Room Remodel Updates

So, as I mentioned awhile back, my classroom is getting a redo.  My room was quite small, but I actually really liked it that way.  The only problem was that when you put 30+ bodies in there, there was always too much talking because of proximity.  It's hard not to talk when someone's foot is on yours, or someone coughs on you, or someone breathed to loudly.... you get the picture.  Since I will also be teaching 8th graders as well, I needed more space.  Eighth graders are huge these days!

Although the room looks good, I'm struggling with how I am going to use the space.  I have lost my instructional, focus wall.  Here are some pics to explain:

So, this is my room the last week of school... A total disaster, but it was the last week...

It wasn't ideal with my desk space right in the front, but it worked great for using the smart board.

The bulletin board right next to the door was for student information: lunch menu, calendar, band lesson schedule, announcements, etc.  A little worried about losing that. 

This is what my room looked like on the last day of school (5 days later - miracle!)

Kids help clean and pack up rooms here, so it went pretty quick.

(My "little" was is standing in the doorway telling me

to hurry up.)

Here is what that wall looks like now!  Half of the wall is gone!

The room next door was only used for TAs and small group instruction, so they took half of it and added it to my room.  A small white board will be put on the half wall to replace the big one I'm losing for my smart board, and I will probably put my materials and turn in table underneath it.

So when you look at this picture, my desk area will now be next to the blackboard in the new space.  I thought I would be getting more storage space back there (I don't even have a closet), but they will be putting the student cubbies behind the half wall.  The kids used to have lockers in the hallway.  They were the only class to have lockers, which was a bit of a problem; but the bigger problem was that a parent complained that the lockers were too difficult for their child.  Seriously.  So the lockers are gone and all of the student stuff will be in that back corner.  And I don't get the book storage that I desperately need.  (Tear, sniff...)

This is the area where the student cubbies will be

and not my classroom library. ;(

I think that I will put the announcements on that back wall in the cubby area. 

Here's another angle of where my desk will be.

The chalkboard is from the other classroom.  I am going

to try figure out a way to cover it so that it will be a bulletin board. 

I know the rolls of cork are not that great - too thin to stick tacks into, and they crack.

The tiles are sooooo expensive and I would need about 40 of them.

Have to find a cheaper solution.

On the wall with the door, I had a white board where I posted "I can" statements, materials needed, and agendas for each class.  I had it divided into 4 columns which worked slick.  Under the white board was the materials and turn-in table, and under the table was where we kept crates of their interactive notebooks.  Gone.  Here is the transformation:

Again, last week of school, so forgive the disaster.

Are you starting to get the picture of how small it is?

This is what it looked like on the last day of school.

While we were at the final, all-school mass, the building manager

already had the smart board taken down!

(My "little" again, not so patiently waiting)

And this is what it looks like now. 

My smart board will go under the clock. 

I'm going to have to cover the window in the door or the kids

will be looking at everyone walking by and not the board.

So, you probably notice I do have the bulletin boards next to the pole.  Well, those are my only bulletin boards.  The small one is for English materials, the larger one is for 6th grade literature.  I have no idea where I will put eighth grade stuff.  The wall to the right has a very shallow storage area for all of the lit novels, so, no wall space there, and the "new back wall" is weird - low windows that look into the library that are not the same size or centered.  Nothing will stick to that wall, so, again, no options to hang things.  Here are a few pics of the other two walls:

The wall of "No-Stick"

The only things that I have found to stick to it are 3m strips.  

Putty works for about 3 weeks or so and then needs to be replaced.

That gray thing on the right is my file cabinet and I had

a table next to the file cabinet as part of my teacher area.

The back on the last day before the final clean up.

Table cloths are hanging over the novel shelves to protect it from 

construction dust.  Didn't really work. (more tears)

One other change this year will be that instead of tables, I'm getting desks.  Again, not my choice but the principal didn't like how the tables made it difficult for kids to have their own space in such a tiny room.  

So, I am looking for ideas how to set up my new space.  It will be a bit awkward at first, I think, but if I really plan it out, I can make it work.  Please share if you have any suggestions!  I will post updates when I get started setting up in August.

~L 

The Capstone that Ate the Summer

Oh.  My.  Capstone.

I have to finish my capstone.  I had planned to do it next spring, but then after some registration complications (not mine), I ended up in the capstone class this summer.  Without a topic.  And it's a shortened class due to summer term.

I scrambled like crazy because I was not prepared at all.  I had three potential topics floating around in my mind over the last three years, but when it came down to it, I made the decision based on time and the ability to complete the project while working.  Is that lazy or efficient?  Regardless, I do not feel lazy as this capstone is taking up all of my time.  In fact, it is eating my summer up right before my eyes!  My daughter was crying the other day because she said all I do is homework.  Stab.  Stab.  Stab straight through the heart.  After that, I decided that I would do the best I could with the time I have after she goes to bed, and that will have to be enough.  Summer is short and she is only 7 once.  In the end, it may not be perfect, or even my best work, but it will have to do.

So here is my research question:

I picked this topic for three reasons.  First, I teach middle school lit.  Second, our school is working with our fifth and sixth graders in a perseverance program that includes growth mindset.  Finally, I chose it because I have to rewrite the 6th grade lit curriculum anyway, so then I can make the curriculum writing my capstone project.  Boom.  Two birds.

There are only two weeks left of the class, and I should have the first three chapters complete by that time (introduction, literature review, and project description).  Fifty to seventy-five pages.  No sweat.

I'm hoping to get back to work on my TPT products very soon.  I'm finishing my Reading Strategies for Informational Text Bundle, and starting a back-to-school, literature pack.  I will also be sharing all of the work I develop for my Growth Mindset Literature curriculum, so that is something I am really looking forward to creating.

Tomorrow I hope to post pics of the room remodel!  It's coming along so I'm looking forward to figuring out how I will use it!

~L