My husband is a 3rd grade teacher and is simply amazing at his job. He's great with the kids, and creates the perfect atmosphere for both fun and learning. I'm someone who would be terrible at teaching kids, but I can't resist jumping in to help him decorate and organize his classroom! Now that school is back in session, I wanted to take you all on a back-to-school classroom tour to show off our handiwork!
We'll start our classroom tour with the bulletin board outside the classroom. One of the most exciting moments during back-to-school season is finally finding the class you've been placed in. I always loved finding my name on a door or bulletin board outside the classroom. Using the Superhero Bulletin Board kit, we were able to put together this eye-catching superhero-themed bulletin board complete with blank starburst cutouts to write the names of the students in.
If you're looking to decorate a classroom, bedroom, or office with a superhero theme, I highly recommend purchasing this kit! You get SO many pieces for an unbeatable price!
As the students come in, they can mark their attendance on the Magnetic Attendance Board by moving their name under their lunch plan for the day: home, or one of the two school lunch options. The girl superhero cutout above the board is also from the Superhero Bulletin Board kit!
Here's a view from the student desks. We found caddies at Walmart for a steal of a deal and placed one on each group of desks. I've also found similar caddies for just a few dollars at Target and dollar stores. I designed labels for each caddy, laminated and stuck them on with packaging tape. To keep things from getting misplaced, I labeled each set of rulers, pink erasers, scissors, and crayons with the number of each table caddy they belong to. We also purchased 99¢ superhero cups to keep the markers, colored pencils, and regular pencils together and prevent them from falling out of the holes.
After one assignment, my husband will find multiple pencils all over the floor. To keep pencils from rolling away and falling into the great abyss, we cut milkshake straws into thirds and taped them to the desks with packaging tape. Students can now slide their pencil through the straw to keep their pencil in place!
The front of the classroom is where it's at! Starting from the left, we placed another superhero cutout next to the flag. I hand painted some foam discs to resemble Captain America and Wonder Woman shields to stand proudly on top of the bookshelf.
Math is one of my husband's favorite subjects and one that students struggle with the most. We put together a math-themed bulletin board with posters I designed with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division symbols with vocabulary words listed in the center. I also incorporated letters and an "amazing" cutout from the Superhero Bulletin Board kit!
Above the Smart Board, we placed the "Bam!" Jumbo Superhero Word Cutout. I also put together an alphabet line with both printed and cursive letters that were printed, laminated and placed above the other whiteboard.
The right side of the whiteboard is where my husband can write the "I Can" statements to help students know what they're going to be learning in each subject every day. The letters are from the Superhero Bulletin Board kit, and we used Superhero Dry Erase Magnets to add the titles for each subject.
On the far right of the wall, I put together a schedule to be placed in the pocket chart to help the students have a visual of the daily routines. Above that, we placed another jumbo superhero word cutout.
Past the sink/hand washing station and drinking fountain is some crates that will work at tablet charging stations. Next to that is the pencil sharpener with a dull/sharp pencil cups. Homework will be placed into in/out bins, and following are bins for papers with no names, and folders for other subjects.
We found the perfect wooden "mailbox" for students at the thrift store. We cleaned it up and stuck the students names next to each opening so they can find all of their important papers in one place at the end of the day. Blank paper and lined paper are stored in the double letter tray.
Our reading bench is really a bookshelf from IKEA turned on its side. We then covered a piece of foam with some superhero fabric with velcro on one side so it's washable. You can also find dining chair cushions for good deals, and they work great as sitting pillows to read on.
The center bookshelf was another fantastic thrift store find and holds SO many books!! It definitely needs to be repainted, but I think we'll save that for next summer's project...
The red bookshelf on the right is another find from IKEA. Because of its color, it was on clearance and we got it for a steal!! To keep books organized inside, we used some plastic bins (shoebox size) and stood books up inside each one. We organized them by Lexile level and labeled the outside of the box with each number range so the kids can find and return books easily.
We made a faux bulletin board above the reading nook using a cityscape poster from a party store and adding the border from the Superhero Bulletin Board kit. The words and superhero cutouts are also from the kit. I told you that Superhero Bulletin Board kit is a must-have!!
For my husband's workspace, we tried to organize the best we could with letter trays and bins for daily worksheets. He loves collecting superhero Funko Pop! characters, so he lined them all up along the top of his cupboards to watch over the classroom. We found some metal vintage comic book covers and stuck them to his cupboard doors with Command Strips. The sign "Even superheroes have to do their homework" was a fun find from Walmart. See that photo of my daughter? Learn to make that ruler frame at MyPrintly!
To the right of the teacher workspace is another jumbo superhero word cutout, and the clock with some labels I made to help the students learn minutes and quarters of an hour. I cut out the "Number Corner" letters out of poster board with my Cricut Explore machine.
Of course, my husband incorporates prizes into his classroom. Students can earn items like Superhero Erasers, Superhero Pencils with Capes, Superhero Saying Rubber Bracelets, Superhero Stickers and more through drawings, and through their "Fun Friday" classroom store!
Thanks for stopping by and coming along on this tour with me! Please let me know if you have any questions about our classroom. Be sure to visit Oriental Trading to get some affordable and fun superhero decor and accessories for your own classroom, home or office.
As a retired second grade teacher I just want to say your husband's classroom is so inviting and well organized. And I wish him a great school year. Oriental Trading Company was one of my favorite mail order companies too.
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