Teachers: Tips to bring classroom energy levels back to normal after break

(BPT) - The start of the spring semester in the classroom is a great time for teachers to refresh the room so all learning goals can be accomplished before the end of the year. Sometimes a refresh involves disinfecting everything to help students stay healthy. Perhaps this year's refresh even involves incorporating some new decor and bright colors. This semester, help your students stay energized all spring long, right up until the final bell rings for summer break:

1. Give the classroom new decorations to celebrate the upcoming spring events – The calendar is full of great educational moments during the winter and spring months. From Learn to Read month in February to Arbor Day in April, you can decorate the walls in your classroom with educational materials to help students look forward to each celebration.

Melissa Taylor of the blog Imagination Soup recommends you ask parents to help you out by bringing in old magazine articles celebrating the different holidays. You can find great quotes and photos inside to pin on bulletin boards, helping students understand each holiday’s importance.

Another idea includes posting colorful posters with fun facts about each of the holidays or events. These teaching decorations will be a hit with the students and aid you in presenting the importance of events like President's Day and Black History Month.

2. Ask students for decorating help by assigning them educational projects related to the time of the year. For example, set up a reading corner of the room and have each student create and decorate a flower to turn the corner into a cozy garden space. Your crayons and colored pencils are probably well-used from the fall semester, so use the Staples Teacher Rewards program to refresh your stock. This program gives participating teachers up to 10 percent back on teaching and art supplies. With scissors, glue sticks and Scotch tape all restocked, your students won't have any roadblocks to keep them from expressing their creativity with the classroom work you assign.

3. Add some cozy factors in the classroom to brighten the last few months of winter. Taylor recommends bringing in rugs, pillows and lamps for extra warmth to help energize the students and make the room feel warm and friendly.

4. Between the winter weather, childhood illnesses and glitter that is so prevalent during the holiday season, your classroom may need help getting rid of the germs. Be sure to restock all your supplies, like Purell Advanced Instant Hand Sanitizer and Lysol Disinfecting Wipes. Both are available at Staples so you can quickly attack germs and help your students – and yourself – stay healthy throughout the year. Make it fun for your students with games, like singing the song, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," while washing hands with soap and water, or challenging your students to see who can clean their desktop the fastest using a Lysol wipe.

There are only a few short months of school left, which means you have limited time to help students learn everything they need to so they can advance to the next level. If energy is falling in the new calendar year, do what you can with classroom supplies and decorations to revive them for an awesome classroom experience.