As we already know, our classroom is located in Lincoln Elementary School in Wheaton, Illinois. Wheaton is made up of 90% White, 3% Asain, 3% African American, and 4% Hispanic people. The average family income is $113,000/year.
This year we have 24 students and our classroom will be broken up into four equal groups of six- red, orange, green and blue. The only significance of the colors for each group is physically where the group is located in the classroom. Each group will have their desks set up in a cluster, as seen in the picture below. Students will switch groups at the beginning of every month.
One aspect of my classroom that students really enjoy is our marble jar. Whenever the class as a whole does an exceptional job at a task, they are allowed to put a marble in the jar. Once the jar as been filled with 40 marbles, we get a movie day on a Friday! This encourages the class as a whole to behave well and accomplish their given tasks.
It also may be important to recognize that in our classroom we have many daily routines to keep our classroom running smoothly. Some of these routines include our beginning of the day routine (hang up coat/backpack, take down chair, then start on bell ringer), our lunch routine (sit quietly, wait until your table is called, get lunch, line up), and our end of day routine (sit quietly, wait until your table is called on, put chair up, get mail, grab back pack, line up). These routines prevent choas in our classroom and help us stay organized!