Presents ideas for creating a welcoming classroom environment, including: decorating the room by hanging students' names from the ceiling; making a classroom community puzzle involving each student; and developing a variety of welcoming bulletin boards. A reproducible sheet includes cut-out shapes to make an underwater-theme bulletin board that…

This article offers simple design ideas on classroom transformation that are easy on the pocketbook and will make the biggest difference to teachers and their students. These include: (1) Go with a splash of color; (2) Use bright fabrics; (3) Stick with blues and greens; (4) Use color to create nooks; (5) Buddy up with a shop class; (6) Hide the…

Presents classroom setup and display ideas that can help elementary teachers create an effective learning environment. Ideas include signposts for instructions; a classroom duties chart; teacher helper hats; and bulletin boards that feature famous authors, graphs, daily news, student work, and creative writing. (SM)

Features displays and bulletin boards to help elementary teachers build support from home by providing parents with glimpses of daily school life. Suggestions include a photo display of students in action, a class time line, and a riddle tree for parents to fill in with tricky riddles. (SM)

Five versatile basic backgrounds for bulletin boards are described. Many different options are suggested when using a sun, calculator, monkey, roller skate, or elephant as the basis for the bulletin board. (JMK)

Strategies for creating caring, positive classroom environments from the start include hanging pictures of people from around the world with mirrors to promote reflection, making signs that present concepts about rights, and creating name cards for saving work in progress. Questions for teachers to ask before school begins are included. (SM)

This planning guide for efficient use of the last weeks before school opens offers ideas for interactive hall and wall displays, a guide to self-made math manipulatives, a materials checklist, a four-week task planning countdown, and a listing of teacher resource books and other classroom materials. (SM)

Presents ideas for creating high-impact, low-cost, stimulating classroom displays. The article suggests arranging the environment to allow comfortable movement along with a pleasant, organized backdrop to teacher and student displays. Individual displays should not only share student work but extend and develop learning. Eight creative ideas are…