Why sit on a chair when you can sit on a stability ball!

I am so excited to start the 2015-2016 school year and I am even more excited that I have gotten rid of my chair. YES, NO MORE CHAIRS! My awesome teammate received a class set of stability balls last school year to use with her students. This school year our gym teacher had a set that no one was use so my teammate decided to let my have hers and use the other balls (Why??) (the new set has feet so the balls don't roll). 

This will by my first year ever using stability balls in my classroom, but I am up to the challenge. (not really a challenge because I know I will have a great group of students that will definitely use the balls to their full potential)

This is what my classroom looked like before I got the stability balls. 

This is the new and improved seating in my classroom currently!

I created two big groups with my tables to give my classroom more room to walk and other seating.

I made the rings my stability balls sit on out of pool noodles that I cut in half. I held them together with duck tape (for now till I find something better). Great cheap way to keep the stability balls from rolling around when students are not using them. I can sit them under the table or on top of the table when they mop my floors after school. 

With my stability balls comes responsibility for my students. This means there are rules to be followed. Below are my stability ball rules.

I am hoping with the new seating that I see an increase of concentration and engagement from my students. Feel to leave any question you have below or email me at teachinglittlesmarties@gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by :)

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Teaching Little Smarties

I am so happy to link up with Angie at Lucky Little Learners and Ashley at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd this month to talk about bulletin boards.

In my classroom, I currently have seven bulletin boards in my classroom. Below are three of those seven. This is the most bulletin boards I have ever had in my classroom LOL. I like to leave my bulletin boards mostly blank because I hang up the anchor charts we create together on all the boards. I also have a small board in the front of the room that is not pictured that I use for student data. 

I have been following some awesome teachers on Instagram and I can't wait to let my student know what I am reading. This idea can from Literacy for Big Kids. In order for students to be lifelong readers, they have to know their teacher also reads. You can't expect students to do things you don't do yourself!

Below are some tip to save money and set up your classroom bulletin boards.

I love using bordette on my bulletin boards. I don't have to worry about a theme or having to change it later in the year if it doesn't match something in my classroom. Also, bordette is easy on your budget and won't break the bank if you are buying at least four rolls. Each roll will run you about 3 dollars and some change. 

Using the same color border and color paper on all your bulletin board creates a cohesive look throughout your classroom and students attention won't bounce in so many different places because too many colors and cause a distraction. I have also layered my border in the past years and it too can fancy things up a bit. 

This year I decided to save money and not purchase any new bulletin board letters. I have so many great fonts on my computer that I decided to enlarge the font and use it as the letters for my board. In the picture above of some of my boards, I have used KG Fonts and Hello Fonts. I only invested in Astro Bright paper to print on. 

When school starts my boards are empty with some exceptions, I like to leave that space for all my anchor chart I have created with my students. The posters become more meaningful and students will use them more than any store-bought posters. 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Teaching Little Smarties