This year has been anything but normal. I feel like I have to put an extra effort into everything I do to make school fun and interesting for my kindergarteners. All the activities I have done in the past have to be modified and tweaked so that they follow the guidelines set for in person classes, but I have managed to make everything work. One thing that I had to do in my classroom that I didn't like is space my desks apart from one another.
I know this is nothing new to the world we are currently living in. Desks are spread apart in classrooms across the United States and teachers are making it work. It definitely isn't my favorite classroom arrangement for kindergarten, but I have also managed to make it work for my students. I typically like to have them grouped together so that they can socialize. Making friends, sharing, and helping others are some very important skills that kids learn and practice in kindergarten and is easily done when the students are close together. This year, we had to learn to do these things with our desks spread apart.
The day I spread my desks apart, separating my students on their own "island," I hated it. It made my classroom so ugly and it lost that inviting feeling it usually has. I had to do something! My KinderTeam had seen a teacher in a Facebook group paint her students desks and we all loved the idea, but just weren't sure how to tackle this project! We didn't know what kind or how much paint we would need, the decision of colors seemed so overwhelming, and we kinda just sat on the idea for a while. Then, one day, Mrs. Fletcher surprised us all by being brave and purchasing the paint. She talked it over with the paint specialist at Lowe's and they recommended what kind of paint for us to use. So, she dove right in and bought it in six awesome colors! Here is the paint we used.
Mrs. Fletcher was so excited about painting her desks and ready to dive right in. I figured I would let her go ahead and paint first as a trial run so we could see how it worked out. 😂 She used all six colors and her desks turned out great! Here is a before and after of what hers looked like.
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| Before Painting |
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| 💜💛💚💙The Finished Project💙💚💛💜 |
Next, Mrs. McGinnis painted hers. She decided to use all 6 colors as well and her desks turned out so pretty and colorful as well! This really brightened up the classrooms and made them look so cheerful! Here is how her project turned out.
I painted my desks last. After seeing theirs, which I loved, I decided to make mine a little different and just use three colors instead of all six. I tried to think ahead to the future and what color schemes I might like next school year because this isn't a project I plan to repeat. 😂
The painting didn't take nearly as long as I expected. I did have to put two coats of paint on the desks, except the yellow, which needed three coats. I absolutely loved the way they turned out. My classroom was feeling so dark and dreary and this little bit of paint changed the whole feel of the classroom! I felt so proud of this little project once it was finished and I'm so glad we decided to do it. It made my happy place so much happier! Below is a before and after of the desks in my classroom.
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| The "Blah" Before Pic--Ignore all the messes in the background. Students were just coming in for a transition day that was planned on the fly. lol |
Painting the desks seemed like such a small thing, but the kids were so excited when they came into the classroom on their first full day of face-to-face learning. They loved that their desk was a special color and it personalized the space for them. I can't believe I waited so long to do this little project!
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| 💜💛💙My Finished Desks💙💛💜 |
What sorts of things have you done in your classroom to perk it up this school year? Do you have any special little projects that you have completed to brighten your classroom space?
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