can't stand a bare classroom!

I have been having such fun the last week or so. I will be teaching 1st & 2nd grade on Sunday mornings at church starting in September and I have been busy decorating my classroom. I absolutely LOVE to do this! We just moved into our building back in March (?) and this particular classroom hasn't been used for anything but storage since we moved in so it was
B-A-R-E, bare! One thing I cannot stand is a bare classroom! There are white walls, a white floor and a white table! Even though I have spent lots of hours up there working, it still needs a few things~namely I need to find a large, inexpensive rug to help brighten it up and also to help with sound. The room has such an echo! I'd also like to come up with some kind of cheap, easy curtain and I'd love to have the table painted a bright color. *sigh* I hate to paint so I doubt I'll do that.

I used to spend about 2 weeks before the beginning of school getting my classroom ready. I would "piddle" alot but I loved doing it! (As I sat coloring today, I told our preacher that I just really enjoy this thing and think it's kind of "therapeutic" for me!) It would get overwhelming sometimes but it was so rewarding to see a bulletin board completed that looked nice. I am NOT a perfectionist when it comes to this kind of thing so I don't want people to look too closely lest they find a torn border, coloring outside the lines or something stapled crooked! Of course, those days of working such long hours in a classroom were "pre-children" when there was noone else to worry about since Chris was at work while I was "piddling." It has been a little harder to work on this classroom since I've had Miss Katie Boo to contend with but it's still worked out pretty well. She would spend time "helping" me, playing with old toys in the resource room, bothering "Mr. Ben" in the office or having a snack.

I am really excited about teaching this class. Gracie will be in it and typically I don't prefer to teach my own child for some reason I'm really excited! There is a man teaching it on Wednesday nights who will do a great job so I'm excited about the job he will do as well. I like having a teacher for my children who I know I can depend on to show up on time and be prepared and have a substitute when they need one. (Man, I hope I can live up to my own expectations! LOL) He came and hung up some bulletin boards for me this morning. Of course, after he left I decided I wanted another one hung so I'll have to ask pretty please for him to come back and do that one I guess.
This is my favorite one! (This one is just one on the wall.) We're going to have memory verses each week and each child has their own little tree next to the big one. Each time they memorize a verse, they will put a leaf on their own tree! Once I get the memory verses from the lady who has the material, I will write the Scripture references on the the leaves & acorns etc. that are on the big tree. The good thing about using the tree is that for the Winter Quarter I can take down the Fall items and put up snowflakes (and change the individual charts & the title) and for Spring & Summer Quarters, we can put up flowers & green leaves.
This board (which is actually just on the wall) took alot longer than I planned for it take! It was frustrating but I had to finish it once I started! The top caterpillar (more like millipede!) is the New Testament and the bottom one is the Old Testament. Each circle is a different book. I didn't figure correctly on how much blue paper to put up and ended up having to add to it and, as you can see, go around the wall for the last 2 books! Good thing I'm not a perfectionist because that part certainly doesn't look as nice I'd like for it to but it's okay. If they were just stapled, I could have taken them down and moved them, but I had the bright(????) idea to put up each circle with velcro. That way, the children can take the circles down and practice putting them back in order. I figured it'd be a good way to practice their books of the Bible. At first, we'll probably take them all down and just focus on having them put up 5 or so at a time so they aren't too overwhelmed with it all!
This board isn't actually a board either. It's just on the wall, but it will be used to record (on the little charts) when they bring their Bible.
This one is pretty much "just for looks." I may put a picture of each of them inside the star.
This is an old board I had at home that was already covered in red gingham (one of my favorite things!) These 3 little girls look very similar to the 3 little girls who will be in the class. I think I may use this board to put up pictures of them working & playing together.
This one still needs to be hung and will be used to display their work.

Even though I've worked hard, it still needs "something." I know curtains and a bright colored rug will help this to look so much nicer! I hope the students will enjoy their time spent in this room and will learn alot and grow closer to God!