My classroom

I love my classroom; it is such a beautiful learning space!  When I walk in each morning, I feel so grateful to have such an open, bright and well-equipped place to teach.  I want my students to have the same sort of feeling when they walk in too; warm, inviting and stimulating (but not too much!).

The periodic table (the kids are amazed that my old one has elements "missing" when they compare it to their recent, updated one... an excellent spring board for discussion on the scientific process, how new elements are created and how they are recognized)

In helping my grade sevens, "write like a scientist"... answer stems can help them to support their ideas.

Because I have a large bank of windows, tons of cupboard storage, a fume hood and a smartboard, I do not have much space for displaying student work- just 2 small bulletin boards.  Being that my school was one our government had privately built, my school board does not own the building.  This means I have to follow the rules of the private company and cannot put holes in the wall; no nails, no tacks, no staples unless it is on a bulletin board.  This also limits what I can put up and how.

On one wall is my assessment board.  I post our 4 point scale (Marzano-style) my students and I come up with at the start of the year. I also hang my clear folders for students to drop their various exit tickets as they leave (clear sleeves from a dollar store hung on with binder clips).  Students like to post samples of their work that they feel shows their success.  Here, my nines have posted examples of their classifying matter concept maps.  It is not just the high achieving students that have posted their work as exemplars.  Any student that feels their work shows their best are encouraged to and do post.  Love it!

To fill up my other board until I get student work at the start of the year, I have my skills board (Beaker gets posted and placed all around the room each year... kids love to see where I move him to next.)  Not the most creative, but we do refer to the word wall words and key phrases as essentials each student has to develop to think like a scientist.  I use these phrases when working on goal setting with my students so they focus on their learning rather than setting a goal of a percent.

On one counter, I have my hand-in bins, my popsicle stick containers and my organizational papers students will need throughout the year. Students grab as needed for their binder.

(need to take more pics... a work in progress!)