New Classroom Design

Since I am making the move from 6th grade math to 7th grade math, the inevitable happened - I had to change classrooms.  This move was one of the hardest things for me - I love my classroom.  It has a blue wall and two of the walls are magnetic.  It was in the center of the hallway - in the middle of all the excitement. I am emotionally attached to my room.  And I had to say goodbye - I even said goodbye with this photo on Instagram.   

This week the girls had tumble camp, but I didn't have anywhere to be, so I thought I would spend some time in my new space, my new classroom.  I am a visual person, so just hanging out in the space, getting a feel for its size, is a good start for me.  When I left for the summer, it had desks (which I hate, but I had in the old room, so I was used to them).  But luckily, another teacher decided she didn't want her trapezoid tables, and I snatched those babies! This is what my classroom looked like when I got in the first morning.

So once I got in the space, I started thinking about the furniture arrangement.  That's what most teachers do - start with the student space.  I pulled down tables and put some together, even using chairs to see how far to space the tables apart.  I wandered the room, thinking about walkways.  I stepped in and out of the classroom, thinking about the students and their patterns of entering.  Or rather, what I want their pattern of entering to be.  And as I am thinking about student behaviors and their space, I eventually get to the "in class" part.

My plan for next year is to flip my class and to spend class time playing games, working problems, and having centers.  While students are doing these various activities, I spend some good face time with those who have questions and need more assistance.  These thoughts about "in class" time lead me to my big kidney table - my teacher table.  The last two years it has been in the front right corner of my classroom, where it basically became a dumping ground for papers and stuff.  I had grand plans for it each year, but somehow, as I am chugging along, it hardly ever gets used for its intention. And when it is used, its location  makes class management difficult - thus making me less likely to use it. 

This is the year of NEW for me. New grade, new team, new teaching partner, new room, new TEKS, new homework plan, so why not a new plan for this table? I moved the table to the center is the room. And when I am not pulling kids to its edges, it will still be used by the students.  

Let's hope the new plan for the table has as much success as my new plan has for me.