students to review as they come to reading group.

I got rid of my teacher's desk to add more space! I spend most of my time grading and working at my kidney table anyway so most of my things are on my shelf behind my table now.

In the blank space is where we added our "class promises" that we came up with the first week of school:)

My apologies, I do not have a picture of a completed word wall. Missing (a,b,c,d) ;)

We do daily behavior grades at my school. The yellow bucket is where students move their folder when they are warned. This visually shows students that they need to fix their behavior. If a behavior continues, they are asked to move their folder to the red and an infraction is marked.

Nose Pickers are large plastic tweezers for students to use when a used, crumpled, tissue is left on the floor to reduce the spreading of germs.

The boy and girl cones are for me to keep track of students. Because I am in reading groups, I wanted to cut down on the amount of disruptions. Students hold up 2 fingers if they need to go to the bathroom, one finger if they need a drink of water. All I have to do is look up, see if the cones are in front of the bins and either nod to let the student know he/she may go or hold up one finger to tell them to wait a minute. When a student has permission to leave the room, he/she places the cone on their desk and takes the bathroom pass. When they come back, they put the pass and the cone away. This is to help me see who is out of the classroom.

No, we do not have doors in our classrooms. I was nervous about this at first, but you are so occupied with your classroom and teaching that you really don't hear others teaching and they don't hear you! At least not your every word.

I hope you enjoyed the virtual tour of my classroom! I am pretty excited about it:) Stay tuned for more activities done in class and other adventures happening in my classroom! Have a great weekend!

Five for Friday: jittery!

Hello all! Happy Friday to you! I know right now most of us are still on vacation so Friday doesn't mean what it usually means for us, but still--there is just something about Fridays that are awesome, right? For me, I know that I will get days off with my husband, that is exciting within itself! I'm linking up withDoodle Bugs Teaching for yet another Five for Friday! I will say this has been so exciting and each week I look forward to reading what you have been up to:)

You have no idea how long it took me to get this picture! Our secretary asked if we would send a passport like photo to her for school. She said they will be using them throughout the year.  Let's just say my face muscles were twitching by the time I snapped this one. I think this one turned out okay?

This was my welcome wall from last year. (Names were placed on the dots) I did a safari/jungle theme and tied it in with everything. I am looking into doing something similar, but obviously not jungle theme and I don't want to do "look who's been spotted in first grade" again. I loved this and I wish I was the type of person that would be okay with doing the same thing again, but I like to impress people with them! Still in the process of looking for an idea. Any thoughts? No theme this year, just bright colors!

How great is God? Seriously? I needed to pass this test before this upcoming school year but I was in a little bit of a time crunch. I was so so so nervous because I had heard what a doozy this test was. Don't get me wrong Texas teachers, this is still a doozy of a test! I just studied 15+ hours and read every single word in the handouts! I could not be more excited about this! God really had his hand over me while I was taking this! I guess teaching is where he wants me to be:)

I am so bummed because I took a picture of my empty classroom to show you all the before picture, but it has been deleted from my camera:/ Well, anyway, I was able to get into my classroom this past Monday and work for a couple of hours. Then we got news that we wouldn't be able to come at all the rest of the week because they were behind on waxing the floor. I was sad, but then I was also glad I came because not everyone got to work in their rooms. You can't be frustrated at the custodial staff because they don't get summer breaks, they work all the way through summer and are doing a very excellent job. So with that, I just used this week as another week to be lazy, relax, get things done at home, and of course, GO SHOPPING! :) 

Stay tuned for a classroom reveal coming your way soon! 

This was my very first sale to ever participate in! Although I am not in the big leagues, I did sell quite a bit! I was very proud of myself and I will celebrate mini milestones! I am still needing followers on my TpT store. If you click on the TpT tab at the top of my blog, it will bring you straight there to show my little store some love! I would greatly appreciate you! I have some awesome bundles and things in my mind to make as I approach them this school year! I think I have 12 followers right now whom I love, but they could use some friends:) Store Name : Kayla Coutouzis

Give you a hint, if you type Kayla COU my name will already pop up because who has a last name like that?! 

This is by far my best seller in case you were looking for something like this to add to your writing center focus wall. I'm very excited to use this in my own classroom. No pressure, just adding this in case you have been searching for something along these lines! :)

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading what I have been up to this week. I love having you here and sharing it with me! Have a great weekend:)