At teacher training class this morning, everyone was talking about their progress in getting classrooms set up. They seemed all to have gone shopping, and bought posters, and were creating laminated charts, and buying stickers and colored borders, and just generally showing that they have it together when it comes to knowing how to set up a classroom.
I, on the other hand, have not been thinking about this, having turned my mind to other, seemingly more urgent matters. But now, with the day of reporting to my room imminent, I have to admit the truth: I don’t have any great ideas for posters, charts, or other displays. The only things I’ve come up with are:
1) I have a set of rules I made last week, laminated by CopyMax.
2) I plan to buy some plants to put in the windows.
3) I am hoping to get permission to have a class pet.
4) I will bring a broom and dustpan, I suppose, and sweep behind the furniture, which I somehow believe will be necessary, perhaps only because it would be necessarily if you tried to open an unused room at my home after months.
So on Monday I am supposed to go out and get my class ready. I am hoping that inspiration will strike when I see the room again. The last time I saw it was the day I was hired, and all I remember was a row of lockers in the back, a generally dark overall character, two teacher desks, one metal and one wood, and a blank discipline referral sitting on the table at the front, which I considered, at the time, not the best foreboding signal.
I have lots of great ideas for lesson plans, but I can’t think of anything to put up on the walls. What will I start with? The writing process. I will make a poster of the 5 steps. Then, something about the water cycle. I’ve always liked the water cycle. And maybe a couple of pictures of my heroes. Who are my heroes? I can think of a few. It’s a start. I’ll go Monday to see the room again, and draw a diagram, and go from there.
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My humble contribution based on two years of public school teaching and many, many years of thinking about learning. The teacher’s main job, I believe, is to inspire, to make the students want to learn. That is the key — the best teacher can only show how to do it, explain the thinking, etc. It is up to the student to master it, and that requires, first of all, that they want to learn it. So the teacher above all provides the inspiration. It is a happy moment when the teacher sees the spark in the student’s eye — she understands! That is the way it’s supposed to be, at least. I fell short on occasion. Dad
Thanks for commenting, Dad. I too believe that the teacher’s personality and orientation towards the students is critical. Meanwhile, in setting up our classrooms, we are told that it must be a “print rich” environment, so the child is always surrounded by print, rather like the medieval Cathedral has stained glass windows so the visitor is always surrounded by Bible stories.
Speaking of classroom set-up, I have a children’s microscope that has not been used for years and I recently thought about donating it to a school or class that might use it. It does not come with a lamp and its magnification is not huge, but it has delivered great fun watching veggie tissue and tiny insects’ wings. It was from the National Geographic catalogue, if this might mean anything. If you think it may come handy in your classroom or know someone who could use it, let me know… I’ll check its status again to make sure it’s in good condition.
Ellie that would be great. I’d love to have it. let me know.
Sonja, I am interested to see how things progress for you. I hope you have a great experience teaching.
Have you considered letting your students be a part of the “classroom rules” development process? Certainly I think you should help facilitate this, but I think having students early on understand what is expected of them in their classroom might just be a good benefit to you and to them. They would have a sense of ownership in it. Just my $.02.
Richie, I had considered that. My basic plan was to give my rules and allow them to discuss if there was anything further they felt they needed for their success. I made the classroom rules already, however, because they make you do that in teacher training. Perhaps I’ll let the class contribute and then re-make the rules list.