5 Ways that a Classroom Theme can Make your Year Great

Many of us are beginning to think about getting back into our classrooms and get ready for the next school year. When you are setting up your room, you may be working with a theme this year! I have five reasons for you today about how a classroom theme can help you have a great school year!

1. Your room makes both you and your students happy

Let's face it: you and your students will be spending far more time in this room than you will in your own homes throughout the school year. You want to actually love the place that you come to each day, right? When you select a theme for your classroom, it gives your room a really cohesive look, which is naturally relaxing. Everything has the same color scheme, it all matches...there is something about that that can be soothing, and it makes people feel happy! You may choose a theme based on what you love (your favorite colors, favorite animal, etc), or something you know your students love (emojis, for example). Whatever it is, a classroom feels more complete when everything matches, and it will make you feel happy to walk through your doors each day. If you feel happy, that comes through in your teaching! Happy teacher, happy students!

2. You stay better organized

There is something about selecting a theme that makes you see all of the different areas in your room that need some sort of sign or label. Whether you purchase a theme that someone else designed, or you make it yourself, there are endless ways to incorporate it into your room. You can have supply labels, classroom schedule cards, job cards, small group station signs, behavior charts...the ideas are endless! With all of these different places to work your theme into your room, you will have the most organized room in your school! Getting organized over the summer makes it easier to focus on instruction during the school year. A theme makes it all easy: set up once and simply maintain throughout the year.

As a side note: if you choose to purchase a theme, be sure it is editable so you can customize it to meet your classroom's needs! That will help you to stay organized!

3. Your students take care of your stuff

I have seen time and time again, that when I indicate a place for my things, my students take better care of them. Setting up an organizational system for your room makes it easy for students to understand the order of things. If they always know which baskets books go into, or where the clipboards go, they will start to take pride in maintaining the systems that you've created! A theme makes this so simple. Every space in your classroom that has the potential to get messy, or every behavior you want to manage simply needs a label or sign with your theme incorporated on it! If you purchase a theme online, this gets even simpler! Not to mention, classroom jobs become cuter when they are in line with your theme!

4. You save money

Back to school time is the most tempting time to spend money for a teacher. The Target Dollar Spot alone could drain my bank account! When you have a theme, you are more focused when shopping for back to school. You won't be distracted by every cute pillow or basket that you see. Does it match your theme? Does it add something that you don't already have? If you choose to not have a theme, and you simply want a room full of things that you think aren't cute, you may overspend. You also may end up with a bunch of things that don't match, which may not make you happy to look at. It's easier to say no to extra classroom decor when you have a theme you are trying to maintain, which saves you money! I mean, what gets better than that?!

5. You share your personality with your school

You will host Open Houses, conferences, lunch with your team, class parties, and so much more in the walls of your classroom this year. When people enter your room, you want it to give them a little glimpse into the fun, happy personality you have as a teacher. You can express your teaching heart to people through the way you set up your room this year. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, it just needs to make you happy! People will see that happiness come through, and your room will be the one to hang out in all year.