When I started teaching at Cecil Floyd in 1995,
things looked a lot different in my classroom -
and in our school.
Here is the next item on a short list that comes to mind.
things looked a lot different in my classroom -
and in our school.
Here is the next item on a short list that comes to mind.
Tables
At some point, I asked for the individual student desks to be completely removed from my classroom. In '95, all students had bulky desks with shelves on the sides. The height was adjustable according to the needs of the students, but that made them look terrible when grouping them together for cooperative learning. It was sometimes difficult to get them to matching heights, and fingers were easily smashed between the desks when moving them. Besides that, they were heavy. We still have some of those desks floating around, and I'm not sure why the school district doesn't sell them off.
It took a few years, but I finally asked for simple tables to replace the desks. Unfortunately, we're still dealing with the heavy chairs (which are also rusted from water damage during the 2011 tornado that damaged our building) whose "feet" easily break off, but uniform tables help us with our groupings and make for a much easier-to-manage setting. They are easily moved for special events and can be pushed aside to make more open space in the classroom. Since I didn't use textbooks, students didn't need a shelf for them, and the desks just provided a place for kids to stash their garbage instead of taking the grueling trip across the room to throw it away.
I hadn't intended for the whole school to follow suit, but it wasn't long after until that's what happened. Now you'll find tables in every classroom.
At some point, I asked for the individual student desks to be completely removed from my classroom. In '95, all students had bulky desks with shelves on the sides. The height was adjustable according to the needs of the students, but that made them look terrible when grouping them together for cooperative learning. It was sometimes difficult to get them to matching heights, and fingers were easily smashed between the desks when moving them. Besides that, they were heavy. We still have some of those desks floating around, and I'm not sure why the school district doesn't sell them off.
It took a few years, but I finally asked for simple tables to replace the desks. Unfortunately, we're still dealing with the heavy chairs (which are also rusted from water damage during the 2011 tornado that damaged our building) whose "feet" easily break off, but uniform tables help us with our groupings and make for a much easier-to-manage setting. They are easily moved for special events and can be pushed aside to make more open space in the classroom. Since I didn't use textbooks, students didn't need a shelf for them, and the desks just provided a place for kids to stash their garbage instead of taking the grueling trip across the room to throw it away.
I hadn't intended for the whole school to follow suit, but it wasn't long after until that's what happened. Now you'll find tables in every classroom.
