Ingenious Ideas for the Classroom: A Guide to Making it Work for the Rest of the Year

Now that teachers have settled into the school year and got a feel for their students, they may have realized that some things need tweaked to help make the day run smoother or your students to focus more. We love making our classrooms more user friendly and thought this time of year might be just right to give you some ideas on how to do just that. (And bonus, Black Friday might be able to help you get it done cheaply!)

Avert the Clock Watchers

This might be for teachers in higher grades, but it’s the perfect way to get those clock watchers back on task. Around your classroom clock, put this message: “Time will pass. Will you?” Make the letters as colorful or sparkly as you want, so long as the students get the message.

Clear their Desks

A big problem, especially in the middle grade classrooms or any classrooms where students have limited desk space, share a table with others, or don’t have a cubby, is that they have personal items that take up too much. These sort of items may include purses, water bottles, cell phones, or baseball caps. You can combat this space problem by connecting a bike water bottle holder (water bottles) or hooks (purses and caps) to the leg of each chair. As for the cell phones, use black tape to create strips on a large glass cookie jar and add letters that read “Phone Prison.” Then encourage students to keep their talkers in there until the bell rings.

Make it Pretty

Did you know that color has been linked to better focus, critical thinking, and creativity? (See more here.) This is a good enough excuse to decorate your teaching space based on you and your students’ needs. There are loads of ways to make your classroom more colorful. One of our favorites is using contact paper to beautify the front of boring filing cabinet drawers.

Including students’ pictures in decorating can boost the confidence and morale in the room. This can be done on homework or mail boxes, or around cubby areas.

We also love the idea of running ribbon through milk crates if you use them, creating bunting with book covers to hang over reading areas, and covering an unsightly metal 70s special desk with boisterous wrapping paper.

Better Communication with Chalkboard Paint

Is there an area of your classroom you find yourself posting or swapping information, wasting sticky notes or taping papers up? Chalkboard paint is a great way to make data dumping easier. Painting a door or wall border will create a great place to write daily announcements or reminders.

Click the button in the upper left of this page or click here to check out our Pinterest board for these and more fun and clever ideas for any classroom!

How do you make your classroom more practical and fun for you and your students? Please share with us in the comments below!