What's in the ROOM makes a difference

In my 29 years of secondary teaching I have visited many high school classrooms of Math teachers.  You always know when you have walked into a Math class.  You generally see a number line that starts at –20 and goes to at least 100.There are Geometric figures, pictures of Mathematicians, charts, and graphs all around the room.  I used to have my version of the TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ALGEBRA on the wall.  If a student was not sure if he could do something, those rules would keep him out of trouble.
In Elementary school I do not expect to see this same amount of Math as each class teaches Math, History, English, Science, Social Studies, etc.  However,  I seldom see more than a simple square with the integers 1 – 100.  You never see 0, and the negative integers are almost never there.  This concerns me.  The list of integers –20 to 100 should be on the wall,  starting in Kindergarten, and the counting numbers should be on tiles on the floor.  These could be used to have the students stand on before recess.  The teacher could say, "find a multiple of 3 and stand on it before we go to lunch", "David go stand on an even number", or "Maria, find the number that is two bigger than 13".  Imagine a teacher saying, "lets go walk and sing our 2's, or 3's.  And as they do it they have a visual that corresponds.
The visuals in the class would give the teacher a chance to see another form of learning, and it would give her a clear understanding of the child's ability to follow directions.  Some students may want to know what the negative integers are even though they are not part of the Kindergarten curriculum.  At this point, telling them that they are a reflection of the positive integers with 0 as the mirror should a good explanation.  Or you can tell them how they help to take things away rather than add things on.
The environment of the classroom says a lot about what is important to a teacher.  You may see a room covered with pictures of astronauts and the shuttle, pictures of race cars, football teams, baseball teams,
or whales.  These do tell us about the teacher, but remember these pictures will become part of hundreds of youngsters minds.  What we have or do not have there will make a difference.  To a young mind it is saying this is important or not important.
As I sat in my own 4th grade class, above my teachers desk, dead center of the room was a statement in big letters.  I read it every day.  I had no choice,  it was directly in front of my desk.  It seemed to be saying, "read me first before you do anything else".  I am 64 years old and I have never forgotten those words; "ASK A QUESTION AND YOU ARE A FOOL FOR FIVE MINUTES, DON'T ASK AND YOU ARE A FOOL THE REST OF YOUR LIFE".  To this day I am not ashamed to ask for directions, or get help from a worker at a store.  Anything that I feel will make my life easier.  Moreover, as a teacher I realized there were no poor questions.
As teachers we need to consider all the things we teach.  As I have said before, you are the warriors of education, and these are just suggestions that may help you, and give your students a better idea of true beauty of Mathematics and all its patterns.