Back to School 2014: Where Tuesday

I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' for the Back to School 2014 Linky Party! Today I'm going to tell you about where I teach.

List of topics for the week below. It's not too late to hop in!

I teach in an elementary school on the west side of Albuquerque, NM. We are a medium sized school (600 kids) in a very large district (139 schools). My school is designated as a Title I school, but just barely. The majority of the population is Hispanic. We are blessed to host a district program for highly gifted students, which means we get 3 full time gifted teachers!

My class is currently at 21 students with 11 girls and 10 boys. They are a very talkative crew and gave me no honeymoon period. They started school on August 13, so they are still new to me but I can already tell that they will keep me on my toes.

I also team teach with my sister! She teaches reading and writing, while I teach math and social studies/science. We are going to work together to teach technology. I won a grant in the spring to get a dozen iPad Minis for my class. I can't wait to get my hands on them!!! It is going to be an awesome year!

My school is O-L-D. I have never had a beautiful, new classroom. Sniff sniff. My classroom has mismatched (and decrepit) furniture but I make the best of it by having fun and bright colors on anything that will stand still. Luckily, we are going to get a completely brand new school in a couple of years and I'm lucky enough to be on the building committee. I've had several meeting with our awesome architect about what we'd like our classrooms to look like and we even got to take some field trips to see other schools to get ideas.

You can't see the burnt orange cabinets on the left...but you can trust that they're hideous!

I am a bibliophile (book lover) so my classroom library is fully stocked. I took on the challenge of finally trying to organize it this year and I'm so glad I did. Not every book is categorized but many are. I also have a hoard of books behind my desk that I use for read alouds. I try to visit my public library a couple times a month to get a selection of books on the topics we're studying to augment my collection. This is usually the most popular section of my library.

This is less than half of my library. See the books in bins along the wall (my desk is back there too)? Those are MINE!

I am obsessed with technology. I have begged and pleaded for more, more, more! I absolutely can't live without my interactive white board. In fact, the projector went out for a week last year and I felt like I had lost a limb. I'm spoiled and I know it. We have two computer labs in our school for us to use but we don't have a technology teacher, so I get to design lessons for my little darlings that are really aligned with what I'm teaching at that time. I also have 5 computers in my room that I use as stations or for fast finishers.

Interactive White Board as a math station

Using an iPad to scan QR codes on task cards.

Well, that is my 2nd home! I can't wait to be in a new building and classroom, but that day will be here before you know it! Click the button to take you back to the Blog Hoppin'.