Hey guys, With school about to start I was wondering what your decoration ideas are for a high school science classroom? Thinking back on when I was in high school, I remember a few posters but that's pretty much it. Does it look bad if my classroom is relatively plain? I figure I'll buy maybe 3-5 motivational/science posters but I don't know what else I should do. I don't want to do too much just because I don't feel it's necessary and I don't have much wall space. Do you have any good recommendations of where I can buy posters for cheap?
Plain is okay. I don't think you should just put up posters for the sake of putting up posters. If you feel like your room is especially bare, you could always do a "College Corner" or something with a few pennants and whatnot from your alma mater or local universities.
I agree with Caesar. I can tell you that every science classroom in my school has the Periodic Table of the Elements hanging up! I guess you would only really need it if you're teaching Chemistry or Physical Science, though!
Ok I'm GLAD to hear this. I was talking with some of my family and they told me I should put SOMETHING up but honestly at the moment I'm more worried about teaching (this is my first year) than decorating. Maybe I'll get a class pet or something later but as of now, unless I just see a poster I love, I won't worry too much. But I will say I do like the college corner idea...I might look into that, especially since I have a few friends and family from different schools that could probably let me have some stuff.
I'm sharing a room so I'm hoping I'm sharing it with someone who likes that kind of thing. I really don't care if she wants to decorate it with flowers and rainbows--I just want a room to teach in.
Take a look around and see what the other science teachers have up. They may even have older posters that you cuold borrow. Our school is big on print-rich classrooms, and also anchor charts. You can make the charts with your students for each unit you do and build up the "decor" that way. Right now my walls look bare, but I plan to have students make goal posters in the first week, and look up inspirational quotes that I'll print and mat on colored paper before hanging. That way they're taking ownership of the room.
Content is great, but you don't have to have everything up on your walls for the first day. I slowly added visuals to reinforce key objectives and vocabulary. I have a lot of large colorful posters that detail classroom procedures. You don't have to use fancy borders and whatnot.
I think it should reflect your personality. My room is really colorful with lots of posters (and pandas) because that's me. LOL. Other teachers have more, some have less. Feel comfortable in your room.
I like that-- something related to what you teach but still low maintenence. When I have a homeroom, I put up a "problem of the week"-- a brainteaser. (I put the answer on the back, so you have to physically lift up the problem to get to the answer. The kids who notice it tend to keep on playing each week. I also put up a monthly birthday card for the members of my homeroom. The boys in particular tend to not mention to their friends that their birthdays are coming up. I would hate for anyone to go through a whole school day without a single "Happy Birthday."
I also don't like putting up a bunch of "pretty crap" (as we like to call it at my school) on my walls. This is why I hated teaching MS; I was expected to decorate my classroom like it was a private birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. Since I teach Gov't and History, I like to type and print alot of quotes and place these around the room. They are topic related, usually about democracy, freedom, independence, revoltion, society, civil rights, war and such. I can use them as conversation starters throughout the year. I also hang college t-shirts on my wall with a sign that has few facts about the school. I hang up about 15 to 20 a year and the kids love this because few are exposed to any schools outside of our state.
My husband is a high school biology teacher. He's an amateur nature photographer, so we bought a bunch of cheap black frames at Hobby Lobby, put his pictures inside, and hung them up. You may not be a photographer, but if you are or know someone who is, this could work for you.
you can do an area set up for extra credit. Printout different extra credit assignments and post them in folders attached to the wall. You can have a small library of science dvds that they can "rent" from you and watch over the weekend and write a small response essay or answer questions about it.
