Classroom Reveal 2018-2019

Classroom Reveal 2018-2019

Hey y'all! I know many of you are already back in school and/or done setting up your classroom, but I wanted to share a little about my home away from home this year.

It's really important to me to create a space that is both fun and exciting, and calm and comfortable at the same time. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but it can be done.

I went back and forth about a lot of things. If you know me at all, you'll know I have a few different decor sets in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I love them all, but I needed something specific this year. (Yes, I am the teacher that changes things up every year. I end up changing rooms every year so why not...)

As a Creative Teaching Press Ambassador, I was able to choose decor that worked for me. When the order came in, I was ecstatic!

I call this look "Zen-garden," like the band Soundgarden, but zennier. See what I did there? Yes, I know I'm a nerd. That's why I teach. (It also kind of reminds me of the Peanuts gang. So happy!)

So anyway, it's a combination of the rustic fadeless Pacon paper, the watercolor decor set from my own store, and Creative Teaching Press borders and accents. (And a few thousand things I've picked up from the Target dollar spot.)

I absolutely love how our word wall came out. And the classroom library is darling. I'm sure I'll be adding a rug and more seating here over the course of the year. My one little chair from last year and pillow I found over the summer look lonely there. (I had two chairs, but one didn't make out alive last year.)

I have this huge bulletin board on one wall that is serving as a focus wall of sorts. Our math and science rotation charts and our classroom jobs are housed here, as well as the hundreds chart, calendar, and reading and writing prompts. There's also plenty of space to add more charts and prompts. 

I love the way the "because" came out. If you follow Jen Jones, she's all about the because. I display it to remind my students to elaborate on their answers, but it also helps to remind me about why I do what I do. 

I have some massive windows on one wall that overlooks the courtyard and some hot pink curtains that my own kids outgrew years ago. I hung them up with a cheap curtain rod from Target and some Command hooks, then wrapped the curtain rod with leaf garland from the dollar spot I picked up last year. I think it looks fun and welcoming. (Ignore my plies on the shelves. Classroom setup gets messy.)

Our brag tags are displayed on the cover of a storage cabinet in our room. I put up Command hooks and used the donut cutouts from Creative Teaching Press as labels. Once I know who all will be in our class, I'll add their names. 

The room I moved into already had a rain gutter mounted on the wall to display books. Score!

I picked up caddies from Wayfair and stocked them with community supplies. I've done both community and individual supplies over the years, but I very much prefer to use community supplies in the classroom. It's so much easier and I feel it helps add to the whole classroom family feel.

It isn't "Pinterest perfect" and that's okay. There are boxes of manipulatives on top of cabinets, there are weird metal supports for things that were taken down long before I moved into the room, sections of old chalkboards are peaking out from behind the whiteboards, and my tape lines are more than a little off on the whiteboard. (I'll fix it...eventually.)

The important thing is that it's OUR imperfect room. It's OUR home away from home. And it's where we'll work together to dream and lay the foundation for OUR goals. It's okay to not be Pinterest perfect. Not everything is. What is important is that your students feel the love and dedication you have for them and that they feel safe to take risks and learn with their class family.

So here's to a perfectly imperfect year. May you rise up through the chaos and enjoy every crazy minute of it! Cheers!