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Horizontal and Vertical Letters for Math Classroom

I created a new set of horizontal and vertical letters to hang up in my high school math classroom.

Last year, I hung up sticky vinyl letters to spell out horizontal and vertical on the wall of my math classroom  I have several students each year who have a lot of trouble remembering which is which.

horizontal and vertical letters for math classroom decorations

This worked great.  The letters were cute.  Students found it helpful.  All was well.

Then, I headed off to Australia for a summer-long adventure.  While I was gone, they decided to move me to a different classroom.  

Nobody told me about this or asked my opinion which is a little frustrating, but I do know they meant well.  My school used to house an Adult Education (GED) program.  The program moved to a different school site which meant there was now an empty classroom.

My classroom is very small and cramped. And, my principal has complained that it makes him feel claustrophobic.  Let’s just say 24 desks are too many for my size of classroom.  

The plan was to knock down the wall between an existing classroom and the old Adult Education room.  This would give me a super big room.

Sounds good, right?

Well, when I got back to the States, I found another teacher’s stuff set up in my classroom.  And, all my stuff was strewn between two classrooms.  

Two classrooms that still had a wall between them.  I was told that the construction crew was in Nebraska that was supposed to be knocking down the wall.  Meanwhile, I’m freaking out because school starts in less than two weeks, and I don’t have a classroom!

Days go by.  Finally the construction crew shows up.  They discover that the wall that they are supposed to tear down is a load bearing wall that is supporting the school.  

My principal allowed me to choose between keeping the downstairs classroom or having my stuff moved back to my old classroom.  The downstairs room is substantially smaller and a flight of stairs away from the copy machine.  

And, you guys know how much I use the copy machine!  I decided to move back to my old room.

So, if you’ve been wondering why you haven’t seen pics of my classroom for the 2015-2016 school year, this is why.  We’re weeks into school, and my decorations still aren’t finished.  

By the time they moved all of my stuff back upstairs, I didn’t have enough time to finish getting my room ready and get stuff ready for my classes.  Lesson prep wins over classroom prep.

It turns out that you can still teach with blank bulletin boards.  🙂

Anyway, let’s go back to my horizontal and vertical lettering.  The vinyl stickers got pulled off the wall during the moving process and ruined, so I had to start over.  

I didn’t have the energy to go on the search for new vinyl lettering, so I decided to pick a fun, cute font and cut out my own letters.

Here’s this year’s version.  The light/camera made a weird glare that makes them kinda hard to see.  But, they show up really well in my classroom in person.

horizontal and vertical letters for math classroom decorations

Here’s a better picture in a future classroom.

horizontal and vertical letters for math classroom decorations

The font is HVD Comic Serif Pro.  

Free Download of Horizontal and Vertical Letters to Decorate Math Classroom


Horizontal Vertical Letters (PDF) (2362 downloads )


Horizontal Vertical Letters (Editable Publisher File ZIP) (957 downloads )

Want more posters and decorations? Check out my posters page!

Elisabeth McWhorter

Friday 12th of August 2016

I like the how I learn math bulletin board in the first picture. Is that posted elsewhere?

Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove)

Wednesday 17th of August 2016

You can find that here: https://mathequalslove.net/change-your-words-change-your-mindset/

Kerri Sustich

Tuesday 8th of September 2015

I love the list of primes on the wall!

Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove)

Tuesday 8th of September 2015

Thanks! I posted the file and blogged about them here: https://mathequalslove.net/prime-numbers-poster/

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