Why didn't I think of this earlier ?
In my classroom, there is only one side of the room that has cabinetry that can function as a work surface for labs or other interactive activities. To overcome the lack of work space, I convinced the administration to give me tables and chairs instead of slanted desks. I won that round. It afforded me more working space that was more spread out but there has always been a problem with the cabinet area, in order to see what was being done by any student, I had to be right on top of them.
Last week in the all-to-common "Looking for something to put in my classroom but don't know what it is until I see it" trek at Wallyworld I came across $5 full length mirrors. I bought four not knowing if they would fit. Three of them fit perfectly over the cabinet area and with a little tilting action, I now do not have to loom over my middle schoolers to see what they are doing AND I get to be covert at looking at their facial expressions.
My guess is you may think I am crazy for putting mirrors in my room because what middle schooler is NOT going to look at themselves 24-7 if they can - girls primping, boys making faces. I figured they are at the right height where I won't have to worry about it too much when they are seated and they will be too busy when they are working in labs. If the mirrors are up now, being at the beginning of school, everything is "new" and that newness will wear off due to familiarity - at least eventually. Problem #1 solved.
Problem #2 would be to minimize the number of times I hear "what are we doing today?" as well as get students thinking in advanced and during the class period.(By the way, it is always POSTED on the board as they come into my classroom.) Here's how I solved this issue. - MIRROR #4!
As students walk into my classroom, they MUST walk by the mirror (also hung horizontally). Under the mirror is my "make up work" station where you can find all kinds of supplies necessary for my classroom - one of which is sticky notes. Now, I now students will watch themselves walk by the mirror. Wouldn't it be fabulous if they saw a sticky note with a student question on it or something awesome they learned in class? The goal would be to have ONE per period and NO duplicates - so people would really have to read before they could post. If there are questions from a previous class, the following class could answer if they knew the answer. (IDK does not cut it on THIS mirror).
Now, maybe I am looking through this with SUMMER ROSE colored glasses, but these small changes in my class might be a wonderful upgrade.