around my classroom

Hello, Sweet Friends! I hope you are having a good week. I'm here... just trying to survive until Friday and then I get to enjoy one whole week off for SPRING BREAK! My students are literally going crazy with spring fever and we ALL need a break. Thank goodness there is only one more day! 

Anyways... moving on...

Remember when I first posted about my reading beads {btw: reading beads are a GREAT way to track home reading minutes}? Well, let's just say that my students are totally obsessed with them! They have to read 100 minutes to get a bead and I occasionally offer special beads for special challenges.  There will def. be a Spring Break challenge and if they meet my challenge, they will get a special gold bead. These beads have been so motivating and I love how they can physically see how many minutes they have read {it's also been easy to maintain, because they only bring their charts back once a month}. This is definitely something I'll be doing next year!! Look at how many beads they have earned so far {our March calendars are due tomorrow and they'll get to put a bunch more on}:

After seeing a bunch of noise level charts on Pinterest, I decided to make my own version. I also had an empty space to fill and I had to put something colorful there, pronto! On my noise level chart I have magnets on each level and I just move the arrow to where it needs to be. We only use the noise level chart during quiet working time. I usually leave it at a "quiet whisper" and if I ever move it to "no talking" then they know I mean business!

What does your classroom schedule look like? I wanted to post mine, just in case somebody out there can use it! I use this pocket chart {click here to check it out} that I purchased last year and I have made my own subjects. I have a huge stack of different subjects and I switch them out daily -- depending on what I need. I also don't put the times because I am too lazy and because they hold me to it... "Ummm... Mrs. Erickson, it is 11:00 and we should be moving onto Math..." Ya, you know what I mean!

We are also working on 3-D shapes {click here to check them out}. I love my blow-up shapes and so do my students! These bright colors fit right into our circus theme and I love how they hang from the ceiling {they come down easy, too}.  We've been using activities from Amy's Shapin' Up Unit and my students are having tons of fun!

What are you doing in your classroom?