On the first day of school when a student enters their classroom, the first impression they have of that class is how the room is decorated. The decorations in a classroom really set the mood for the year and can impact how a student feels about his or her classroom and their teacher. At Lincoln-Way Central, many teachers put in the time and effort to give their classroom a certain aesthetic, especially the teachers in the English Department.
Mrs. Vaculik’s classroom looks like a scene straight from the book The Great Gatsby. From the strung-up fairy lights, to the carefully hung wallpaper, and the faux fireplace she built in the corner, Mrs. Vac’s room has a very calming effect. The overhead lights are never turned on, which furthers the room’s peacefulness. As a senior, I’m only in her room for my thirty-minute advisory period, though it is the best thirty minutes of my day. All my worries tend to disappear in her classroom because it’s extremely difficult to be stressed out in the calm environment Mrs. Vaculik has created in her classroom.
Adjacent to Mrs. Vaculik’s Gatsby-themed room lies Mrs. Gansauer’s classroom. All the walls in her room are lined with fairy lights and she has multiple lamps throughout her room to eliminate the need for overhead lights. In a few words, her room has a National Park/mountain coffee shop feel. The dimmed lighting and instrumental music she plays on occasion, makes getting your work done much easier. Senior Jack Rimkunas says, “Mrs. Gansauer’s room always made me feel welcome and relaxed. This relaxing feeling had a calming effect and made me more confident because it felt less like a classroom and more like a home.” This illuminates how a teacher’s seemingly simple decision of how to decorate their room can have a huge impact on their students.
While there are numerous other classrooms with well thought out decor at Lincoln-Way Central, the last one I will touch on is Mrs. Rauch’s room. Mrs. Rauch has a rug on her floor, dimmed lighting established through the use of lamps, student art work and pictures on the walls, and various things hanging from the ceiling. When asked to describe Mrs. Rauch’s room and how she felt in it, senior Jalese Hays explains, “Her room was surrounded by a warm light and it felt like being in the comfort of my own home. She never turned on the bright ceiling light and her classroom was filled with different pictures and colors which added a beautiful touch”.
The way a classroom is decorated completely changes a student’s perspective of the class and the teacher. It is important for our teachers here at Lincoln-Way Central to know how much their students appreciate the hard work they put into their classrooms because the vibe a classroom gives off can have a huge impact on a student.
