A new school year is almost upon us so I’ve been busy working to put my classroom together. I originally wrote this post two years ago when I first moved into my new classroom space. Since then, I’ve added and rearranged a few things to I’ve added an updated video tour!
Next to the door I have a little shelf with supplies for the students to
use (that shelf was free on the side of the road and I gave it a little makeover). I also have a bulletin board with some personal pictures, at
which the students love to look!
To the left of the supply shelf I have a little table on which is my ‘absent work’ bin. Under the table are the recycling & returnable bottle bins. On the wall is my homemade ‘Awesome’ poster. You can see a tutorial for a similar sign, here!
This room has a serious lack of bulletin boards so I decided that I could use some Command strips to secure three inexpensive poster frames (picked up at WalMart) to the wall. This way I can easily swap out displays throughout the year in or on the poster frames.
On the front wall I have a white board and one of two small bulletin boards…
I used my Silhouette Portrait cutting machine to cut out the letters for my bulletin boards and used inexpensive blue fabric from WalMart instead of paper for the background. I find that fabric is more durable than paper and is often far less expensive! The ‘Work Hard’ poster can be found here!
I made the pennant flags banner by cutting triangles out of fabric and sewing a simple straight stitch to string them together…
In front I also keep my little personalized yard sale stool…
In the corner near the window is my desk area…I brought a shelf from home for storage and added a bulletin board, secured to the wall with more Command strips and covered in wrapping paper! I designed that poster and had it printed at Staples on foam board for $10!
There is room for a little sitting area in front of my desk and the window so I added a comfy chair from Ikea (I also found a small inexpensive lime green rug from WalMart and added it to this area but didn’t take a picture). I often stay late at school grading papers and wanted a comfy chair…as you can imagine, this chair is also very popular with my students!
In the other back corner of the room is a little table and library area. I bought the table for $1 at Goodwill and painted it before bringing it to school. The paper lanterns are from Christmas Tree Shops. They are a fun addition to this area…for some reason the boys LOVE to spin the lowest lantern!
I used painters tape to add a jumbo poster…damage free and easily removed! I ran out of tape part way through and am embarrassed to report that, four weeks later, the poster still looks like this! Ha!
I bought the bookshelf from Target and it was originally in my living room. But, this room also suffers from a serious lack of shelving so I brought it to school to hold my collection of social studies related books and resources.
On the back wall I have another white board…on the top I put a fancier version of a fabric banner…this one has bias tape on top and double-sided pennants!
I had a really large blank space on this wall so I used a $3 vinyl tablecloth from Christmas Tree Shops and secured it to the wall with painters tape (over which I taped bulletin board trim). I think I’ll turn it into an ‘AWESOME’ wall where the kids can put things that are…well…awesome!
We’ve come full circle around the room! I think the key to making the room look cohesive is to pick a few main colors to work with. In my room, lime green, hot pink, and teal blue are the colors of choice! Outside of my classroom I went a little off kilter with the colors by adding this homemade ‘Hello Sunshine’ sign…
I wanted people to walk by my room and be greeted with a little bit of happiness! Subsequently, one of my fellow teachers stops and yells ‘Hello Sunshine’ every time he passes my room! It’s pretty awesome! So, there you have it, my home away from home! To follow along with my daily shenanigans, come visit me on Instagram!
What a wonderfully colourful, vibrant and engaging space you have created! Your students must love it. It is so great to see a High School classroom decorated so well – it must make being in your classroom a joy. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Thanks, Stacey! I do try to make the space as welcoming and engaging as possible! 'Big Kids' enjoy nice spaces to learn as much as the littles! 🙂
I am student teaching in the spring, hopefully will have my own class in the fall! I will be a high school math teacher, and want to have a classroom that's fun. I rarely see high school classrooms that are decorated at all. A few posters but your class shows you can be cute with a purpose!
I'd say most classrooms at my school are pretty boring so when my students come to my room, they are pleasantly surprised! Who says high school classrooms have to be plain? 🙂 Good luck with your student teaching placement!
Thanks so much for the awesome ideas! I was wondering how you attach the fabric to your whiteboard? and do you find that the whiteboard is still magnetic when covered in fabric? Thank you again!
Hi Heather! The fabric is actually attached to bulletin boards that are next to the white boards using staples! Optical illusion, right? Haha! Have a great summer!
Your room looks great. Love the idea of fabric for the bulletin board. Can you tell me what kind of fabric you used? Thank you.
Thanks Mary! I just used a regular inexpensive cotton fabric from WalMart for the bulletin boards. Pretty economical!
Love the classroom tour especially the Let's be Positive display and your work organisation box. Might have to steal these ideas! 🙂
I wish we had such good goodwill shops in the UK so I could pick bits up for my classroom.
Thanks for the tour, love the room and decor!
you represented glam well! 🙂 i love how all the colors flow throughout your home.
Thanks!
John Stolle