Decorating the Classroom and a Freebie

Good evening everyone!  I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for my Monday Wednesday Made It at the end of this post.

I stopped by my school yesterday and got the go ahead to work in my classroom.  I am so excited to get to work on creating a warm and inviting space for learning!  I have a lot of organizing to do.  I had to have emergency back surgery last year right before Thanksgiving and I thought I would be able to return for the second semester, but my doctor wouldn't let me return, so I had to pack up my room in a hurry last year.  Now I'm going back through everything and weeding out stuff that I don't use.  I'm a terrible packrat and it's really hard for me to get rid of things, but I've tried to be ruthless and ask myself if I will really use this stuff.  No I've got three boxes destined for the thrift store and a table of posters, manipulatives, and books for the teachers I work with.  Here's a before of my (ugly) pink cabinet:

This cabinet is two feet deep, which makes it hard to use effectively.  Stuff gets shoved to the back of the cabinet, and then other things get put in front, and before long, it's just a mish-mash of stuff.

I'll share pictures tomorrow of my progress, but I would love to hear how you would organize such a deep cabinet.

Since I've been out of my classroom for so long with nothing else to do, I've been making things for my room and envisioning how it will look.  Here are some of my picks for my classroom this year:

These borders line my whiteboard.

I only have one big bulletin board in my room, and I line it with black fabric and then double up these borders for a really bright, fun look:

 

I was inspired by the name banner Maria Menore hung over her desk, so I created my own.

I also made two versions of a welcome banner to hang above my whiteboard.

Click on either image below to sign-up for access to my free teacher resource library, where you can download these banners.

What has inspired you this year?