As I look at my classroom at the end of a school year I am never really happy with what I see. I always have a million ideas of how to do it better next year and how to "fix" all the mistakes I made. This year, the visual appeal of my room has really been bothering me. I painted one wall of my classroom red about 5 years ago, and it has seen better days. The cords and wires and stuff feels like it is taking over. So this summer, my number one goal was to makeover my classroom.
Before anyone gets too excited, I am not crazy crafty, and I am not rich. So, I am going to do the best I can with what I have and try not to drive my husband crazy with too many projects.
First and foremost, I wanted a new paint color. I chose two light grey colors. The main wall in the classroom and the one opposite were both painted with Behr's Double Click paint color. A soft blueish grey neutral tone.
The two other walls are home to the entry door and a set of windows. These walls were painted a darker, but still neutral, grey: Behr's Flannel Grey.
It cost me about $30 in paint and 1 days labor with the help of my hubby.
I am not going to lie. I LOVED the Double Click so much, I used it in my baby's room to give her room a softer look. I also plan to use it in other rooms of our new house.
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| Conference Corner! |
My first priority was to create a more inviting conferencing location than the extra desk I was using last year. I found a set of 6 dining chairs on a local garage sale site, bought some clearance fabric using my teacher discount at Joann's and reupholstered the chairs myself. I added in two glass top "desks" to use for placing papers and devices and made a banner dubbing the space "Conference Corner."
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| Collaboration Corner! |
Next, I wanted to develop spaces in the room where they kid's can feel a bit more comfortable and at home. In one corner of the room, I placed several mats in pile on the floor. This corner I call "Collaboration Corner" and is a space in the room where kids can simply sit and work independently or gather for small group work. I had a few pillows and 2 mats in this corner previously, but I wanted to put something a little extra up after I realized that kids would actually sit there every day and enjoy the opportunity to not sit in a desk. I bought a few cheap lap desks at Ikea ($7 each) to add a little something extra to the space.
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| Charging station! |
The final touch to my classroom makeover for this summer was to add in some charging stations along with a few wireless keyboards. The charging stations are simply $10 magazine racks from Ikea with an extension cord ($5 at Ikea) run to them. I placed a white board next it that I already had so that kids could write down who's device is currently charging just to add a touch of safety. I placed the wireless keyboards that were already in my room on a shelf in a hanging file organizer ($5 at Office Depot) and zip tied a surge protector to the bottom for all of the chargers. I hung it on the wall between my two other charging stations. Then I hung a "Juice Bar" banner above it all for a final touch.
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| Wireless keyboards charging station and holder! |
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| This "Wall of Fame" is made from an $11 piece of shower board from Home Depot which my husband screwed into the wall. I covered the screws with bulletin board border. It works as a dry erase board as well! This has been in my room for 10+ years and has never needed to be replaced. I use it as the display location for projects, certificates, words of encouragement, etc. On presentation days, I cheat and write reminders to them on the board which is in their direct line of sight! |
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| The chalkboard in my room has been turned into a weekly schedule. I write here each Monday what to expect in class and when I am available for tutoring each week. I used teacher printables to make the signs and thin black duct tape to create the lines. A banner boasting the name of the class was nice decorative touch to an otherwise institutional chalkboard. |
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Bar-like seating under the windows freed up a lot of space for me a few years ago. $14 chairs from Ikea made the space feel special.
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