Classroom Balling on a Budget
OUT OF MY LEAGUE
I'm a person who loves to decorate. During the school year, I'm in my classroom more than I am at home. So each year I try to make my classroom as comfortable for me and my students as possible. I always teach my students that their classroom is a home away from home so I try to make it feel just like that for them.
Now, I'm also a person that loves to decorate and be extremely extra if you would like to use those words. I didn't really know how I extra I was going to have to be when it came to decorating my classroom this year. Now... is this all necessary? No. Do I like doing it? Yes.
When I taught in Louisiana I thought I had decorated my room SO cute! They say things are BIGGER IN TEXAS.. Well decorating classrooms is absolutely one of them. When I walked into one of my co-teachers classrooms after moving to Texas, it was a whole game changer. It had hit me that I was going to have to (not that I had to, but I wanted to) redecorate my entire classroom pretty much and make it over the top. When I started walking into other teacher's classrooms I realized I was out of my league. So I started researching and gathering things to make my room "cute" and "themed" if you will. I didn't want to spend a crazy amount of money so I set a budget on how much I really wanted to spend and then I followed these eight tips on how to get what I wanted and only spend within my budget!
8 tips on how to decorate your classroom on a budget!
1. The Welman's Project
Normally in any big city, or town there is a business that will basically recycle or repurpose teachers items. The company that is near me is called the Welman's project. I have found so many things from desks to light fixtures to resources that have all been given to me for free. The last thing that I picked up from them was a chalkboard that had light surrounding it and on the opposite side was a chalkboard with an organizational chart that my students could fill out as a class. All I had to do to pick up these items or shop there was show my teacher badge. There are numerous stores like this around the country, you just have to search for the one near you!
2. Amazon Wishlist
I know you've probably all set up an Amazon wish list for your classroom. But if you haven't, now is your time period I share this and add to it all year. I share it with my student's parents, I share it with my family and friends on Facebook as well as any social media. I add to it as the year progresses and randomly will post it when my students need something. I've had a lot of people purchase things from my wish list, it's just getting the intention of sharing it with others. People love to help teachers, and they realize that a lot of this comes out of our pocket!
3. Facebook Market Place
I have purchased so many things for my classroom from Facebook market place! I needed a reading nook in my classroom for my students independent reading time and I bought a cute little couch that I had barely been used for $50! I have found a gumball machine on there that I plan on using for behavior incentives, so many bookshelves and a lot of fun décor pieces! This is my favorite place to shop for my classroom because a lot of times you can bargain with price! The couch I got for $50 was originally listed for $100!
4. Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree is perfect for all things organization! I got ALL of my students book boxes there, crayon boxes and small group materials there! You never know what's going to be in stock, so it's good to go at random times! You can also order online from them in bulk and you can find whole-class sets! I bought my crayon boxes this way because I couldn't find the right amount in store! They also have so many useful manipulatives! I bought a jenga set and had math facts and sight words written on them so when they pulled them during the game, they had a task to complete! They have flash cards and a lot of toys for behavior incentive and door hangers for every season!
5. Canva
The upgraded version of Canva is free for all teachers! All you have to do is set up a Teachers account using your district email! I use this for everything school related and non-school related! I even made my wedding invitations and Christmas card on here! I use Canva to make backdrops and borders, and a lot of my decorations in my classroom! I am going to be hosting a webinar on how to utilize camera in your classroom for decorations, and every day use this summer!
6. Donors Choose
If you haven’t used donors, choose before, this is gonna be such a treat for you! Go to the link that I’ve shared below, and set up an account! This is basically where you can build a project, you choose what you are lacking or needing in your classroom and write a grant for it basically. It takes no time, and it is so easy! People from all over the world will donate to the project that you have posted, and 99% of the time all of the projects will get funded! They even run match days, where certain companies will match a donation that is given to your project or classroom! I’ve gotten a lot of my big classroom essentials from here! Some projects that I recently got funded were 10 kindles for my students to utilize, a ton of class set of hardback books that my students were wanting, and my grab and go section of my room! There's a video of this on my tiktok! It’s probably my most prized and utilized possession in my entire classroom!
DonorsChoose Link: https://www.donorschoose.org/classroom/7686324
7. Other Teachers
When you’re looking for something in your classroom, reach out to other teachers! So many teachers get rid of different things and normally they just get thrown out or given to someone else! Make sure you are asking around or posting on social media that you are needing something specific and I guarantee you another teacher or person will have exactly what you need sitting in their garage or classroom!
8. Teachers-Pay-Teachers
I make a lot of my own classroom decor, using Canva and PowerPoint, but teacher pay teachers has a ton of things on there for very cheap or for free! If you go in and search for decor, or something more specific, there’s a price button and you can click for free! There’s so much on there that you can download and not pay a penny for! You do have to print and cut it out, but sometimes it’s worth it because you can customize a lot of it!
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