On Tuesday, I shared how I was working with two different teachers and helping them set up their
classrooms. I am back today to share the rest of our progress! Just a note about how I organized this post, the pictures with the blue ribbon on the bottom labeled Mandy’s Tips for Teachers are examples from my classroom over the years. The large photos, with nothing on them, are from my friend’s classroom. I did this just so you could see many different examples.
Here are a few more shots of where we left off.
We were pretty proud of all we got done in one day…but stressed as well!
Holy cow! We still had to unpack this!!
But first, we needed to make the room start to feel more polished, and more like a classroom.
We went ahead and placed the furniture, which was fine. We just did not unpack and organize the shelves. This helped with time because we weren’t unpacking the shelves to be able to reach the bulletin board! I learned *that* the hard way. You can even put up the material and just the border before moving and placing ANY of the furniture. That is if you can find your material and borders! LOL! If you are looking for a cheap way to cover bulletin boards with fabric, make sure to check out my
blog posts on using sheets! Really!
Big difference, right?
Don’t submit to the urge to hang posters yet. You will have time for that later, I promise.
We already placed the furniture, but we made some tweaks and rearranged a bit as the room started to come together AND as we saw how the students desks fit in the space.
Now, it was time to unpack and tackle the last bit of boxes.
When it was time to unpack all my stuff and boxes, I highly recommend thinking about the different
“zones” in your classroom. Chances are you have one area that you know how you want to set it up and exactly how you want it to look. Here are a few ideas for possible ” zones.”
After you unpack all the “zones” you can think of, this usually happens. Either because you have no easy zones left, or one you are avoiding. S was avoiding her guided reading table/ desk. The idea of going deskless overwhelmed her.
Sometimes a break is exactly what you need to get your focus back.
When I run out of easy “zones” to unpack and the room is still a disaster, I simply start on one side of the room and work my way clock-wise around the room. Believe it or not, that helps because I just take it a space at a time.
I have one more post about setting up the classroom and getting organized! Next, I will be sharing how we organized her classroom library and show all her final pictures!
This post is part of a series of posts on setting up the classroom. Check out the rest of the posts!
Mandy Gregory is a 2007 and 2012 Teacher of the Year. She has taught Kindergarten- 4th grades in both the general education and inclusion settings. She is currently a 1st grade Special Education teacher. She is the owner and creator of Mandy’s Tips for Teachers website (www.mandystipsforteachers.com) and has over 13 years of teaching experience. She is married with two beautiful children.
Great advice. I get overwhelmed often in the process. I like the start in one spot and move in a circle…genius because as you find things for other areas, you can set them there and worry about the clutter when you get to that spot.
Kovescence of the Mind