Classroom Set Up Day 3 & 4

My oh my! I truly had no idea how much work went into getting your classroom ready for the 1st day of school. But if I do say so myself it is turning out perfectly! I still have some work to do but I think it will easily be ready for next Monday, the 1st day of school.
Last time I blogged I asked what to do with all of this empty cabinet space and was given a wonderful suggestion by a fabulous blogger. So I started a bragging spot with a place for each student to hang work they are proud of. I think it turned out beautifully!
My dear mother and grandmother came and helped for quite a few hours this weekend and they were so kind to organize our bookshelf, doesn't it look gorgeous?!?
Now I just have to buy a new rug, make (well actually have my mother's upholstery shop make) a few pillows and our reading corner will be all set. I tried to buy a pre-made rug at Walmart but nothing fit my sizing, so I am thinking I will go to a carpet place tomorrow and pick out a remnant. What do you do for your classroom rugs?
My mom and grandma also helped me start organizing the desks and the students books. It is really all coming together.

Today I also had the help of a very dear friend, who put on nametags and set up pencil boxes. I feel so lucky to have so many people willing to help me.
I may be a little ambitious, but I think I may be able to finish, aside from lesson planning with one more full day in my classroom.
Can't believe in one week. I will be teaching 1st grade with a wonderful group of students and very talented staff!

Classroom Set Up Day 2

I did not accomplish nearly as much as I had hoped to today, but my classroom is coming along. I had no idea how much prep really went in to setting up a classroom. My sister and I were discussing today we didn't even know if our elementary teachers had bulletins, if any of my teachers are out there I am very sorry for not appreciating all of your hard work, I always remember the rooms were organized and clean.

I almost finished two whole bulletins. I have decided that I will go with a spot or polka dot theme, so this is our morning meeting spot board. It has a calendar, a hundreds chart and a few other items necessary for our morning.

I found the most adorable polka dot labels through pintrest, which linked me a great blog, PreKinders, if you're interested the labels are on her TPT for FREE, that's right FREE. Anyways being that I LOVE polka dots I was so excited to put them in my classroom:
On a side note, I have decided that I will "borrow" the pencil policy of one of the teachers, I did a long term sub job for, each student is responsible for getting 1 sharpened pencil at the beginning of the day. If/when that pencil needs to be sharpened they may hold 3 fingers in the air and wait for me to dismiss them to trade their pencil. What's your policy on pencils?

I also found this great idea on pintrest, students must highlight their name before turning in their paper, to ensure less no name papers. What do you do to avoid no name papers?


I added polka dot fabric to my overhead table in hopes of sprucing it up a bit. What do you think?
This is by far my favorite thing I did today. I just love how it brightens up the whole room and just makes me happy =)
The cabinets behind my desk however need something. Any ideas? I found this stick on calendar and message board at Target, but it needs more...
I won't be in the classroom tomorrow because I need to run some errands before school starts up again. But I'll be back on Thursday so I'll update then =)