My Renovated Classroom

This is the view when you walk in the door. My walls are now "Pecan Sandy" instead of "Battleship Gray." That's my new birthday desk straight ahead. It's much smaller than the great wooden box of a thing I used to have. I believe it will be better for working one on one with students. They can just slide their chair across from me and we can work together. Behind the desk is my locker full of teacher's editions, resources, candy, etc. I have some of my favorite quotes above the white board.

If you look to your right when you come in the door, you'll see my one lone bulletin board. "Think Outside the Box" it says. The corner there has a world history time line at the top, various posters about Ancient Egypt, Rome, etc. and a world map. I have some art from Cambodia and Africa as well as my llama and rainstick.

If you look to the left this is a corner with my aide's desk and a table for student supplies, information and the place to turn in work, etc.

From the front of the room, at the white board, this is the view I see. The wall o' hooks for bookbags and coats. And my new "Habits of Successful Student Leaders" wall. I got some of the suggestions from Ron Clark's book "The Essential 55" and I invented some of my own. The habits include "know all the names of the teachers in the school and greet them by name" "if someone drops something and it's close to you, pick it up and give it to them" "when someone is talking to you, look them in the eye."

I added "practice good personal hygiene" and "practice inclusion not exclusion." If I can get 6th graders to practice some of these habits, I will feel successful!

(Those 2 little girls in the photo came in to get a Coke and they were impressed with my autographed poster of Toby Mac)

I have to add 8 more desks to this room. It's going to be crowded. I will hold as many classes outside as I can as weather permits, just to be able to move around and breathe.

As I look back over the photos, I realize that you can't see my poster of Michelangelo's "Creation." Well, it's on the the left wall when you walk in.

Well, that's the tour of my classroom, now you see the place where I will spend about 9 hrs a day, 5 days a week for the next 10 months.

Classroom Setup From An HSP

I wrote a post when I first started this blog about a book I read called "Highly Sensitive People." Because of some computer glitch (probably the user) I couldn't keep it. The book describes "Highly Sensitive People" not as weaklings but simply as people who are very sensitive to their surroundings. The doctor who wrote the book says that about 20% of the population could be considered "highly sensitive." Now, these are not cry babies, or whiners but rather intuitive people. These are people that pick up the sublteties in the environment and in others that some may not notice.

The book was a revelation to me because I am definitely an HSP! It explained why I respond the way I do in different situations. It explained why I get exhausted more quickly than others in social situations - because I am overloaded with information!

Anyway, this way that I am carries over into my teaching, into the setting up of my classroom. Some teachers just cover their walls with posters about everything and anything. I am very picky about what I have on my walls. It must meet 3 criteria: 1. it must be age appropriate. I don't want to insult my 12 year olds with babyish decor. 2. It must be relevant. It must be either about something we study or it must be advice concerning behavior - I have one poster that I use every year: "You are responsible for your own actions." I refer to it a lot! 3. I must like it. I don't want to be in a room for 10 months with something that I hate.

I want my classroom to be a comfortable temperature. Thankfully, I have the control in my classroom!

I want my classroom to not smell offensive. That is difficult and on toward impossible with 6th graders many of whom have not discovered the joy of bathing and using deodorant. I have a lot of air fresheners in my classroom.

I want to feel like I can breathe and feel that I am not crowded. That, too is difficult to insure. This year I already have 22, there will be 25 before 6 weeks is up. But I try to be proactive by making sure that I don't have a lot of clutter and furniture in my room. I bought a new desk which is considerably smaller but better for having one-on-one worktime with students. I keep my filing contained to a 2 drawer file cabinet, my reference books and tools in one locked cabinet. My bulletin board materials and posters are in 3 small containers. We are a bare bones operation. If you know teachers, you know that this is quite a feat to have so little. When I started teaching 11 years ago I had nothing and I learned to get along with very little. I have kept that practice through the years. 

When I go to school today I will take some more photos so you can see my HSP classroom. I've just about got it together.