A rainbow threw up on my room...and I like it.
I absolutely love and simultaneously dread setting up my classroom for the new school year. I love starting fresh and coming up with new ideas to help my classroom operate more efficiently but it is also a lot of hard work and very time consuming.
Some time saving tips: laminate posters, string together flags and pennants so you only have to use a couple of staples, cover entire walls with paper (top of the ceiling -to the floor) it makes the room look larger, save your borders every year (they are pricy!), go to Allposters.com when they have sales or look in their clearance for inexpensive posters (sometimes only a dollar!) and invest in a staple gun (best investment EVER).
Keep rules short and sweet, but put them in a VERY visible location. I have this at the front of the room next to the screen of the projector. The little pockets are for Homework/ Tardy Cards for each class to stay organized. I just cut a manila folder in half and stapled the sides.
College pennants are expensive so a great alternative is to find a color printer (beg an administrator) and print images of college's logos and glue to colored pieces of paper and presto...college pendants!
Showcase where you went/go to college. I currently attend USC so the helmet (a gift from my husband...he knows me so well) serves two purposes: 1) To teach about the Roman Empire/ Legion Armies and 2) USC Trojan mascot representing!
Use protective cover sheets to post your standards and Essential questions, or anything that you change frequently.
Print out tons of facts and words of the day so you don't have to constantly search them up. Kids love these and look forward to reading them.