Using Vintage in the Classroom

Next Tuesday school starts in the Toronto District School Board. I'm looking forward to the school year. I've got a great class and it's a straight grade five this year. I thought I'd share some snaps I took today.

The calm before the storm. I have 28 students so far. I guarantee the room will never look this tidy again, but that's alright. I'd rather have a cluttered room with a lot of learning going on, than a super neat room that looks like kids never cross through the doorway.
I bought these two old wooden chairs last summer in St. Catharines. They were two for $5.00. Dad, Ken and I painted them in my parents' driveway. I bought gingham seat cushions at Ikea for the chairs this summer. I prefer teaching on the carpet than at the blackboard. The children can sit on the chairs or flop on the carpet if they want to get away from their desks.
This neon orange magazine holder isn't vintage, but I love it. I bought it for $2.00 at a driveway sale in East York last summer. It will hold magazines (natch) and maybe graphic novels/zines for the students.
I bought this breakfast-in-bed tray at a local garage sale a few years back. I forget how much it cost, but it wasn't much.

It now provides extra space for completed work.

Here's an old tin picnic basket that I bought for $1.00 at a church rummage sale in East York last year. I'm now using it for oversized picture books.
These old flour/sugar/tea containers now hold math manipulatives. I think the green tin on the end came from Japan.

Gorgeous anthuriums make math more appealing.

Voila!

Lastly, here's my grandmother's old Brownie Target camera. When I was a pre-teen, I found the right film for it and actually took some pictures using it.
Now it sits on my desk as a conversation piece and a reminder of my grandmother, who died when I was 11. The kids are fascinated with it.