I received this email today from one of my followers and thought it was such a good question.  I wanted to share my thoughts with all of you!

“Hi Melanie! I am so inspired by all you do! You ROCK!!! I am continuously doing 1 thing in my classroom each day that is completely inspired by you. My kids notice each little change and the way their faces light up makes my heart happy! Keep up all the great work… you aren’t just decorating, you are inspiring little lives to reach their greatest potential!
On another note, I have more of a teaching question for you. I read the post you made about getting rid of a lot of the stuff and clutter and I couldn’t agree more. I am wondering what you think about calendar activities. I teach kindergarten and literally have an entire wall dedicated to calendar time with colors, days of the week, months of the year, letters, numbers, the calendar, weather, shapes, it seems never ending. What is your opinion on calendar and what should be included, if anything?
Thank you for your time! :)”

Well, back in the day, I had an entire wall of my classroom devoted to my calendar routine.  I actually “wallpapered” my wall from top to bottom and had everything related to the calendar posted on my wall.  It was filled like you wouldn’t believe!

When I transferred to my current school, their weren’t any walls available for my calendar!  I swear, it bothered me so much, it kept me awake at night.  What would I do without my wall?!?!  To make matters worse, the “carpet guys” that came in and installed my carpet for my meeting place, put it in a random spot, far away from my whiteboard – the only other place I could have created a calendar wall.  I didn’t have any options at all.

What is a Kindergarten and First Grade classroom without a calendar wall?!?!  Out of necessity, I purchased this calendar from Lakeshore…

and the blue pocket chart stand to display the calendar…

I really haven’t missed my calendar wall since I purchased this portable calendar system.  It really does eliminate the clutter. 

I used the blue calendar when I taught Kindergarten and it lasted for five years.  My little ones ended up pulling off the calendar pockets trying to “help” switch the numbers each month.  It was down to it’s last leg after five years of excessive use.

This last year, I purchased a brand new calendar from Lakeshore…

I thought this one was better suited for first graders!

I have to honestly say, I really don’t miss my calendar wall anymore and wonder if all of that “stuff” is really a necessity.  I don’t feel like my kids that had the calendar wall were any smarter than my kids that used the portable calendar.  I suppose it is all about personal preference.

I can remember learning in my education classes that posting charts, signs, and pre-made “stuff” on your walls wouldn’t help the children learn and that the students actually ignore it.   Could this be the same for the calendar wall?

I would love to hear your thoughts!  Do you think calendar walls are a necessity in the classroom?