I am SUPER excited about how the Read Aloud Timeline has taken off with this class!  I have written about how I’ve brought many “big kid” things with me to first grade, and how my firstie friends have taken them and run!  So as I was putting yet another timeline image on our wall, I realized it was way past time for an update.

I believe that when I first wrote about our 1st grade version of the timeline we had finished around 9 or 10 books.  As of late last week, we filled up the whole wall!  We have (at least as of today–and the number changes very quickly around Rm. 202) 20 books completed!

This chunk has been completed just since January:

I know you can’t tell the titles because the writing is too small in the picture, but we’ve become big fans of both Baby Mouse and the Lunch Lady, as well as enjoying amazing “big kid” titles like The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo.  Oh, and then there are the 5 Mercy Watson books we’ve roared through in the last month or so, too!  Yep, obviously we’ve come to trust Kate DiCamillo as an author and are now sure that we can read ANYTHING by her and it will be great. 🙂

Because we are such speedy readers in Rm. 202, sometimes we end up with class books and wall pictures that are not yet put together or hung in the right place.  This is just such the case right now: the last two Mercy books are waiting to be laminated and bound.

Well, since this is the case, and I’ve got a couple of days til they’ll be ready to hang anyway, I’m asking for your help in solving a little bit of a problem.  And yes, I stress the little part of that problem–it’s really just a decision we have to make.

The trouble is that we’ve filled up the whole wall (and actually all of the space on the 3 walls I have the timeline attached to!), but since the year is not yet over, we’re not finished creating timeline images that need a home.  So we have a couple of options and need some help deciding what to do with our next images.

One option we have is to go down the wall (or sliver of wall) next to the closet, like this:

Now, this is a totally viable option, giving us plenty of room to finish out the year filling up that vertical space.  You know what bothers me, though?  The pictures don’t line up with the ones on the wall, and as long as they continue to be horizontal (which the next two are), there is that big piece that isn’t attached to the wall.  Somehow I’m sure someone’s arm will run into it accidentally (or dare I say it, on purpose!) and crinkle it or pull it off the wall.  But–it would totally give us the space we need.

The second option (at least that we can see) is to turn the corner and keep the timeline going along the wall by that bulletin board, like this:

Look at all that wall space!  But….it’s practically the ONLY wall in the room that can’t be seen unless you’re standing right there in that very spot by the sink.  And that only happens if you’re washing your hands or getting something from the art center (and you know what’s funny?  See how I didn’t hang self portraits in that spot?  It’s because no one would be able to see them!).  So, again–lots of space, but a downfall.

I know, I know….this is really a small deal in the scheme of the world and not really a big problem (#firstworldproblems for sure!).  But, to a teacher who both appreciates the aesthetic of things and who wants to create the best environment for the learners I spend my days with, it’s teeny things like this that I agonize over.  Silly, I know, but hey–it’s me. 🙂

So will you help me?  In the end it would probably be just as effective to flip a coin or just vote with my class, but I thought I’d ask other (perhaps like-minded) professionals who could help me make the decision based on how they’d solve the same dilemma in their own spaces.  Please?  Pretty please?  🙂  Thanks in advance!