And so it begins...

It has been an amazing journey thus far...and it's only the fourth day of school!! I absolutely love it!

The rest of the classroom preparations were simple and not too tedious but here it is...

All of my students walked in on the first day of school to a star with their name on it!

From my desk...

From the door...

I asked them to help me make up our classroom rules! I got some interesting responses :)

For the STAR STUDENTS in each of my four classes!

The Super Star Student calendar :)

Mrs. Brannan's area...all others, keep out!

The billion forms to go home on day one and the turn in bins for each class!

Thanks for the cute clock decorations, Auntie Karen!!

Love some Dr. Seuss quotes!

Quote for week one...loved discussing the meaning with my students!

Classroom Preview!

I had the choice between the old ELA classroom (orange) or the Math classroom (bright yellow). Of course, I chose Yellow!! Without even realizing what I was saying, I told the principal I wanted the yellow room because "it will go better with my burgundy diploma frame". WHAT?! Thankfully she still gave me the job :)

Without further ado...

Come on in!

This is what I started with...

Literary Genres

Oh the joy of sorting books. And books. And more books...

Finished product! *sigh of relief*

After a lot of hard work...

For all newsletters and school events...



And the star lights!

Well that's all I've taken so far but there's more to come when everything's finished!

Where did this come from?!

Where in the world did this come from?! I'm a TEACHER in Lexington One! I am still in shock...

I can't wait to meet all of my 90ish "STAR" students next week! I love getting to know all of my Pelion Middle family and getting my room set up just the way I've always dreamed it'd be. I am almost done setting up my room and I'm working on getting my parent letter and information sheets (all the stuff that parents hate on the first day of school) typed and ready to go home to my students. Next Monday night is Open House so I'll have to let you know how it goes!

 I'm going to have to get used to the fact that my students have lockers! I never expected to have "locker duty" during the day and have rules about students going to lockers at certain times.

My room is decorated with tons of stars and my students will be '"shooting for the stars" all year! I hung a string of star shaped lights at the back of the room and I am going to make a wall display that says Learning Is A Blast decorated with a rocket headed toward the stars. I am going to have a Star Student of the week for each of my four classes, which will be an earned title based on behavior. We are using PBIS, or Positive Behavior Intervention System, in our school which is designed to increase desired behaviors and decrease unproductive ones through positive reinforcement.

Pictures to come soon!