For over a decade, I've been able to speak in over 300 classrooms per year. Luckily, I LOVE seeing how a teacher decorates their classroom walls.
I've always prefered to speak to students in classrooms and not in auditoriums. I like to create a more personal connection than is typically possible in an auditorium. Fortunately, I like looking at a good classroom wall too. What's on, or not on, your classroom walls says a lot about you.
I came across this videofrom Edutopia on Do’s and Don’ts for Decorating Your Classroom
The video reminded me of the good, the bad, and the ugly classrooms I have seen over the years. Here are a few that stuck out:
The UGLY:
One teacher had bare walls in the classroom. I assumed he had just moved into the classroom since it was early in the year. He said he had been in that room for about a decade. He just “never got around to it.” WoW!
The BAD:
TOO MANY RULES: One teacher had LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of RULES on his classroom walls. They were not the positive rules like Be Nice, Do Your Best, etc. They were the old school rules like No Talking (tough rule for classroom discussions!), No Cheating, No Eating, No Drinking, and so on. Everywhere I looked I saw NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. He even laminated a sheet called Three Rules for the Classroom (that actually had 4 rules btw) and the 4th rule, of the 3 rule poster, had 10 sub-rules each starting with DON’T.
TOO POLITICAL: I spoke in one urban classroom of a VERY LIBERAL teacher whose walls were covered with NO BLOOD FOR Oil posters and various other liberal messages. The school had a large ROTC program and many of his students were in uniform. His walls made a statement about him, NOT about the issues, or encouraging his students to get the facts and form their own opinion.
The GOOD:
INFORMING: There was a Psychology teacher who had BIG and BEAUTIFUL handmade posters of psychology terms and people all around her room. She said it was a gradual process over years of teaching before they were all done. I asked her if she took them all down before tests – it seemed like a lot of work. She said she didn’t and then laughed at how few kids actually looked up during tests.
WELCOMING: One teacher had pictures of places from around the world, including from his personal travels. He also had a couple of comfy chairs, a coffee table, and electric kettle to make tea in the front of his room. He let kids who weren’t even in his class stop by and have a cup of tea and sit for a while if they needed a break. I was amazed how respectful they were when they entered his room. He was often elected by the seniors to be the staff commencement speaker even though he didn’t usually teach seniors. They remembered him.
Thematic: In one teacher’s classroom his classroom I couldn’t help but notice a HUGE confederate flag along with other confederate generals on the wall. His sophomores were studying the Civil War and he said he changed what was on his walls to reflect what he was teaching. Sure enough, every time I spoke in his room the walls had different things on it. He said it took a lot of time to do, but he said it was worth it.