Unbelievably, it is time to begin getting ready for school to begin again this fall.  The preparations you make during this Back to School time will set the tone for how the rest of your school year runs.  That is why this time of year is so critical.  Over the next 2 weeks, I’ll take one Back to School topic at a time to review and discuss.  Each topic will also include a FREEBIE and a linky party so you can link up or hop to read the thoughts on each topic by other bloggers.  For me, I’ve found that I’m able to plan easier once all of the decorating and organizing are in place.  So, with that in mind, I’ll start with the decorating and organizing topics and end with the planning topics.  Hopefully, this will be early enough for most of you that you’ll be able to get the information you need and get ready in the order that best suits you.

Today, we’ll start with deciding on a theme.  A classroom décor theme can be as simple as a color scheme, or as detailed as a specific character or topic.  I honestly didn’t have much of a theme until last year when I went with monsters.  I really liked how it helped me tie the components of my room and management all together.  From the responses of many of you, Polka Dots of various colors and sizes seem to be a color theme that many are going with this year.

Whatever theme you choose, I would suggest keeping it simple, especially if this is the first year you’ve had a theme.  Also, be careful not to make it distracting.  Students with autism or ADD can be easily distracted by room décor if it is too bright or overwhelming.

The Freebie for today’s post are these themed labels or cards.  They are great to label your classroom library, student folders or classroom items around the room.  They could also be used for your word wall.  Choose the ones that fit your theme best.  You can get them all here.  Don’t see your theme?  I’m happy to take suggestions, but can’t guarantee I’ll be able to do them all.  (**Since originally posting this, I have added several themes based on the most popular requests.  At this time, no new free ones will be made.)  The freebies are in a PDF format.  If you want to be able to edit the labels, you can purchase them in an editable PowerPoint file for just $1 here.

Be sure to enter the giveaway sweepstakes I have going on right now and tell me what theme you’re doing this year on my Facebook wall.  Here’s the link to the giveaway.

If you have a post about the theme in your classroom, be sure to link up below.

Our next topic will be supplies.  Look for that post on Wednesday.