Classroom Transformation

Yesterday was my first day back at school with kids. It was a crazy day of confusion. Last year I was able to put that epic "First Year of Teaching" under my belt. This year, though, I'm still "the new teacher." I replaced a retiring teacher after 36 years in a different school, different district, and, let's be honest, a completely different atmosphere than anything I've ever known. It's a parochial school.

With all of this in mind, I knew I definitely wanted to change up the classroom. I wanted to bring it some desperately needed functionality while my own personal flair. I'm really happy with the results.

The front of the room BEFORE....

.....and NOW!

The books will be moved soon. Really the biggest change here is that I moved the Teacher desk and replaced it with class computers on the front wall.

This is the side wall view BEFORE. ..

This is the side wall now. You can see I moved the Teacher desk to the back corner.  I like it here because it's tucked into a sort of barricade. I call it "The Crowe Zone." I also like that I can see into the hallway while sitting at my desk (which I did very little of today! )

The back wall BEFORE...

And the back wall NOW... I moved one of the book shelves to the back and added some seating made of storage crates. Something I noticed while cleaning in the room was that all of the books were shelved together. Resource books were mixed in with class sets. I also wanted the students to have a reading space but I needed to provide the space and the books!

The interior wall BEFORE...

...and NOW. (Unquestionably the biggest change.)

MORE PICTURES HERE