Pages

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Hot Mess of a Classroom....hmph.

I'm on a roll here with these linky parties, so why not one more?  I'm linking up with 
 photo Slide1_zps0f4262e5.jpg 
over at The Applicious Teacher as my new classroom gives me nightmares!  Seriously, y'all...like monster under the bed-type nightmares.  You see, I have history with this room.  I have taught in this room in an inclusion model as the reading resource teacher for an hour and a half each morning...first thing...and have left there with a 3-Advil headache afterwards.  And, the clencher.  It is Room 13.  I'm not sure whether to have one of the priests from our church (I teach in a Catholic school) come bless the place or what.  Here it is (I had to use Megan's cute freebie paper to make myself feel better).


Stop laughing.  Get down on your hands and knees and thank God for your nicely-colored room.  Plain old white would be an improvement.  This falls into the "what were they thinking?" category, for sure!

You see that I am not blessed with many windows, and the teacher left the blinds shut the entire two years I was in there.  I swear I suffer from that seasonal depression...this room made it worse.  A little vitamin D never hurt anyone.  First thing I will do is open the blinds...watch.  There will be a wicked glare at which point the laugh will be on me...hardy harr harr.  Anyway, it will be a start.  The fluorescent lights threw me over the neon-tinted edge.  It reminds me of the dressing rooms in which you try on bathing suits...you know what I'm talking about.

There is also so much stuff lurking in the closet from teachers dating back to 1965 is my guess.  Jimmy Hoffa is probably in there, y'all.  I'm telling ya.  This place is scary.  At this point I would direct you to the header of my blog.  I am all bright and cheery.  I taught kindergarten for 6 years for goodness sake.  I'm all daisies and lollipops.  And, I think my principal knows as much as she told me.....drum roll....that I can paint!  I'm so excited!!!!

So, help a girl out.  Would blue work?  Like a pale, calm the wild beast kinda blue?  I hear that I have quite the class.  I have chosen to view this as a compliment due to the whole fact that they always give me the challenging angels because they know I can handle them and make a difference.  But, dang.  How many compliments does a girl need?  Got it.  Thank you.  Put the counselor on speed dial.  We need calm, calm colors.

Anywho.  I found these fabrics...


I will make those cute crate chairs with these.  I was thinking of painting the room the palest blue and using blue and lime green for everything else.

I also will put the desks in pods instead of the 1950 room arrangement in current use.  I am getting a new SmartBoard.  I will add a carpet in front with some kinda cool chair for me.  The library area will be revamped...so many changes.  So little time!

Okay...do a girl a favor and lay some thoughts on me.  I will be forever grateful....and might just get some sleep! :)

24 comments:

Adventures in Room 204 said...

By the looks of it, the room looks somewhat spacious! Compared to my room at least. We're cramped in tight with no room left over for anything fun like a reading corner or anything like that! But, I agree, the green is a little much. I think the light blue you are envisioning would be really nice with those fabrics you have to pair it with! Good luck! Be sure to take "after" pictures so we can all see please! :)

-Allison
Adventures in Room 204

Leigh- The Applicious Teacher said...

Lisa- I am LOVIN' the fabric choices! What a great starting point. :) Love the idea of painting the walls... but remember at one point, someone thought the green was a good idea! LOL!Thanks for linking up!

Leigh
The Applicious Teacher

Unknown said...

The fabric choices are wonderful, but really...I kinda LIKE the green! LOL! I'm just a wierdo! :) Maybe it would be different if I were in there every day like you...but...I really do like green! :) I think it's WAAAAY cool that they let you paint your own room! ;) My wheels are turning about what color mine would be if I could paint it! LOL...probably PURPLE!!! Bwah-ha-ha!!!!
Thanks for sharing your pictures! Can't wait to see how it all comes together!
XOXO,
Tamara


Mrs.Russell's Room
First Grade

Raye said...

I think that green wouldn't look so bad if that board wasn't green too! I like a light blue. I realized this year when I decorated my room that apparently I think blue a lot--almost all of my pocket charts are blue, my background papers for my bulletin boards were blue, etc. Probably because blue is so calming. :)

You're lucky you can paint! We aren't allowed to do that.

Mrs. Wathen said...

Lisa, I love the new calming colors in the fabric. The green wall would not have been that bad if there was not a green chalkboard contrasting it in the middle! I made the crate chairs 2 years ago and brought them home to recover this summer:) I can't wait to see how your room turns out.

Tammy
The Resourceful Apple

Miss B. said...

I'm relating to this post so much...doing the classroom revamp and cleaning out everything from the early 1900s. I'm in 4th grade at a Catholic school as well, and I swear we keep EVERYTHING! Everytime I think I've gone through it all, I find more. Good luck! (also, I'm your newest follower) :-)

Real Teachers Learn

Unknown said...

Oh my! The way you describe your room would scare me, too! LOL! But like you said, with a little paint and some fabric and a fabulous theme-- you will have the classroom you always wanted! I think a cornflower blue or a darker hue of this blueand a marigold yellow would be pretty-- I wish I could paintThe fabrics are pretty so you are thinking floral-- so in your library could be like 'Reading makes our minds Bloom!" and have a flower garden there, and your pencil tubs could be flower pots or the small rectangular ones that are metal... Maybe you could have a reading corner with a few pillows on the floor... I love to decorate-- just wish I had more money to so! Just a few ideas for you! Good luck and have fun decorating your room!

Your newest follower!
Leslie
First Grade and Flip Flops

Nick R said...

OMG, and I thought the big yellow wall in my room was bad. In the room I'm moving to next year there are three white walls and one bright, primary yellow one. It's awful...but not THIS awful. This post had me cracking up. I would probably come in over the weekend and paint the whole room. How could the principal possibly be mad?!

I'll never complain about my yellow wall again! Best of luck with your decorating endeavors!

Sweet Rhyme – Pure Reason

Unknown said...

Hi Lisa! Your post is cracking me up!! I love the calm colors in the fabrics, good luck with your room makeover! I'm your newest follower!
✿Sue✿
Science for Kids Blog

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Thanks, Allison! I like the positive spin that the room is spacious...you are right. Thank goodness as my classes will have 28 students. Yowzaa!!! I will definitely post "after" pics.

Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Thanks, Leigh! Good point....I think the paler the blue, the better!

Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Thanks, Tamara! Yours has become one of my favorite blogs. I love all your tech tips. I used the digital paper video just yesterday.

I think the green with more natural light would be better. It is so neon in there that pics don't quite do it justice! I would love to see your purple room! ;)


Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

I think you are right, Raye. The green chalkboard does the room no favors!!!

Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Thanks, Tammy!

Lisa

Heather Temske said...

I love your fabrics, I can see that some painting may be in order. Our while building including classrooms are getting painted this summer. I don't know what the color will be but hopefully nothing like that :-)

You did have me laughing all through your post. A sense of humor will get you far I'm sure.

Keep Smiling

Heather
room 4 imagination

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Oh Heather...I will keep my fingers crossed that you are blessed with a gorgeous color!

I agree....laughter is the best medicine! :)

Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Thanks, Sue! I will pop over and check out your blog :)

Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Just do it... Sneak in under the cover of darkness and feign ignorance. If not, I am happy I made you like your yellow wall a little more!

:) Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Thanks for your cute ideas, Leslie!

Lisa

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Fourth grade Catholic school teachers unite! Oh, I am so happy to connect with you. I will pop over and check out your blog!

Lisa

Angie said...

I love the flowered fabric. Definitely calming. Are you allowed to throw out everything in the closet, or do you have to keep it?

Angie
Teaching With Class

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

I definitely will be purging the closet in the cover of darkness over the summer! I cannot stand junk that isn't being used. Teacher's editions from two series ago? GONE! ;)

Lisa

DFrideley said...

Wewh - I barely like green (I had one bulletin board that was green) - I couldn't teach in that classroom. I rarely open my blinds because kids end up with "sun in eye" syndrome. If I could paint, I would do a light (seriously light) blue-grey on the walls and make your "focus wall" the color of the stipe running down the side of this column on this blog. It's more of an aquamarine. I've visited SOOO many classrooms in my 10 years and all of the new ones are done this way. If their undertones are tan then they have creamy walls with a chocolatey brown focus wall. I love it. If you're losing the chalkboard (jealous, I have 2 huge chalkboards) and gaining a smartboard...this is a great idea. I think I see an aquamarine in the material. My classroom last year was turquoise and lime and it was very calming. This year I will add coral and I'm going with a mermaid theme.

Good Luck! Deniece

Lisa @ Fluent in Fourth said...

Thanks for the ideas, Deniece.

Lisa

09 10 11 12
Blogging tips