I got rid of my beanbags and switched to beach chairs this year.  I love the beach chairs and so do the kids.  They can still be comfortable without laying across the room.  I've noticed they are more engaged in what they are doing in the beach chairs than they were in the beanbags.  This was an unexpected surprise. I just made the switch because my beanbags were getting old and starting to rip.  The chairs are cute as well. 

I got this idea on Pintrest.  Someone did it in a pocket chart.  I have a small hallway at the entrance of my room so I covered it with paper and stapled up laminated sentence strips.  I let each student choose their own strip and we wrote their names on the bottom right corner in Sharpie.  Each week the students post a message using a Vis a Vis marker.  They are loving it and I am learning interesting things about them.  Some of the kids aren't sure what to write and will write simple things like, "I rock!"  Others are adding interesting facts about themselves or just sharing something they did.  I am loving this. The only part I don't like is wiping them off on Fridays so they are ready for the next Monday.