Are monsters too scary?

Since the day I heard the words, "You're hired!" I have been excited to plan my classroom design and layout. I am certainly lucky since I have my own classroom that is actually pretty large (for an SLP anyways, we all know the horror stories of SLPs treating in maintenance closets). I have known all along that I wanted my classroom to truly feel like a classroom and not a treatment room. My desire is for each of my students to come into my room and feel like they belong although they may only come in once or twice a week. I want it to be comfortable and cozy. I want the transition from their classroom to the speech room and back to be very smooth every day. This is of course idealistic, and since we SLPs spend absolutely no time reflecting on classroom design during our training I have no idea of how to do this (I realized that there are actual theories and stuff about classroom design last night while conversing with some teacher friends, like, there is actually a lot to think about!). However, I am so excited to get started! I can't wait to see how my classroom evolves.

One thing I have been able to plan is my decor. It didn't take long for me to settle on the theme of monsters (see Furry Friends at http://www.trendenterprises.com). Mostly I am just using lots of bright primary colors, but I did order a calendar, some stickers and post-its to incorporate the monster theme. My mom has also been researching some ways to bring in some cute monster stuff. I had this all decided and planned in my head and then WHAM a few days later I thought, "If I call these things monsters, are my kids going to be totally freaked out?" So, I've tried to transition to calling them Furry Friends, but it's honestly just not as much fun. I think I'm going to stick to calling them monsters, and if a kid freaks out and starts screaming and crying one day I'll just deal with it then.

Something that has been hard to do is to try to not buy too much stuff for my classroom. I'm trying to wait and see what I really need. Every once in awhile I break down and buy something (like this way cute lamp from Bed Bath and Beyond that I got today http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=17182684 ). When I get in the zone it is so hard to remember that I haven't gotten a paycheck since December and that I am also planning a wedding. Some things I'm still hoping to get for my classroom is a nice rug, some comfortable chairs/beanbags, and another lamp or two (I had hoped to use natural light and lamps to light my room, but alas I have no window). I also have a SuperDuper gift certificate that is absolutely burning a hole in my pocket! I'm hoping to get started putting my classroom together next week and can't wait to see what it looks like!