I so enjoyed decorating my classroom this year. I love how relaxed and “homie” it feels. No, not gangster homie. LOL, I’m talking about a HOME feel — comfortable place. Due to all the COVID-19 guidelines, coming back to the classroom almost seems to be dreadful. We all hate wearing masks and feeling out of our comfort zones as far as all the social distancing goes. I wanted to try and make the atmosphere feel as “normal” as possible — as relaxed as possible. The only place I feel most relaxed at is my home. So that’s where my inspiration came from this year. I wanted my classroom to feel “Homie.” So with all the new guidelines in place, I have tried my best to do just that.
I got this idea from Pinterest and put my own twist on it. They had “you can do great things” but I like to add Bible scriptures since we are a Christian Academy. I thought Philippians 4:13 was an excellent idea to remind them every time they look at the clock that when we feel like we cannot achieve, that’s when we get more strength and help from Christ. Such a neat idea to utilize the clock for more uses than just one.
I made by big letters out of construction paper and then printed the motivational words and glued them to construction paper to make them pop and more legible.
I absolutely love this quote. I have more boys in my class than girls and they Love to make noise! More so than working it feels like at times, LOL. I like how it motivates all of us to let our noise be the success of a work complete and the praise of a job well done.
My border is also reversible to black and red buffalo plaid. It gives me options for Christmas if I want to change it up a bit. The background on my board is Better Than Paper non-woven material that looks like burlap. It is a write-on wipe-off surface and easy to use. No wrinkles like paper and it keeps better for longer use. I used a dry erase marker and it removes easy with a spray and cloth. I used a gold, metal basket that I had at home for the planter. The succulents and fern, green stems I threw together and cascaded. I love the way it all came together.
Grace Academy is the name of our school so I though this was a cute idea. A co-worker helped me come up with this idea. I had the cut out from a package of bulletin board decorations and I wanted to add the green wreath from some leaves I had clipped off some flowers last year. I knew I wanted to write something in the middle but wasn’t sure what to put. She had the idea “in grace.” We are Grace Academy and we will grow in knowledge this year as we also grow in God’s Grace.
My backdrop is also the Better Than Paper non-woven material that is write-on wipe-off. It’s a mint, wood plank print and I trimmed it with a scalloped polka-dot border.
Last year I had so many papers, drawings, and art pieces given to me from students that I was so proud of. I always wanted to show them off but I didn’t have a good place to do it. My husband suggested this board this year and so he put it all together for me. I’m super excited to showcase my students awesome work!
I used my Better Than Paper mint, wood plank back drop again with the scalloped polka-dot border and a dry erase marker to name the board. My mini letter board came from Dollar Tree a couple years ago and my succulent print canvas I picked up this year from TJ Max. I have paper pom-poms hanging from the ceiling to help hide the ugly electrical box and internet box that are such eye sores.
This idea was sparked by a couple of pins I seen on Pinterest. Like I said starting this post, I wanted to make the classroom feel as “homie” as possible — comfortable and cozy. Decorations set the tone of the atmosphere and I wanted a relaxed one this year.
I used my Better Than Paper burlap background again and added some greenery vines I picked up at Dollar Tree this past spring. I love hydrangeas and green is my favorite color.For the “Home Sweet Classroom,” I used a dry erase marker that will be an easy cleanup on this Better Than Paper material. It is literally so awesome! If you have not used this yet, do it. You will love it.
I decided to have a special area to show birthdays this year. I only set out the months that have birthdays in them and then the number of candles on that month is how many birthdays are in that month. A simple way to give recognition and to also help me remember and be aware of birthdays so we can plan parties.
I found this adorable Birthday Bulletin Board set and was so excited because it had succulents! I had so much fun with the pieces included. I saved some out for other projects. The “Watch us Grow” poster actually came from this set as well — so versatile. I added twine strings on to the balloons to go with my aesthetic in the classroom. I thought it turned out so adorable.
This idea came from Pinterest as well. I just put my own twist on it. I will only leave this up for probably the first month of school then add something else.
Again, I used the Better Than Paper burlap background with the buffalo plaid border. I used twine to make my banners with some pages I tore out of an old book. I used a whole puncher so I could string them up on the string. I drew the letters on the pages with a sharpie. I wasn’t happy with just the banners so I added some green with little clippings left over from some flowers last year. I wrapped the stems with twine and the stapled it to the board. I love the finished look.
Last year I always wrote the date on my white board but to save space for other things I decided to have a place for a calendar this year. I really wasn’t planning to but I came across this calendar set while shopping and it matched what I have going on so well. I love the wood stumps look for the days of the month. There is actually a lot more to this set but this is all I chose to use for now but it is a super cute set.
This is probably my favorite part of my whole classroom this year. I absolutely adore this little corner! It feels so cozy and welcoming.
I made the Grace Library banner over the window out of twine, cardboard, and burlap stick-on letters I found at Wal-Mart. My husband hung the light strands for me that I picked up at Harbor Freight. I loved the quote that I found about a bright future to add with the lights. I also hung the map up thinking about how we need to shine our lights to the world. I added some light bulb cut-outs on the wall as well. I so happy with how it all came together.
Simply Lena's 