No matter how many times people are told "not to judge a book by it's cover" the way something looks is often the first impression that people get. Having a cluttered, bare classroom can often lead parents and students to believe that the teacher doesn't really care. This can leave the children feeling unmotivated to learn and the parents already doubting your teaching ability. To avoid these feelings, it's important for teachers to properly decorate their hallways and classrooms.

1. Change Decorations throughout the Year
Change classroom and hallway decorations to correspond with the current season or upcoming holiday. Basing decorations around a theme (like Eid or Back to School) will help give teachers some direction in how they want to decorate their classroom and hallway. Be sure to keep decorations current. Having Back to School decorations up in November or Independence Day decorations up in March looks unprofessional.

2. Let the Students Help Out
Use students’ artwork or assignments as classroom or hallway decorations. For younger children, have them create crafts that fit in with your theme. For older children, display projects such as posters or book reports in the hallway for students, teachers and parents to see. Using the students own work will create a sense of pride and excitement for the students in the classroom.

3. Develop a Classroom Bulletin Board
Every classroom should have a bulletin board that displays what's going on in the classroom and what's coming up. Teachers should choose exceptional work to display on the board; doing so will encourage other children to do well so that their work can be displayed on the board as well. Like hallway and classroom decorations, the bulletin board should reflect a certain theme. Many teacher supply stores sell bulletin board books with step by step instructions for creating bulletin boards for any holiday or season.

4. Display Educational and Motivational Posters
Posters are one of the main staples in a classroom. Instead of choosing posters of animals or flowers, choose posters that have relevance to the students in the classroom. Educational posters that help children with topics that they work on every day can be very helpful. For younger students, display the alphabet and a number line. This can be helpful for students who are learning to count or learning their letters or handwriting. For older children, display world maps, or grammar and punctuation posters. Use your own curriculum to decide what posters work best. If you're teaching multiplication, multiplication posters are helpful. If you're teaching U.S. Geography, find poster maps of the United States. Motivational posters should also be displayed, encouraging children to learn, be kind to each other, and always try their best.

Source: www.ehow.com