Having a well-organized and welcoming classroom is the pride of any teacher. As we begin preparing our classrooms for a new year one of the most recurring dilemmas is how we will coordinate our classrooms and provide the visual aids our students need.
It seems like a silly decision to be hung up on, but we know how important visuals can be. (Let’s be honest, we also know we want the cutest classroom in the hall, too!) It is the first impression students, and some parents will have. As they walk into a well-organized colorful room they get the first glimpse into their new home away from home this school year. Here are a few reasons why visuals are so impactful in your classroom!
By choosing colorful schemes and patterns throughout your classroom you ultimately provide a unified identity that is specific to you and your classroom. Students associate the way they feel in your classroom to the environment you set up for them. Giving them a consistent place to feel comfortable can be vital to a student’s success and feeling welcome and safe can help make the transition from home to school easier as well!
Let’s admit it, having a perfectly organized classroom for the entire school year is basically impossible. However, the easiest way to try to stay on top of all the chaos is unified charts, labels, and visible schedules. Having supplies and group tables clearly labeled in the same color scheme improves functionality of the whole classroom and can offer a better sense of flow in the busy schedule of day-to-day activities. I have even created the perfect labels to make this easier on you! (Find those ‘here’!) Students can easily find their own items, know where to place projects, learn the daily schedule quicker, and find independence just by seeing the clear labels and charts available in the classroom. This ultimately helps you out!
The beauty of graphics is they can be one of the easiest ways many students retain information. Seeing the shapes along with names or having a tens frame example easily accessible by a display on the wall can be so helpful to little learners who need visual reminders and examples readily available. Also, we know it’s easier for us to have visual aids around the room so we don’t have to stop in the middle of our lesson and dig into our not-so-organized box of flashcards to find that one particular set of alphabet cards hidden in the fifty sets we’ve accumulated over the years… knowing there are probably 5 letters missing.
The way you decorate your classroom says a lot about you! Students get to spend roughly 180 days in your classroom and the easiest way for them to get to know and form a relationship with you is to be invited into a space you built with your own styles and flares of your creativity. It opens the floor to them also being able to express themselves and form relationships with each other as well! Plus, you’ll get called the “the teacher with the coolest polka dot room in the whole universe.” And that’s kind of fun.
You’ll never guess visuals in your classroom can have such an impact on your school year, but they can be one of the easiest, most rewarding decisions you make. Even something as simple as a cute shiplap board with cacti can create a space you and your students feel comfortable and homey in. You have a lot on your plate as the new year starts with new procedures, new challenges, and new students. So, have fun choosing the style of your classroom visuals and browse through the decor kits I have already available with everything you will need!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Cupcakes-N-Curriculum/Category/-Decor-Bundles-385467
You’ve got this!
-Jennifer
