About this time last year, I was just getting into my new classroom! It was exciting to put a new spin on a space my students & I would call home. When I was putting together my first classroom, the first thing I did was consult social media. When my Mountain Classroom was finally finished, I wanted to share the results. I decided to add photos of my classroom on Facebook, Instagram, & Pinterest, & I wrote a blog post about setting my first classroom as well as my mountain classroom (read it here) in hopes my classroom would inspire other teachers, especially those new to teaching. I also At a time when teachers are getting their classrooms put back together, I have found myself answering the same questions over & over about my classroom set-up so I decided a blog post would be helpful!

At least one message a day is about the mountains above my bulletin boards! The two most asked questions are:

1. What did you use to make the mountains above your bulletin boards?
2. Does the tape leave residue on the wall/pull off the paint?

Two VERY important questions if you are wanting to add mountains (or anything with straight lines) to your classroom.

To answer the first question, I used electrical tape to make the mountains! I use the normal width the make the mountain itself & cut it in half (width wise) for the snow caps. There was no rhyme or reason to how I made my mountains, I kind of just did it! The first round of putting up my mountains was an utter failure! When I went back to my classroom the next day, half of the mountains were shriveled & peeling off the wall. I finally came up with two Mountain Wall Pro-Tips & I am going to share them with you!

Mountain Wall Pro-Tip #1: Use Duck brand electrical tape (I ordered mine on Amazon). I used a random roll of electrical tape during the first round. I don’t know what brand it was, or how old it was, so maybe brand doesn’t matter… but because it worked the second time, I recommend it!

Mountain Wall Pro-Tip #2: Let the tape relax! It sounds kind of funny, but trust me. Electrical tape is super stretchy. When I put up my first round of mountains, I unrolled the tape & immediately stuck it on the wall how I wanted it. The problem?? The tape was stretched to the max, so when it finally relaxed, it started curling on the wall & shrinking back to its normal state. To eliminate this problem, I let the tape relax before I put it on the wall. If that doesn’t make sense, I would unroll the tape, let it get back to its normal state, then I would put it on the wall.

I have an inside classroom & it gets pretty toasty especially in the fall & spring (as well as the summer months we aren’t in school). I say this because I think heat can have an effect on the tape staying up on the wall. I was in my classroom today (July 18) & there are only a couple peaks I need to touch up before the new school year starts! Instead of peeling off the wall overnight, I was able to keep it up for the whole school year before it started peeling!

Now on the the second question. I have not had a problem with the tape leaving residue on the wall OR pulling paint off the wall. I have not tried to take all of the tape off at once (thanks to a school who doesn’t make us take everything off the walls for the summer), but where the tape had peeled off, there was no trace of sticky residue or paint being pulled off the wall. The wall my mountains are on is a collapsable wall, so it has a pretty decent texture, mostly flat with only a few cracks & bumps to work with. I am not sure how this would work on a cinderblock type wall, but don’t let that stop you from trying!

Now on to my favorite thing: FONTS!!!!

I am a little (actually a lot) font obsessed. All of the fonts used in my classroom decor (minus the circle banners) were created using Bb Fonts by Miss5th. I purchased her growing bundle when she first released it, so I get all the updates for free. Right now you can buy the bundle for $40 & any new bundles are included in your purchase! I cut all my letters on card stock paper using a Silhouette Cameo 3, but you can print your letters & cut them out by hand if you don’t have a cutting machine handy.

Each font is listed after the picture.

**If there is something I have created, I will hyperlink it so you can request permission. I don’t have a TPT store, but I’m willing to share!If you use any of my resources, & post pictures, please tag me!! @movingmountainsedu**

Text Talk: BbPostureCheck

Text Talk Posters

Class Commitment Posters

Voice Level: BbPostureCheck

We Rise by Lifting Others: A mix of BbFlippityFlipThick & BbMissMichelle (Script)

Voice Level Posters

We Will Move Mountains: BbWeAreFamily

Circle Banner Letters (free font, but you have to print each letter individually)

& MY MOST FAVORITE BULLETIN BOARD!!!!

Your Mindset is Everything: BbPostureCheck

Growth Mindset Posters (Created by @acoolteacher, sold on TPT)

Not fonts, but another freebee!!

Mountain Posters

A few odds & ends:

• Most of my bulletin boards (or chalk boards) are covered with fabric. I purchased all the patterned fabric from Hobby Lobby & I purchased the teal fabric from JoAnn’s (both purchases made Summer 2018). The shiplap is paper from Hobby Lobby (found in the bulletin board section).
• The bulletin board boarders, dream catcher, Explore sign, globe, coral & gold wooden banner, & fake plants came from Hobby Lobby.
• Turn-in Baskets
• I bought my tall table from Amazon & the chairs are from Ikea.
• My awesome great-great uncle built my stage, but it is modeled after @Miss5th’s stage. She has the measurements on her instagram!

If there is anything I have failed to answer, or if the hyperlinks don’t work, please let me know! You can comment below, message me on Instagram (@movingmountainsedu) or on Twitter (@ShaunieOwen).