Classroom All Set For the New Year

I keep to a pretty minimalist design when setting up my classroom. The kids will fill it up with their little projects and personalities. Too much cutesy stuff makes me feel overwhelmed so I try to keep it as calm and bright as possible. Here it is, before 29 maniacs take over tomorrow. 

Library and listening center. Lots of cushions to veg out with.  I found this log cabin wood paneling bulletin board paper at Michael's and went a little nuts with it. I'm planing to fill the board with their writing and artwork.

I'm trying to create an "Engineering Center" filled with different types of blocks to create architectural designs. We have bamboo blocks, natural wood blocks, magnet blocks and more.

Here's the meeting area. Pretty run of the mill. I used to make all this stuff but this year I just bought it from Lakeshore. Ain't nobody got time for that. I teach on the rug but the kids have assigned seats within the circle. They also have assigned tables. I have a very progressive ed background, but I've really had to tighten up certain classroom procedures as my class size has grown (and grown…and grown).

Little Dramatic Play area with puppets and stuff to play Farmer's Market.

Teacher's area with tree. Changes seasonally. Makes everyone happy.

Too dark picture of my plants. I've always wanted to be the kind of teacher  who has plants in her classroom, wears dangly earrings and has a rain stick. Unfortunately, the kids pulled on my earrings and my rain stick broke open two years ago causing a great deal of chaos amongst my most challenging class. The plants will have to do for now.