When I started my classes for my teaching credential I was asked to choose a theme for my future classroom. This proved to be a challenging task and prompted many questions I had to answer. What grade level would I be teaching, because I certainly wouldn't use the same theme for Kindergarteners as I would for 7th graders. How cute is too cute? What is really attainable without killing myself trying to compare to every crafty person on Pinterest? Why was this important at this point in my studies?
The naturally creative side of me took over with full force! I spent hours upon hours on websites like Pinterest looking for the perfect things to go in my portfolio for class. Then I turned to all of my Adobe software and started trying to create my own version of things I found. While I can appreciate asking students to be thinking about what they may want to do in their future classrooms I feel like I wasted hours focusing on something that I could not possibly make a decision about until I walk into my own classroom with all the pertinent information I would want to know before making a decision. While I have had experience outside of school and have realized I need to take a step back, for those students just about to graduate without experience I worry that a focus like this could take away from the truly important. I have visions of fellow classmates trying to put all of these things together before they even start teaching in their own classrooms while observing several students spending twice the amount of time developing a theme for their classroom than they did working through their classroom management plans. Now it may just be me but I don't think the decorations in my room are going to make me a successful teacher, I do believe that my ability to connect with my students and hold them to the behavioral and educational standards set in my classroom will.
With all of that said I do still love looking at all of the creative things people have come up with for their classrooms, and do plan to try many different things to see what works for me in the future.
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