Thursday, July 7, 2011

Getting Started (Continued)


Okay so I know my three followers are just dying to know what colors I picked for my classroom! (one of which is my own sister, who cares nothing about classrooms) Here you go!

Well my first few years of teaching, before I completely became the organized freak that I am now, I had chosen primary colors. Everything was still new to me, I didn't know what I would have to have on my bulletin boards, I was still "testing" my behavior plan, and so on. I found that it was still too busy for me, three colors that is. 

So I went with lime green and navy blue. I loved it! That was until I decided to accent with a frog here or there. Well there is one thing you will find out, it is that if you have ANY sort of theme in your classroom be prepared for themed gifts GALORE!!! My students would always ask, "do you like frogs or something?". I had to explain that while I did like frogs (but don't decorate with frogs in my own house), I started out with only one or two frog accents, and over the years it grew and grew and grew! I didn't mind the gifts and some of them I adored, but after 7yrs of frogs I was done. I packed up all the frog stuff: accents, borders, stuffed animals, trash can, frames, and such into two large boxes and put them in storage. 

TIP: When you do choose your accent try to stick with one to two types of that accent, don't go buy EVERY frog thing you see. 
I thought these were adorable, but keep in mind they have A TON of colors in them

Maybe use this one instead, because it has your colors blue and green
Drum Roll Please....This year I decided to go with black and red (accent white), with polka dots here and there. Now I will probably use some ladybug accents and brace myself for the theme to begin, but maybe I will enjoy it as long as I did the frogs. 
When starting to decorate my room I always start with my classroom bulletin board. I think because they are such a main feature of my room (due to the fact that I don't like clutter so my walls are not completely covered...and furniture covers most of them anyway...a post I will expand on later). Huge tip...INVEST in fabric!!! Mine lasted over 4yrs. Decide how many boards/sections you will make first, then purchase fabric and border. I shopped the fabric first and made sure to do two solids (black and red) and two print (polka dot). I stuck with only white dots, tried not to over stimulate myself with red fabric and black dots...and so on. Then took my fabric with me and purchased border. I made sure to buy, once again, two solids and two prints. This is how it turned out, so far!