Tips for New Teachers: Setting Up Your Classroom

The start of a new school year can be very stressful for a teacher. After having two months of vacation, it is not easy to get back into the normal routine. Setting up your classroom can also be somewhat of a hassle, especially if things got moved around over the summer. In my case, I found out not too long ago that I will be switching classrooms with another teacher. I did this once before and it is a lot of work because you have to move literally everything you have into another room. Fortunately, last time I had to move to another room, I had my class help me and it was done in no time. Being that the students are still on vacation, I had to do it all myself now and it was not an easy task. There are some things that a teacher can do in June that will save time when you have to set up your classroom in September.

Instead of stripping your bulletin boards of the background paper and borders, just cover them with newspapers or plastic garbage bags. Every teacher knows that setting up bulletin boards is very time consuming. Then in September, all you have to do is staple posters or cutouts on the boards. I am not able to do this with the bulletin boards on the closet doors though. By the end of the year the paper and borders are ripped because students tend to open the doors by touching the boards instead of the knobs. With other boards in the room it is possible. I always make sure in June that I have enough paper and borders for each board. This also saves a ton of time. I like to just go to my class and put things up quickly. Also, plan ahead of time where everything will go because this can also be time consuming. Have all your materials well organized in one place. If you do completely strip your boards, make sure you have removed all staples ahead of time. The paper will go up a lot easier if the board is smooth.

I always leave everything in my classroom very neat before leaving in June. When I return in September, I know where everything is and I don't have to go nuts looking for things. Be sure to clean out your desk and throw away things that you will not need for next year. Accumulating too many papers only adds to more work the following year. Also, only keep in your classroom what you will be using. June is a great time to get rid of things while you are cleaning out the room. Not only do extra things clutter your room, but if you ever have to switch classrooms with another teacher, you have to carry all that junk with you that you never use anyway. This is what happened with the teacher that I had to switch with this year. I couldn't believe all the things she had and she said she never uses it. Now that we are switching, she said she will go through it and get rid of what she doesn't use. This gave her a lot more work than what she needed. It's already a big job to switch rooms and now she has a lot more to do.

Be sure that everything is out of the students' closets and desks in June. Otherwise you have to clean that all out in September. Organize textbooks and workbooks neatly on shelves. You may also want to cover the shelves with paper to keep dust from getting on the books. If you are fortunate to have your class list before you set up your room, you can even do some things at home like writing names on cutouts, charts or posters. Then when you get to school all you have to do is hang them up.

The start of a new school year can be overwhelming especially for new teachers. I have found that by doing the above, really does help a lot. Each year it seems like I take less and less time to set up my room. If I have everything prepared ahead of time, I find that I need only a couple of hours or less to do everything. This way I don't get over tired and I only need to come in once to set up. I suggest having mostly everything done before your first day when you have teacher meetings. You may plan to do some work afterwards, but you will be exhausted after sitting in meetings all day. Plan ahead, be organized and everything should go well.