What is the new normal for classrooms now that classes are back in session within the school walls? Lots of spacing and constant hygiene. No sharing of tools, no carpets or fabrics for classroom decor. It’s quite a change and many teachers and students are benefiting from these changes.

At first, classrooms were spaced out and sometimes half of the students are physically present while the other half were present online. Some classes had a shift system so that not all students were crammed into the classroom.

As an Amazon affiliate, I may earn a commission for purchases using my links. The ideas and paid links below are based on classroom furniture arrangements that fit into the new normal for classrooms.

The New Normal for Classrooms

For safety measures, some physical distancing is necessary between desks. This teacher used safety tape to mark out the spacing of his desk arragements. Strips of the same tape were also used to make arrows.

On a carpet floor, this other teacher used carpet spots show where each desk is to be placed. The dots work well to keep the student desks in their spot for distancing. The Velcro attaches easily to the carpet. They can easily be peeled up by hand but they don’t move when the desks move. Students can check the floor to see if they have moved their desks and slide their desk back on the circles if need be. But I guess most schools no longer use carpets.

Some classrooms have sneeze guards. These in the picture were donated by a parent. While safety is of paramount importance, it can cause some visibility glare and reduce the clarity of of the voices behind them almost in a way that a mask does.

Another new restriction that is common is that teachers cannot put any papers or fabrics on the walls. So that means no posters, no bulletin boards. Just an empty wall.

This teacher used a sheet of bulletin board paper to cover her blank wall. I guess it was less paperish and more plastic/glossy to be allowed. At least her wall doesn’t have to be completely boring for her students.

You may also be interested in this other blog post about the best individual student desks.