Classroom Reveal 2017-2018

Classroom Reveal 2017-2018

After many hours of working in my room, I'm FINALLY ready to reveal my music room for this year!

Here is a view of my room as you walk into it. I am super lucky to have a pretty big room!

Here's a panoramic view of my room:

I decided on a travel theme this year, and I have to say, this might be one of my favorites! I love the colors in the theme, AND I love that it fits in with my school's theme of "Oh, the places you'll go!" I really tried to be intentional this year to not cover every single wall with something, so that kids could learn in an engaging setting but not be overwhelmed. 

Here is my word wall. Instead of posting words by individual letters, I decided to group letters. I'm loving this, because in years past, I felt like my word wall was a bit overwhelming (and honestly, do we HAVE to have the word "zydeco" up there just to fit the letter Z?) This is much more manageable!

A bit further up the wall, I have hand drums hung with 3-M hooks, which is great for easy access! The baskets have clipboards and props in them; I bought those at Target. The partner poster is a great visual for students who can't find a partner to go to; you can download it for free here.

My first bulletin board is a "Road map to the lines and spaces" and is a great visual to remember the names of the notes! I just added this bulletin board to my travel-themed music classroom set; if you've already purchased, you can re-download under "my purchases." The globe paper lantern I already had purchased when I did a space theme a couple years ago, so I just got it back out of the closet to hang it!

Here is my other bulletin board. As students learn songs and dances, they can add them to the map and point to where the song or dance is from!

Here is my musical symbol wall, as well as my hand signs. I love having this wall, because I've seen kids make so many connections as I'm teaching and as they are figuring out which symbol we're discussing!

At IKEA, I picked up a different type of stool for my flexible seating area. The white stool is called the Maximus, and is super affordable! For more flexible seating ideas, see these blog posts.

I also picked up this wall decal and map-themed clock at IKEA!

Here is my points poster and my editable schedule cards. The cards help me keep on track every day, and can be purchased here.

I decided to post my rules closer to the ground so kids could see them better!

I created this globe above my computer on an awesome site called blockposters.com. I simply uploaded the jpg, printed out the poster, cut it out, and laminated it! I created the letters for "Oh, the places you'll go" with my Cricut.

These are my grade-level bins, which really help me stay organized! The bins are by Really Useful. I added these to my Music Room Organization Set, which includes lots of other themes.

These hang above my bookshelves to help students remember the instrument families. I also created labels for my bookshelves to remember what goes where!

Here is the display by my door, which shows musicians from around the world. My kids really seem to love this display and are often asking me questions about it, or exclaiming, "This is cool!" You can download it for free in this blog post.

If you'd like to put together a travel theme for your music room, here is the set I used when decorating:

I hope this inspired you as you set up your classroom! Here is a Pinterest board about music classroom decor, with more inspiration:

Good luck setting up your classroom, and I hope your year starts off well!

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Choosing a Theme for Your Music Classroom

Choosing a Theme for Your Music Classroom

For many years in my classroom, I did not use a theme in my classroom...I simply decorated with whatever fun, colorful decor I had in my closet. But a few years ago--probably through Pinterest--I discovered that teachers were choosing themes for their classroom, and decided I wanted to try that too. Over the last few years, I've tried several different themes, and now I look forward to choosing a theme and implementing it in my room.

Here are some ideas and strategies for choosing a theme for your music room!

Why use a theme?
First, why use a theme in your classroom?

To me, it's a great way to start the school year on a new foot, with a different theme and different decor. Of course, some of your decor will be the same, but I love being able to give my room a makeover. I spend SO much time in that room during the year, it's nice to shake it up and make things look a bit different!

It can also be a great way to tie everything in your room together. Whether you are "soaring high in music" with a bird theme or traveling to different places in music with a travel theme, I love how it unifies everything!

How to choose a theme
The first thing I like to do when choosing a theme is to figure out what my school's theme will be for the next year. For example, this upcoming year, my school's theme will be "Oh, the places you'll go!" Instead of decorating with Seuss decor, I chose a travel theme to play off the "places" aspect. There have been years that I haven't gone along with the school theme, but I always like to check that first in case there is something I think will work well with it!

The second thing I like to do is to browse Pinterest. There are SO many cute ideas you can find, just by searching "classroom decor" or "classroom theme." If there is a certain theme that intrigues me, I then create a board with that theme to get my creative juices flowing (check out some of the boards below!)

Different themes
I've done everything from monsters to birds to space! This upcoming year, I'll be decorating with a forest theme. I created this set to help:

Last year, I decorated with a travel theme. I created this set to help:

Jodi at the Clutter Free Classroom has done lots of work brainstorming phrases and coming up with ideas for different themes, many of which can be adapted for the music room. Here are a few links, blog posts, and Pinterest boards to help you as you plan!

Beach:
Click here to read Jodi's ideas for a beach theme.

Camping:
Click here to read Jodi's ideas for a camping theme, and check out my camping theme Pinterest board:



Western:
Click here to read Jodi's ideas for a Western theme, and check out my Western theme Pinterest board:


Monsters:
Click here to read Jodi's ideas for a monster theme, and click here to read my blog post about my monster theme. Check out my monster-theme Pinterest board:



Jungle/ Safari:
Click here to read Jodi's ideas for a safari theme, and click here to read my blog post about my jungle theme. Check out my jungle-theme Pinterest board:


Space:
Click here to read Jodi's ideas for a space theme, and click here to read my blog post about my space theme. Check out my space-theme Pinterest board:


Travel:
I will be blogging about my travel theme classroom soon! Here is my travel-theme Pinterest board:


And here is a link to ideas to several other themes!

I've also recently created a collaborative Pinterest board with examples of music classroom decor! Here it is:



Which theme are you thinking of using this upcoming year? Feel free to comment below, and have fun setting up your music room!