Classroom Tour: Burlap and Brights

Hey there, friends! I often get asked what the inside of my classroom looks like or how I set up specific areas. Today I’m going to give you a tour of my classroom but this wont’ be your traditional back to school post where everything is neat and tidy. Most of these photos were taken randomly throughout the school year or at the end of the year last year. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a type B teacher. I’m not good at organization and most of the time my classroom is a hot mess. I don’t have a photo of every single angle of my classroom but I can give you a general idea of what my home away from home looks like. Let’s enter room 205 shall we!

This post contains affiliate links. You can see my disclosure here. 

This is what my classroom looks like when you enter. I have a flexible seating classroom but had to leave my desks in my room. Eventually, the first two groups of tables (where you see the lapdesks) were lowered all the way to the ground).

When you enter my classroom, just behind my door is my student display area. I use these two fastener folders from Amazon to display student work. All year long we add student writing, crafts, or any other work I feel like would make a good addition to our scrapbooks. At the end of the year, I simply take the folders down off the wall and add a cute cover to give to students as end of the year gifts. I love to see how much they’ve grown and this is the perfect way to do it.

Yes, you see a random Christmas craft. I had a student leave mid-year and well I just never took his scrapbook down. Did it drive me crazy, yes but I was also lazy too. 😀

On the back of my door you see my student birthday display. At the beginning of the year, I have my kiddos write their birthday on a whiteboard. Then, they hold them up and I take their picture by each month and place them on the these monthly posters. You can grab these burlap themed posters in my TPT store.

To the left of my student work display I have a large whiteboard with two bulletin boards at each end. The first smaller board holds my Daily Five posters and rotation chart.

My alphabet line has a bright burlap theme. These come in half sheet sizes and two to a page. You can get them here. They are also available in a traditional brown burlap too.

On the other side of my whiteboard you’ll find my math station area. You can read a detailed explanation about my set up in this blog post.

The colored cart holds all of my math stations I have made by standard. All of the baskets and containers you see here were purchased at my local dollar store. The baskets on the top hold our weekly math stations. The purple and pink baskets hold commonly used supplies such as dice, spinners, and dry erase markers/erasers. The Sterilite containers at the bottom of the small shelf hold all of my monthly math stations. I really should probably label those….

Just on the other side of our math station set up is my library corner. Above my library you’ll find these burlap phonics posters (these are also available in chevron and polka dot) and reading strategies posters (free!!).

The white baskets were purchased from Dollar Tree. I’ve used these baskets for four years and only had a few break. If one does, I’ll just go replace it since they are very inexpensive. You can get them here.

I use the black shelf to display seasonal or topical books. The turquoise basket on the floor holds all of our book buddies.

The back wall of my classroom holds my focus wall, writing center, and VIP table. Above you’ll find my classroom rules posters (free). I bought the 8×10 frames from Hobby Lobby years ago.

All of the headers on this board were made with these editable burlap pencil banners.

My focus wall is one of the most utilized areas in my classroom. I use these plastic sleeves to store anchor charts. The mini pocket charts hold all different word lists for the week. You can get the focus wall headers (free) by clicking here.

Journeys Focus Wall Sets —> Click here
Reading Anchor Charts —> Click here
Grammar Anchor Charts —> Click here

My writing center holds all of the materials students needs to write independently. The folders you see are their writing portfolios. The cube holds our monthly writing task cards, fun writing tools (crayons, markers, stamps, etc..), and paper.

Across from my writing center I have a similar tablet that is my VIP area. I have table caddies is special supplies. If I see a student demonstrating outstanding behavior or manners I’ll allow them to sit at the VIP table for the day. Posters can be found here.

Below my focus wall is where I have my interactive word wall. I love this for so many reasons. First, it takes up so little space. Second, kids can add words to it all year long. Third, they can access these word rings anytime they are writing. I teach my students at the beginning of the year to how to use it and take care of it. They are responsible for it all year long. You can get it here.