If I had a classroom that was truly my own . . .

So I've been thinking about this a lot this year. I was hoping I'd be able to have more or less my own classroom, or at least the half I was in charge of, but it was not to be. I understand that things don't work out sometimes, and I've turned in my notice as a large part of feeling totally unappreciated and stifled creativity-wise. Oh well. It's been disappointing but a good experience nonetheless.

As I was hoping this would be my first "real year" as a "real teacher," I've started playing with ideas in my head as to what I would want my classroom to look and feel like. Maybe this is truly just a "what if" exercise, but I feel it important, somehow, to put down my thoughts.

There was a school in Federal Way that I adored - it was totally different from the "norm," but the lessons were challenging and the students were uber-engaged while we were there. Some things I loved about the classroom were the following:

It didn't look like a typical classroom. There were reading areas and hands-on areas of the classroom, with activities out to be used and manipulated. The reading areas had couches with slip covers and a small "tree house"-like area for students to climb inside of and relax and read. I would love to set up a corner of my room like that, and have areas that students could retire to when they have free time to work on projects or puzzles or other quiet things. I don't think kids get to use their hands enough in different ways in school.

Now, for my students' desks, I would like to try having a circle around the room so we can all see each other at all times. This might make doing presentations a bit difficult but that could be worked around. But this way, I could keep an eye on everything that's going on, and easily see if other people have questions or need my help with something.

We would have living things in the classroom. Nothing with fur. :) But fish, definitely. And possibly some kind of reptile, depending on what it is and where it could be stored.

Morning work would consist of 3 worksheets - a math/problem solving sheet, a spelling/handwriting sheet, and some kind of reading comp/word ladder kind of sheet. That's IT. It drives me crazy for students to be doing worksheet after worksheet all morning.

We would have monthly community service projects, and a class newsletter that the kids would put together once every other week to keep parents engaged in what was going on and help kids develop conversational writing skills.

As far as environment - we'd have two big bulletin-type boards in the classroom with student work and achievements, and also places around the room to put up new vocabulary words, spelling words, and a place for the quote of the week that the students would have to write a couple of paragraphs interpreting and applying to their lives each week. Once a month, they'd make up their own to have someone else interpret and apply.

Most classes would be run normally, but with music, art, and physical activity built into the lesson plans whenever it made sense to do so. And we'd definitely have hands-on time with science, as well as social studies. :)

Something else I liked about the school in Federal Way - the lights weren't flourescent lights. There were lamps, and natural light, and even white Christmas lights all around. It was a bit darker than a normal schoolroom but in a restful way. Without the harsh glare, it looked more like a living room area, but in a professional way. It was really quite remarkable.

So yeah - that's my ideal setting. It's good to dream. And now Kev's staring at me expectantly, so I'm going to close. *laugh*