Where to begin?

Last year as the school year came to a close, I began to clean and pack during break times. While doing this, I came across some materials left over from the previous teacher that I had not yet found after three years being in the classroom. The Air Force had produced this packet of information which included a booklet with lab instructions and three posters all dealing with the scientific principles behind flight. When I opened the posters and read them, I audibly laughed as did the students who were helping me clean. We laughed, not because the information was childish or outdated, but rather the overt corniness of them. Now don't get me wrong. I'm all about making the corny pun, but these just went too far. The third one is my favorite. Also, not only were they English on one side; they were also written in Spanish on the other side.

Although we laughed at these, it got us thinking. I told my students that it would be fun to include these in a classroom theme somehow. This is where our creative journey started.

First, it was "Oh, we could do a space theme." I didn't care much for that because I don't teach earth space science, and, although I could relate it to my subjects, I wasn't sold on that idea.

As we continued to throw out ideas while cleaning, one of the students mentioned something about hot air balloons and other flying objects besides just airplanes, rockets, and shuttles. We even thought of a way to make little hot air balloons to hang from the ceiling using paper lanterns, twine, and little baskets. From there we thought, well,  where are places that you might see hot air balloons. Carnivals. Yes, you might see them at a carnival or fair. I liked this idea since all of the rides at a fair or carnival work because of physics principles. We would be studying basic physics the following year.

I was then concerned that going the fair or carnival route might get too childish. There really should be a balance when it comes to classroom decorations. Fun, informative, but not too childish. It was based on this that I developed the idea of making a science theme/amusement park. Many amusement parks have fair type rides, and ,at one time, maybe even had hot air balloons. My helpers liked that idea as well and agreed it would be more age appropriate for them.

It was here that the plans for building Atomic World began.

Avengers Assemble! Up and Atom!

Superheroes have taken over our culture and are definitely a topic that high schoolers identify with. A few years ago, I decided that superheroes would be a fun theme to decorate my classroom. Superhero stories  have a basis is science somehow. Bruce Banner is a scientist. Tony Stark an inventor/genius. Spiderman was bit by a modified spider, and the list goes on and on. So many possibilities!

As always, I perused Pinterest for ideas. Luckily, because superheroes are so popular, there were many blog posts and pins with ideas; however, many were geared towards younger students. At some point, however, I had pinned a t-shirt that took the Avengers made them into Element Avengers.

http://wirdou.com/2012/08/06/chemical-avengers-assemble/

I thought, "Wow! If I could make these into door decorations, that would be great." I traced them onto different colors of  poster board and construction paper which is much faster than coloring every detail. I cut them out  and then pieced them together. The final details were added by hand. After laminating them, I put attached magnets to the back and hung them to my metal classroom door.

These Chemical Avengers were the basis for the rest of my classroom decorations. I decided to create an "A" test board. I used the "A" from the Avengers symbol. The board said "A's Assemble." For border, I purchased Avengers duct tape and used a doubled-up blue table cloth for the background. To make the tests really pop, I used red and yellow construction paper.

As all teachers know, it is important to have inspirational and motivating posters for your classroom. Here Pinterest was a help again, as I had been pinning many motivational sayings for years. Here was the chance to use them. I created my own posters using pictures and adding text to them. I tried to match the quote with the character and back story of the superhero.

A popular meme is the Credible Hulk. I recreated it as a poster by using my projector and tracing the outline in pencil and then going over the details with sharpie.

Lastly, I created a city scape using black bulletin board paper and masking tape to create the lighted windows. Because my room tends to get humid, the masking tape peeled off by the next day. I re-stuck it and laminated the cityscape which fixed the problem. The cityscape added to the ambiance of the room, and it also served as the backdrop for a class vs. class contest.



A New Chapter as the Year Comes to a Close

I have considered starting a blog for a while. What better time than at the brink of summer! As a high school science teacher, it is very difficult to find creative decorations that will appeal to teenagers but also relate to my subject matter. This is the plight of the secondary teacher. Elementary teachers have so many resources to decorate their classrooms. I mean school supply stores are almost completely geared to the younger age groups. It's just strange to me to hang happy little animals or apples around my room. Cutesy is fine, but I believe that classroom decorations should be intriguing and thought-provoking.

Every summer, I begin to plan my new classroom decorations. Since I work at a smaller school and will see many of the same students the following year, I don't want to use the same decorations from year to year. Many hours are spent poring over Pintrest searching for something creative and interesting. Still there is not much-- even on the wonderful worldwide web. Luckily, I enjoy using the minimal artistic talent that I possess. It is therapeutic to sit and ponder for hours on end what I could turn into a classroom theme. The last two summers, I really put my thinking cap on and, not only created bulletin boards, but other wall decorations to deck out my classroom. Join me on my journey as I ponder the possibilities for next year's theme.