I student taught in Tallahassee Florida, and every classroom that I worked in was gigantic! We had art stations, computer areas, reading nooks, small group meeting areas, and even more importantly windows! I had great plans for my own future classroom! When I was first hired, I was shocked to find that my new classroom was a third of the size of the classrooms I was used to! Like all teachers, I made do with what I had.
Last spring, I was getting pretty burned out with teaching. I had hit a point where I could barely think about starting another school year, and I came across the most wonderful website/blog Schoolgirl Style. Melanie, the owner of the site, has created amazing sets of classroom decorations that can be edited and adapted for almost any classroom need. Almost everything you see in my room was created from the Learn Colorfully Classroom Decor pack. With her help, I was able to get my inspiration back, and I love feel happy and excited every time I walk into my classroom.
Here a few pictures of my classroom. I’ll be the first to say that it’s nowhere near what some of the rooms I’ve seen this year, but I’m pretty excited about it.
This is my word wall. I’ve always had separate word walls for each subject area, but this year I’m going to try out adding everything to the same wall.
I love my giant map. I’ll add things to this map all year (rivers, mountains, historical people, etc.). This was so difficult to find, because I wanted a really, really plain map that I could write on and then erase at the end of the year. I am so sorry, but I can’t remember where I bought it. I’ve had it for about six years. I’ll look around and let you know if I find it!
This is another bulletin board that I’ll use as a focus wall. I was a little disappointed with the color of yellow I had, but I didn’t have an opportunity to get a different shade. Our floors weren’t ready until the very last second this year, so I had a very limited time to get ready.
This is my last bulletin board, and I love the interactiveness of it. It’s kind of like a word search, but instead of searching for words, my students are searching for number sentences. For example in the top row, my students could find that 5+2=7.
You gotta have rules! I have an extra set of rules for recess, because there are a few very specific rules that I really want my students to follow at recess.
My “Before You Come In” and “Before You Leave” pictures are sort of blurry, but we’ll refer to them everyday for the first few weeks of school.
This is one of my favorite new additions. I’ve framed all of my old class pictures and displayed them on a side wall. I’ve always had them in my room, but not framed, and it’s the first things people look at when they come in my room. I can’t believe I already have 11 of them!
