It is an odd mixture of numbers for me. Numbers that come to mind as I see friends sharing some numbers about their teaching careers for Teacher Appreciation Week. The topic of rooms is a highlight as I develop a layout for my new classroom next year.
I have been teaching for 11 years.
Across those 11 years, I have been in 3 different districts.
St. Joseph School District is the longest as I finish my 6th year.
Across 3 districts, I have taught in 5 different buildings.
I have never stayed in one physical room longer than 3 years.
Next year will be the first time I have been in two different rooms in one building, and the first time I have been in three different rooms in one district.
That is a lot of moving rooms. This time, I am rather exciting. I started asking to move into a larger room in the past. Several other PLTW teachers have mentioned that my room is a bit cramped for what I teach. Heck, students have completed projects working on the floor since I don’t have room for work tables. One teacher in another district commented that they could fit almost three of my classrooms into their space.
In the picture above, I am standing just inside the door to my classroom. Notice the minimal amount of moving space because of the rows of computers. There is about three feet at the front of the room to move and around five feet on the right were all the students are located.
Along with the space is the limitation of storage. Often projects have to just rest out in the open in any available spot, available for any other student to walk up and explore.
This all changes next year. I will be in a larger classroom and one without a key restriction that limits the layout in my current room (a non-removable heating/shelving unit). It won’t be a massive increase in size, but it is enough to be very beneficial for my students.
For a few weeks, I have collected measurements and worked on a layout using SketchUp, one of the 3D modeling programs available for my students to use in class. Below is a top-down look at my room.
The left side of the room is the front. In the back is a door to the main hallway and a door to the library. The tables in the center will be work tables so students can spread out in the room. There is enough space that two more tables could be added if needed.
Now for another view, this time from the top right corner of the picture above:
One item that is exciting is that I am adding a Project Cabinet (the tallest item in the picture). It has the shelving necessary for students to store projects inside, free from prying hands. It, along with some other storage cabinets we are trying to get, are all lockable as well. A few projects this year got damaged by other students and this will help prevent that. The new layout is not set in stone, but until everything gets moved and I can see what it looks like, it is the current plan.
All of this on top of adding the first of two new computer science units and an advanced class is lining next year up to be an exciting year for PLTW at Truman.
