Complete renovation of my classroom?!?

Thanks to my new found addiction to Pinterest I am going to attempt to renovate my poor classroom.  I will work on it over the summer and update my blog as I go.  I hope you will take the ride with me and allow me to pass down tips on "what not to do" or "wow, why didn't I do that first" as I begin this adventure.  I will have A LOT of before and after pictures, and I hope that I can spark your imagination as some of you have sparked mine.

New seats for my reading table:

I am going to make covers for milk crates as I've seen on Pinterest.  I'm having trouble finding crates as I've only been able to get 1 so far, but I found the best idea for covering them.  Rather than spending $4 or $5 a yard for cute fabric I spent $4 each and got table cloths that I LOVE and I'm going to use them for covers.  I like that they have similar covers but will be different too.  I'm not one to have EVERYTHING match.  It's great if you do, but I like a little mixing it up.

Stay tuned...



Ever start a project and then realize that you opened a HUGE can of worms???

I asked if I could pull the paneling off of my classroom wall.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  Almost 40 years ago when my school was built they put paneling over sheet rock.  And to add to the fun it was just tacked down...TONS and TONS of glue.

So, I pulled it down, ripped the sheet rock, and found a wet wall.

 I make a phone call and our head of maintenance shows up.  They are now going to hire someone to come in and fix the issues.  Catch?  Do I hear a catch?  I have to move EVERYTHING out of my room because he will be ready in 2 days.  I realize a lot of teachers have to move things from their rooms, but we're usually allowed to leave our bookshelves along the wall and just pile stuff up.  I can't do that because they are going to fix the walls and make a great mess while doing it.

Here's a little of the mess before I started working.  I had already moved the book bins off the shelf so I could pull the paneling off the wall.  That was the 2nd time I'd moved them.  :)

After 7 hours of moving EACH item out.

Stay tuned...

Today I got to go into my room (the floors finally dried from the wax) and put all my stuff back.  Next, I get to go through ALL of this stuff and put it where it actually belongs.  

This is the 3rd time I've moved this stuff.

My student computers will go back here eventually.

I found out yesterday that I WILL be getting a new water fountain soon.  That one is 30+ years old.  I also painted this wall a sage green as a focus wall.  The trim hasn't been put back yet, but I like it. 

What do you think?

This will be my reading area soon.  Wait until you see what I have planned!!

This is the place on my newly painted wall that I get to retouch because when they were putting my computer counter top back the wall was a casualty.

I'm not sure if you can tell but the wall that has my board is two shades darker than the rest of the room.  I read studies that said doing that would help ADHD/ADD students focus.

I got in there again today and hung some of my bulletin board (aka ceiling tiles) and I'm beginning to get excited about the progress.