Classroom Reveal!!!

♫ Oh, I can't believe it's happening to me. Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this! ♫

This is my first year having a classroom and I am BEYOND EXCITED!!!!!! I spent months brainstorming themes, scrolling through Pinterest, hitting up the Dollar Spot at Target, going to Dollar Tree, finding music posters on Teachers Pay Teachers...

At long last, my room is ready for classes to start next week! I really hope the children enjoy the space I've created for them. 

Let me give you some background before showing off my classroom. I teach at a small Christian school (which is also a church on Sundays) where the classrooms shift yearly depending on class size and the needs of our school. Last year, students only had music once a week and we met in the chapel. All of my lessons were done on Google Drive. For class, I would pull it up on the laptop and project it onto the screen that hung in front of the baptismal. I used a ton of video resources from YouTube, and online music games. There were no desks or whiteboards (although I did occasionally bring in a small one), just pews and limited space to move. 

This year a large classroom opened up. The art teacher also needed a space to teach, so we decided to share the room. 

We like to call it The Art & Music Studio.
#nontraditionalartandmusicteachers #toocoolforschool 

I absolutely love our art teacher. She's the kind of person everyone wants to be around. I'm very excited to be sharing a space with her this year. So now, let me give you the tour...

The view when you walk into the Music Door. 

There are 2 doors into this classroom. The left door will be where children enter for music class, and they will enter through the right door for art. I debated with myself about where my desk should be, but I chose this spot because I want to see the door from where I sit. 

I have all of my essentials close by. (Notice my crazy big stash of washi tape on the desk? I'm obsessed!) The cute pegboard with buckets I found at Target. It holds my Sharpies, dry erase markers, paper clips, clothespins & pushpins. As the year goes on, I plan to pin up notes from students and artwork from my boys on this bulletin board. 

I really love my desk. It got a major makeover, and it cost me less than $3! The top is covered with contact paper from Dollar Tree. The "Elsa Blue Sparkle" fabric I had at home, and I just stapled it into the edge of the desk. It looks so beautiful now. Before, it looked like this:

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This is my favorite part of the room. I am so excited to have a whiteboard this year! The best part is it cost under $15!!! It is not a magnetic whiteboard, but I'm fine with that. When I was pricing out whiteboards (which are crazy expensive!), my husband told me about Thrifty White Panel Board. You can go on YouTube and find a ton of videos about this, but basically it's thin white panel board (8'x 4') that has a sheen on it. It works just like a whiteboard. It's only $12.97 at Home Depot. It is so light weight, I only used 4 screws to hold it in place. 

I also love having a place to store my ukuleles out of their cases. This will be a big time saver!

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Here is a close up of my Respect board. (And yes, I will be playing Aretha Franklin!) I plan to write a post about this later, but the idea is that we want to show respect- to God, to others, and to the classroom. We will spend time discussing what that looks like and then posting our ideas on the board. Each class is expected to show respect during our time together and can earn "notes" to move along the music rainbow. There will be a class reward at the end of each term if their class makes it to the end of the rainbow. 

My adorable (and free!) 4 Voices Posters will be referenced a lot during the first few weeks of school, so I wanted to have them posted right away. I also have Waddle the penguin to help me teach the 4 voices to my students. (Scroll up to my desk photo and see if you can spy Waddle. He's pretty cute, and I'm glad I could put a forgotten Happy Meal toy to good use!)

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This is the view from my desk. 

I love having learning targets posted at all times. This wasn't an option last year, and I think we lost a sense of taking pride in learning. It's so rewarding to work hard and reach a goal. But the goal needs to be laid out before you, so you know what you're working towards. Yay for posted learning targets!

On the shelf, I have class supplies like clipboards, dry erase staff boards, ukulele workbooks, sit spots, and group caddies. Students will be split into 3 groups for certain activities (blue, green, red) which corresponds to their sit spot color. When it's time for the students to work in groups, 1 person from each group can grab their color caddy for easy supply distribution. My caddies include (enough for 6-7 students each): 

• rhythm sticks
• egg shakers
• pencils
• dry erase markers
• erasers
• a bean bag

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The view from the far side/art side of the room. 

This space will look very different when it's art class. Tables will be set up with rainbow colored stools and art supplies will abound! But for music class, these sit spots will be out (or possibly the stools when the older students play the ukulele) and the tables will be off to the side of the wall. 

The orange line on the floor is to mark the "do not pass" zone during art class. It's a good visual to keep kids away from the music supplies during art. There is a green line basically where I was standing as I took this picture. This will be the "do not pass" line for music class, so children won't disrupt the art supplies on this side of the room. 

That's my room! Thanks for letting me give you the tour. I can't wait to get in there and start teaching!

♫ ♥ Ashley