There is something about decorating your classroom and getting ready for a new school year that I love! Maybe it is the anticipation of all of the good things that could happen, maybe it is the thrill and excitement of a fresh start...whatever it is, I LOVE IT! This year, however, I had a double dose of this fun! As I mentioned in an earlier post my classroom setup has been very unconventional this year. I had completely decorated and prepared my third grade classroom when I was offered and decided to take a position as a K-6 intervention specialist. This began my second decorating/organizing challenge of the summer. My new position, however, meant that I had to move from a large classroom to a small, closet sized office space. After downsizing and bringing home about 8 large bins of teacher materials I had a completely blank slate to work with. This is what the room looked like (this picture is actually of an identical office down the hall...you may notice later that it is facing a different direction than my room). The space is SO small and the walls were so bare and white that I felt they were caving in on me! I am not claustrophobic, but this room was beginning to make me understand the feeling! I had to do something, ANYTHING, to give this room some much needed love. I decided on a nature/outdoor theme. Bright blue and burlap were going to be my primary colors, but I have added some touches of pink and lime green throughout. Here is what I have come up with so far (trust me...there is still work to be done!) My room has 2 BIG windows in it (both are 4 feet across). They really seemed like a focal point in the room so I decided to use this to my decorating advantage and create flower boxes. To make these I utilized rain gutters to hold the flowers and wrapped burlap around the flowers to help give it some more visual appeal. My lonely little white board also needed some attention. I decided to make add some texture with the flowers at the top and have also added my bright blue colored border around the room. I do not have a traditional "desk" in my new room. I do, however, have some great cabinets that I plan to utilize to help me post the "I Can" statements for each group I teach. These will be held in the frames you see in the picture. So, there it is. I am so happy with how it turned out! I no longer cringe when I walk in the room and I can see myself having a fun and productive year with my students in this room. Another successful year decorating...x 2. It is a good thing that it is one of my favorite parts of a new year. What are your favorite things about a new school year?