Creating a Classroom

Recycled Items

Creating a classroom is a daunting and time consuming task. I always feel like I need another week to make everything perfect! But this year, I'm not going for perfect. Since this will be my first classroom for a full class, it was a different experience setting up and thinking about how to arrange everything. I came in a week before our planning week to get to work. After 18 hours of just cleaning, sorting, and recycling the previous teacher's items that were left, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Going through 2 packs of cleaning wipes
creates piles of these everywhere! 

After days of organizing tables, carpets, and the teaching materials I've brought to use, my room was ready for students. This experience was actually joyful and it gave me a lot of time to process my vision for the school year and dance around my classroom without 22 sets of eyes watching. I focused on creating a room that was simple and free of clutter. Some areas are more simplistic than others and some areas still need a lot of work. My advice for anyone still designing your room or moving into a room that was once occupied by another teacher, would be to get rid of anything that would be labeled as a "could be useful in the future" and store in bins anything that "would be useful in the future". I threw out and recycled a lot of "could be" materials and supplies. Yes, I felt guilty at times because I'm sure money, time, and energy went into creating or making those materials. However, I need to prioritize what is truly needed for the classroom and for my students. 

We just finished our third week in the classroom and I'm very happy with my decisions so far. Our classrooms are our home away from home. It's nice to have a joyful and clean place to spend with our students and relish in the meaningful work we do everyday. 

Hope everyone enjoys their long weekend and takes time for you! 

Heather