Sparking Student Motivation...Decorating their space, plus a sale!

Happy Saturday!  I am on my way to Springfield, MA to meet my sister and her cross country team.  They have a meet and my mom and I are driving up to support them!  My sister, Sarah, coaches girls cross country at Gordon College.  It feels like yesterday, I was watching her run cross country in high school!

I could not forget to link up with Joanne from Head Over Heals for Teaching.  Today is her Sparking Student Motivation weekly linky!

My room is a bit different in the set up.  I have these partition desks built into the wall on one and a half sides of my room.  

When I first found out I was going to have these offices, I was not to excited.  They take up a lot of wall space and I didn't think I was going to be able to use them.  Well, I had a bright idea one day in the car driving from school to home (I drive an hour and a half one way!)...I would use them as the students' cubbies.  They can put their jackets and back packs in there along with extra books and supplies!!! I am so smart!  I shared my idea with the other teacher who has them and she loved it!  So that is what part of them are used for.  I decided since my students are in fifth grade I would give them the opportunity to decorate them, like a locker, which they will get in middle school.   They jumped on the idea.  Many students brought in family pictures or pet pictures to hang in their cubby.  A few kids put pictures of their favorite sports team.  This was something that didn't take a lot of time and doesn't distract them from their work.  They feel ownership of their cubby now and they loved showing me all of their pictures!

One student decided he didn't want to decorate his cubby and instead decorated his desk...with Christmas lights!  They run on battery and he was told he could keep them in his desk if they do not become a distraction to him!  When I first saw them, I just had to laugh!!

Do you let the students decorate anything and make it their own?  I would love to know your ideas!

Teachers Pay Teachers is having a FLASH sale...I am putting my entire store on sale for 10% off through Monday night!  You can get an extra 10% off by using the code: FB100K! Enjoy!