Prompt:

• Write a post that discusses your classroom or place of work. Some topics you may wish to address include:
• The physical space – how you approach layout of furniture, technology, etc.
• The aesthetics – share a photo and/or discuss decorating your space
• Staying organized – how you do (or don’t) keep organized
• Tips, tricks, or advice related to the above
  
• Anything else you wi
  sh to share!
• We want just a little window into your daily work life 🙂
  

My classroom is my home away from home, so I want to feel as comfortable there as possible. I like it clean and tidy. I don’t like a lot of stuff on my counter space, and the closets are organized.

I like space to move in my classroom. I have seven tables, at which sit five to six students each. I used to have individual desks, but they were a trapezoidal shape.  Devising seating arrangements for a square-ish, rectangular-ish classroom with trapezoidal desks was difficult. I just didn’t feel like any of us – students or me or any visitors – could move well. The flow is really important. So, this year, with the tables, I feel like that has really opened up the flow to my class. I try to change seating arrangements two times during the quarter, or about six to eight times a year, just to change things up a bit.

My classroom is very colorful. To cover my bulletin boards, I bought some Peanuts Gang-themed fabric . . . about three to four different kinds that all compliment each other. (I love Charlie Brown and Snoopy.) Back in my first year teaching, I made Peanuts Gang characters on tag board, so those hang on the wall, too, in various places.

To go with the colorful wall space, I have four different colored chair options for students – red, green, yellow, and blue. I just wanted more than one color, and my principal was game for it. It helps, sometimes, with management, too, because I can say, “If you are in a red or yellow chair, please . . . “ and then give students some directions.

 

 

My students all have a space on my walls, too. Each student makes an avatar at the beginning of the year to represent themselves using an app on their iPads. Then, as we set up our blogs, I also have them create a QR code for their blog and share that with me. I print them out and place them next to the respective avatars.

 

With respect to organization, I pride myself on staying organized. I want my students to continue to develop their own organizational habits, ones that will serve them well in life as they mature. (I teach seventh graders.) Some students don’t have organizational habits that are as well-developed as others, so I see my organizational routine as sort of a model for them. We do a lot of stuff digitally at our site, so my classroom website has digital copies of all of the current quarter’s assignments available for students to download. I also have an “extras” binder on my countertop for students to obtain paper copies after an absence, or in case they have lost their original. There is a “No-Name Graveyard” in my room for papers that are turned in to me without a name. There is also a “purple basket” which is my special basket. If students have late work, work from an absence, or work they want to turn in early, it goes there. It helps me ensure the assignment gets place in the right “pile” and doesn’t get lost.