IKEA Classroom

School has been back in session for one week around here and boy was it a tiring first five days! Saturday, after we got home from a cross country meet, Coach and I both passed out on couches and napped for five or so hours. It was the kind of nap that you wake up with a slight backache, but you don't care because you finally feel adequately rested! I think all that classroom shopping, decorating and running around for the first week of school did us in.

Coach's classroom is very similar to last year, but he did have to move to a new room. As we were putting his room together again, I realized everything is almost completely IKEA-ed out, as we would do! Here's all the IKEA items that make his room functional:

PLANTS

Without windows in the room, we kept all the plants of the fake variety. Even with windows, we probably would have gone with the same. Keeping plants alive is hard, y'all! We have several FEJKAs spread throughout the room.

LIGHTING

Those florescent lights above sure don't help with using a projector screen and unfortunately, his new room doesn't have a "dim." It's all or nothing! So, we bought a couple lamps to turn on when it's time to teach on the screen. With LED bulbs, the FILLSTA and KAJUTA do a great job giving just enough note-taking light.

STORAGE

We have always had a bookshelf to work with behind his desk, but this time around it was just bare walls. We found the KALLAX and thought it was the perfect addition to the corner of the room. It holds the 'necessities' - diploma, plants, picture frames, etc.

Last year, I discovered that these small storage cups (no longer available) fit perfectly into filing cabinet handles. He uses this to share spare pencils, highlighters and pens. Although, if you've been teaching for long, you know not to put out lots of those items at once - they seem to disappear quickly! Ration them out.

BULLETIN BOARDS

This is a little on the expensive side, so stay with me friends. Instead of butcher paper, we use plastic fabric for all bulletin boards. We have this blue (no longer available) as well as a larger SOFIA board. Before you gasp at the cost, I want to convince you of two things - 1. The patterns are way cuter than plain paper. I mean, look at them! 2. They are super durable and reusable. Now that we've purchased enough to cover all his boards, we are crossing our fingers for not having to buy anymore for years and years.

TURN IN STATION

A few years ago, my friend Megan had the great idea to use these VARIERA "trash baskets" as turn-in buckets for each of her husband's classes. We placed them right at the front of the classroom on command hooks. Each night, Coach will take these home and the grading begins.

We also have a KVISSLE letter tray with five drawers, one for each day of the week. This is where students can pick up any worksheets/papers they may have missed when they have an absence during the week.

RUGS

Nothing is more beautiful than classroom carpet, am I right? Actually, he has it really good considering some of the 1970's atmospheres I grew up with in school. Anyway, rugs always help add a little bit of comfort, color and personality to a room. We use the track lanes SPRINGA rug (borrowed from his man cave) as well as a plastic black and white striped one (RORHOLT) to liven up the room.