Ten Cheap Ways to Decorate a Class

This is an example we had in my classroom this year.

I've worked really hard to create a certain atmosphere for my classroom. (If you want, you can take a video tour of my class.) However, it all began when I was determined to do two things. First, I wanted to create a non-schoolish atmosphere. Nothing with Garfield. No posters advertising fractions. No motivational posters. Second, I wanted to create this atmosphere cheaply. So, here are twenty inexpensive decorating ideas:

1. Use Tempora paint and create a mural on the classroom wall. I realize that some administrators will shoot this down, but if you are at all artistic, you can teach students how to do this will using a grid system.
2. Print up old primary sources and dye them in coffee. Just brew up a few cups and let the papers sit in it for a day. Or drizzle the coffee over it. In the end, you get an aged look that works pretty well.
3. Let students design bulletin boards. Avoid the costly pre-cut ones by having students color in typed words.
4. Display student work. One classy way to do this is to buy real cheap frames from yard sales and then paint them. It's easy to create a shabby sheek look.
5. See if they'll allow it and get a few old lamps. I was able to spend four bucks and get three lamps for my class (that now run with compact flourescent bulbs)
6. Let students create a collages and then use paint to cover any "white areas"
7. Along the same lines, you can do paper mosaics with old scraps from the collages. We created a whole Paper Border this way. It's also easy to create a marbelling effect using tissue paper instead. You can see my class example if you'd like.
8. Let students who are in the art class put up some of their favorite work.
9. Bring in an older couch or chair to give the room a more "homey" feel
10. Let the students bring in a picture of a "hero" from their life and create a Hero Wall. Have then describe, in a paper, why that person is heroic and what people can learn from him or her.