This week, our administration let us know our rooms would be painted this summer. I am a bit odd in that I always love and welcome this news! I see it as an opportunity to re-plan my entire classroom decor and start anew.
This year, due to Covid, I was not able to stay in my classroom. I was given one, however, as a home base and as a place for my sixth graders to be all day.
However, I had to travel from room to room, teaching from a cart. It worked out just fine, but I did miss being in my second home all day. Because of cart teaching, I didn’t decorate my room as much as I normally do. Also, this was my first year at a different school, so I wanted to get the feel of my curriculum before I went headfirst into designing my classroom decor.
Now that I have one year at this new school under my belt, I have been actively thinking about what decor changes I’m going to implement. Here are some changes I’m going to make next year, and I hope it may give you some ideas.
Incorporate more history decor!
I have been teaching for eleven years, and even though I taught Social Studies at the elementary level, this was my first year at the middle school level. I want to make a permanent History-Gram bulletin board, with our history projects attached. I plan on getting some more maps as well since my globe just didn’t always suffice.
Movie Poster Wall!
Some of the novels I teach have been made into movies. I want to get some movie posters from those particular novels, so students can get a glimpse of what their book will be about. It will also help them visualize their characters if they can see them. I already have a Wonder movie poster and I’m looking forward to accumulating some new ones.
More of the Central Theme
My classroom was coffee/farmhouse-themed this past year. I had our coffee signs up.
I also had lots of farmhouse elements as well. Here are some of the decor I had up in my room.
I plan on jumping even more into that theme this year.
With the addition of my twinkly lights and some metal shelving, I want my classroom to be like a farmhouse coffee shop!
One Unchanged Bulletin Board
I have decided to put up our Kindness Bulletin Board and leave it up all year long! I feel like I repeatedly teach about kindness and even say, “Be Kind,” on a daily basis. Since I teach Wonder by RJ Palacio to my sixth graders, this is a theme we explore quite often. A year-round kindness board would be a perfect addition and what teacher doesn’t love the idea of leaving one bulletin board up, unchanged, all year long?
Dedicated Writing Space
I have decided to devote one corner of my classroom as a writing space. Even if students will not be writing in that corner, I want that one spot to be solely dedicated to writing. I plan on having some signs about writing and also dedicating the one bulletin board in that corner to our “published” writing projects and one-pager book reports. I’m going to put my Rae Dunn writing containers in that area, some pencil banners, and anything I can think of to make the corner motivating.
These ideas are inspiring me so much and now I have even more plans to put in place. I won’t bore you with all of them here, but I can’t wait for you to see the finished product in September. I only wish I didn’t have to wait all summer now; however, it’s best to take a brain break from school and practice some self-care.
Conclusion
Classroom decor is such a fun part of teaching and it’s actually one of my favorite parts of education. Enjoy the process when you’re feeling refreshed and ready!
