Our 2nd Grade Classroom

It's been awhile since my last post, my camera wasn't working at all and now it still isn't working very well but I'll take what I can get! Please excuse the not-so-great pics, I'm working toward a new camera.

We remodeled the classroom again over the summer and this is my favorite setup so far! It may not look like much but it's definitely the most functional.
I took a pic of each wall so you could get a feel for the way it's set up. (Click the pics for a larger view).

Here we go...
This is the (partial) view from the door, and my favorite wall. It doesn't take much money or space to get a classroom organized and functional.
I bought a couple of used bookcases from Craigslist and separated the shelves by subject. As you can see, I still have a lot of space left over as I'm still trying to figure it all out. The cart on the left holds supplies like construction paper, pens, glue, that kind of thing. The cart on the right is our "Postcard Writing Station". It holds our postcards, stickers, stampers, postage stamps, and all the other fun stuff that you need to send postcards. (I'll blog another time about our postcard adventures.)
The box on the far left, mostly covered by the chair, is busywork. Things like folder games, flashcards...extra stuff for Nate to do in between lessons or if Mommy is still catching up with him. ;)
You can see Nate's desk toward the bottom of the pic. It has a lift up top with storage. I love this because he feels like he has his own classroom space. I'm teaching him to keep track of some of his own things like his journal, history notes, etc. I got this desk from, you guessed it, Craigslist!
His desk faces this wall which is where 80% of the learning takes place. I found two of these giant whiteboards, again, on Craigslist! I love that site! You can see how I use the clothespin hangers to change out posters as the year moves on. My walls are thanking me.
The small bookshelf is where I keep extra teaching materials that aren't part of the required curriculum. Also random supplies. The picture over the door are symbols for "scholarly knowledge" and "wisdom" hanging in the "Skills and Knowledge" section of the room. (I dabble a tiny bit in feng shui). The wall to the right of the door. Here's the other whiteboard but we use this one mostly for things that stay up for the day or even for a whole unit. Also holds our "Daily Journal Question". I don't teach from this board.
Then we've got the huge desk, (from Craigslist lol), with Nate's computer on one side and mine on the other. Some of his assignments are online and we also do some testing on the internet. Don't mind the mess.
Here is the opposite wall to the last pic. This one is not done yet. I plan on getting a 1x5 expedit (Ikea) bookshelf to lay on it's side in that space as soon as I find one on Craigslist. :) I'm going to pad the top and make it into a long reading bench with lots of storage underneath. My goal is to get a mini library started in the classroom.
Originally, I had planned to fill this space with floor to ceiling shelves but I realized after purchasing the white bookshelves that we just don't need it.

Luckily, we have a whole room that we can dedicate to a classroom but I've seen many people use just part of a room, a closet, or a desk with storage. Remember, all of the major purchases for this room, (except for the computer and printer), were bought 2nd hand, you don't need to spend a lot of money to have a classroom.