Elementary school teachers and disorganized teachers everywhere, start your search engines!  Did you know that eBay is a valuable tool for helping you set up a killer classroom?

Setting up a classroom is an overwhelming task for those new to teaching.  The layout of the room can affect a teacher's time management, organization, classroom management.  By carefully planning ahead, you can create an environment that will help your students have a very successful year.  Follow these steps to success, and you'll be on your way to an A+ classroom!

     Phase One: Pre-Planning

1.  Make an inventory of what items are in the classroom already.  Be sure to include desks and furniture, materials, office supplies, chalkboards, bulletin/white/SMARTboards, televisions and electronic equipment, computers, tack strips, maps, and hooks.  Check to make sure that you have a working clock (This can sometimes be a problem!)  Are there fans available for use?  If you are in a building without air conditioning, you will want to make sure that you have some fans for the first day of school.

2.  Make a rough sketch that includes the layout of the room without furniture.  Be sure to include the door, chalkboards, bulletin boards, and any mounted televisions or overhead screens in your sketch.  Make at least six copies of your sketch before you leave the building.

3.  Ask the secretary or principal what items will be provided for you, and also find out what (if anything) the school or district will provide for you.  Write the items down so you'll remember them later.

4.  Purchase a copy of Harry Wong's The First Days of School book.  As an experienced teacher, I can vouch for the importance of this.  I read this book EACH and EVERY summer before the new school year begins.  It helps me create the scaffolding that is necessary for a successful learning environment.  As you are reading the book, focus on the information on classroom environment. It will help you as you design your own plan. 

  Phase Two: Developing a Plan

1. Purchase a 2" binder, sheet protectors, and a pad of small sticky notes.  Then organize all of your inventory lists, sketches, and order forms in your binder. 

2.  Make a list of centers or areas you'd like to have in your classroom.  Do you need a classroom library?  What about magazine racks?  A comfy reading area?  Also, how much room do you want for your own desk and teaching area?  After considering these ideas, prepare to plan your classroom!

3.  Take the sketch copies of your classroom and begin to plan the furniture arrangements.  Use sticky notes to represent desks and other furniture in the room. (Cut notes to scale as needed.)  Arrange bookshelves, student and teacher desks, and tables in various combinations on your copies.  Be sure to include any furniture that will be ordered for you.  Then select the arrangement that allows for both you and your students to move around as freely as possible.  Once you have selected the arrangement, don't forget to put the sheet inside a protector so that the sticky notes don't move.

4.  Now is the time to think about your storage needs.  What kinds of furniture and storage containers do you need to add to your classroom?  Check eBay for fun and inexpensive storage containers; don't forget to search eBay for IKEA items, which are funky, unusual, and useful.  If you are short on shelving and have a lot of books, look for storage shelving, folding shelves, or closet shelving (it is much cheaper than office furniture.)  In addition, plastic crates can be stacked on their sides to create shelves for books.  A search for wire store display racks or shelves can also produce good results, and plastic or fabric wall pockets can provide places for homework assignments and late work.

5.  Once your furniture and storage needs are squared away, begin building your collection of bulletin board supplies.  Fabric is a great way to cover boards because it can be reused for many years to come.  Bulletin board borderscan be very expensive, although eBay is a good place to find good deals on these.  If you're interested in something more unusual, consider using strips of laminated scrapbook paper, strips cut from craft foam sheets, pre-cut craft foam shapes, or various flashcards as borders for your bulletin boards.   A hot glue gun with removable glue makes it easy to attach things around the room [including metal frames around bulleitn boards].  Educational posters, learning aids, and die cut letters can easily be used for years to come if you take the time to laminate them first. 

6.  Displays that are decorative AND useful will save you a lot of space in the classroom.  You can hang art work by using a regular clothesline and clothespins. Brightly colored magnetic fridge clips provide additional hanging space on magnetized bulletin boards.  A three or five peg coat rack provides a great place to store hanging items, like hall passes or signs.  Consider stacking crates and shelves on your desk and/or file cabinets if there's room; this helps create more space without taking up leg room.  Items of different heights can add interest to an ordinary room.  Over-the-door hanging shoe bags can be pinned or clipped around the room; these provide great places for overhead and dry erase markers, flashcards, crayons, and other small items.

7.  After you've determined the essentials, consider some of the small details that can make your classroom feel like home.  By using small strips of cloth (hemmed or unhemmed) and sticky velcro, you can make inexpensive valances for your windows.  Table lamps that are colorful or have unusual shades (I glue party favor items to outside of them) provide a great atmosphere; I use them on top of shelves and cabinets at different heights to help detract from fluorescent lighting.  A decorative cookie jar makes a great candy reward jar, and plants enhance the atmosphere.  Betta fish inside glass vases filled with colorful pebbles are popular with kids.  Stuffed animals from popular children's books are readily available on eBay, and these make great displays. Also consider the space around the outside of your classroom.  A welcome mat or a sign made with brightly painted wooden letters that spell your last name can make a student feel more comfortable walking through your door. 

8.  If a classroom library is in your future, consider how to set it up so that it is attractive and useful to students.  Plate stands can hold books you'd like to feature.  Rain gutters can be cut to fit a wall and mounted in two or three spaced rows so that books can be displayed and featured.  I use bookshelves set on top of my heater so that books are closer to student height, and I have provided a colorful non-slip step stool so that kids can better see the books.  In addition, each shelf holds plastic shoe boxes that contain books sorted according to book genre.  Each clear box is color coded by genre, and each book is labeled with the same color.  In other words, all historical fiction books get an orange sticker and are held in clear shoe boxes with an orange "historical fiction" label.  Kids can take the shoe boxes off the shelves to get a better look at each book.  I've also placed an Accelerated Reader sticker on the books for which our school has purchased AR tests.  (If you have AR, perhaps your school librarian could provide a list and some labels so that you could label your own books as well.)  E-Bay lots of adolescent booksand children's books can help you add to your library; so can garage sales and resale shops. 

9.  There are a few other things you should consider that can be a great help during a hectic school day.  An inexpensive microwave or mini fridge allows you to store and prepare treats like microwaved popcorn or juice boxes.  A toaster oven, potholder and baking parchment on hand allow you to cook small treats like pre-packaged cookie dough.  (These also allow you to avoid the line for the microwave in the teacher's lounge--and you can use them to make a quick grilled cheese sandwich for your own lunch!)  A dustbuster or small hand-held vacuum is invaluable--you will find yourself using one daily if it's on hand.  Other helpful items include a hand broom and dustpan, a few trash bags, recycled shopping bags for things that need to go home, Ziploc bags, lap desks, board games for reward days, an emergency bag equipped with flashlight, clipboard/pen and class list [to grab on the way out of the room during a drill], air sanitizer, first aid kit, small tool kit [you won't believe how often you need a utility knife or screwdriver], stain remover or Tide-To-Go pen, baby wipes, all-purpose spray cleaner, glass cleaner, GOO Gone [for paste/glue messes], and a mini sewing kit with a stash of safety pins. 

    Phase Three: Implementation

Well, now that the EASY part is finished, the rest is up to you!  Be sure to get some help moving all those things into your new classroom, and have a great year!