As teachers, setting up our classrooms is like setting up a home. Your classroom will be a second home for you as well as your students. But making an empty classroom feel like a second home while making it functional and efficient for you and your class can be a daunting task. Let me help ease the stress! Here are 5 simple ways to make classroom setup easier.
5 Ways to Make Classroom Set Up Easier (and Faster)
Setting up a classroom can feel overwhelming, especially with everything else on your back-to-school checklist. I’ve packed this post with simple tips and tricks to help make classroom setup easier, faster, and way less stressful, so you can focus on creating a space that works for both you and your students.
Make a plan! Before you start moving furniture around.
Use a checklist of all of the things you need to accomplish to set up your classroom. This breaks down a very large, potentially overwhelming task into smaller, more manageable parts. Not sure what all you need to do? Grab this FREE done-for-you checklist to help kickstart your classroom setup process.
Sketch out your classroom. Layout the items that aren’t moving, then add in the big areas you want to have in your classroom (teacher desk, classroom library, classroom rug, etc), and then start filling in the smaller areas (student desk/table arrangements, turn-in station, writing center, calming corner, etc).
Trust me, taking time to have a checklist and making a plan will save you so much time and effort and will help prevent doing things twice.
Take inventory!!
If you are a new teacher, most classrooms come with some items (furniture, books, a rug, curriculum, manipulatives, etc). Before you start buying a bunch of items you might already have, take inventory of what is in the classroom already.
Veteran teachers, this is for you too! Go through your stuff! Before you start buying new items for your classroom, take an inventory of what you already have so you aren’t purchasing duplicates.
This is also a good time to throw out all of the items you have been keeping for years, “just in case” you need them! If you haven’t used it in a few years, it’s time to say goodbye! Sell it, give it to a new teacher, donate it, or even trash it! Just don’t keep it in your room, taking up valuable space!
You can grab my classroom inventory resource with editable inventory options, along with other helpful teacher planning worksheets, here.
Focus your attention on student areas!
Desk arrangement, bulletin boards,and a welcome area are all areas students see and use every day. Help your classroom feel like a safe, fun place to be by spending time making sure those big areas are ready first. It’s an easy way to tackle big areas of your room without overwhelming you!
Desk arrangement
You want to set yourself and your students up for success, and that means having your students arranged in a way that works for you and your classroom.
Make sure as many students as possible have a clear line of sight to the board, make sure there is ample walking room, and think about how you want your classroom community to feel. Are students grouped in pairs, or are single desks in rows placed side by side to form a “U” around the room? Decide what you think will work best for you.
Bulletin boards
Cutesy bulletin boards are fun, but these are the perfect spaces to incorporate learning materials that are functional for your classroom, while also being eye-appealing. Incorporating a calendar display, subject-area-focused posters/anchor charts, or student work are effective ways to add purposeful information to your classroom walls.
Welcome area
Having students walk into your classroom and immediately feel welcome is the first step in creating a safe and welcoming environment that feels like a home away from home. Whether this is a wall display, door decor, or something else, carving out a little area to welcome students goes a long way! Here’s free simple welcome banner you can add to your classroom!
Don’t feel like you have to decorate EVERY space!
It is ok to leave some space in your room! Not every wall needs to be covered! Leave room for additions throughout the year, such as subject-area content, seasonal displays, or student work displays. I love having a section of my classroom dedicated to displaying and showcasing student work.
My student work space looks pretty empty at the beginning of the year. I like to hang up signs that say “amazing work coming soon” across the whole display, so students (and parents) get excited about posting amazing work up on that display. It is a simple and easy way to fill up a big space that isn’t truly decorated with “stuff.”
Prep what you can early
Prepping labels for bins and cubbies will help you get a head start on organizing items before you really get into setup mode. Printing and cutting out labels for supplies, cubbies, whatever it is you are going to organize in your classroom, will save you time when you are really in the thick of your setup list. Knowing that you have a place to organize your materials, supplies, manipulatives, centers will help give you some peace of mind.
I use these labels to organize all of my teacher and student materials! It helps me during setup know exactly where everything goes, and throughout the school year, I am loving my classroom setup self for getting everything organized so I am not searching through boxes during my prep period or during class. You can grab the labels here!
For more organization tips, please check out my 5 Amazon Classroom Organization Must-Haves blog! It’s packed with all sorts of classroom organization goodies!
Classroom setup is not for the faint of heart, but with these tips and resources, I hope your classroom setup is less stressful and you feel ready to take on the school year!
