How to Decorate and Organize a Classroom

It can be hard to decorate a classroom if you have to share space with a few other teachers or pay out of pocket for supplies.  However, teachers don’t have to get overwhelmed setting up their classroom at the beginning of the school year.  The empty spaces in my classroom gradually get filled with student work over the first few weeks of school.  My objective is to create an intellectual and fun atmosphere that showcases student work that has a value and purpose.  At the end of every school year, I feel sad when I take down all their hard work.  It’s a reminder of how much we accomplished together. 

The physical space where students learn can reflect how they feel in general about school.  High school students can feel overwhelmed by the vocabulary and due dates from all their courses so it’s important to keep it simple.  It’s the same with organizing handouts and even where they sit. 

For most of these ideas, I use very large poster paper and take a picture of the poster using the Genius app so I can zoom in on their work with a projector.  Most of these can also be completed using blank paper.

Here are ten ways to decorate and organize your classroom:

Posters

I start the year with a few professional posters of writers, musicians, and quotes. I have posters from the Dodge Poetry Festival or sometimes my favorite athletes.  They help facilitate conversation and build relationships with students.   

Word walls

Every course has academic vocabulary that can be hard to remember.  At the start of the year, I have students write around 20 literary devices from a few poems on paper with an example so if they forget the technique, they can simply look at the wall and remember. 

Mind maps, Sketchnotes and One-pagers

I also start the year with an activity where we read quotes and essays about the value of literature.  They work in groups to write their favorite quotes on a mind map where students connect ideas, topics, and quotations with lines and other organizational shapes.  I will often assign small groups a single topic in a novel like imagination, family,  or justice.  They then work to interpret around fifteen quotations and then pick their favorites to write on a large poster.  They may create their own question and then answer the question on the poster.  I take a picture of the poster with the Genius app so we can zoom in on a projector screen. 

Character study

Students can create large posters with a character web or in-depth analysis of all the characters in a novel.  Minor characters can be hard to keep track of so this will remind students of their character traits and important quotations connected to the character. 

Timeline

In novels like The Kite Runner, students can track the development of the history of a country or the major plot points of a novel.  I ask students to connect the history of Afghanistan to the main character’s life and it’s easier to comprehend this challenging task with a visual. 

Quotes

After assigning students passages related to a topic, I ask them to pick a favorite quote and create an artistic graphic on Canva with the title of the book and the writer’s name.  I print out a few using a color copier and will put them up around the classroom or in the hallways. 

Images

Printing out photographs from important moments in history can also be an easy way to decorate a classroom.  If the historical context of a book is important to understand, it can be valuable for students to see the images and interpret their symbolic meaning.  Students can also draw symbols, or characters like the monster in Beowulf. 

Light

I’m always thinking about light when I teach.  I never want it to be too dark unless we need to see an image on the projector.  Students will often take notes as they view a PowerPoint or clip from a movie so I like to leave enough light so they can do both.  If there was a teacher who showed a movie with the blinds down during the previous period, I will make sure to open them up for the view and to let in natural light. 

Seating

I usually like the debate style of seating, where two rows face each other.  It allows me to walk to either end of the classroom and there is no real back or front.  Depending on the activity, I will have students rearrange the chairs for small groups or pairs.  For discussions that are casual, open-ended, storytelling sessions, I will do a circle and sit at a desk to be on their level.  I will do rows for in-class essays or independent work.  If I assign computer work, I will monitor their progress through Google docs.  I typically allow students to choose their own partners because they can handle it, but it can be beneficial to occasionally mix it up. 

Extra Handouts

I put any extra handouts in a binder and keep it near my desk.  I will print out all of the handouts for a monthly unit together so they don’t have to go fishing around their bag or the classroom for a single piece of paper.  If they miss a class, the handout is already in their packet.  The handouts contain space for scaffolded notes and page numbers so they can follow along in class.  They turn in the packet with their essay so they can use their notes to write the essay.  This way, I can grade all of their work at once instead of entering five to ten separate grades. 

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