The 2018 Office

The fourth year of teachmrn.com is upon us, so it's time to show you my classroom! Due to some back end programming, last year's post never reached you, but you can catch the previous years here and here.

In preparing today's post, I ended up scrolling and scrolling through my phone to find my classrooms of the past too! I'll keep a little slideshow to the right, but you'll notice I've always been pretty plain.

Often, in a bid to all share, sometimes we can be bombarded with Pinterest-perfect rooms with that whispy-black font, fairy lights and a clear budget higher than reasonable. When I look back over my career so far, I was definitely working in the same way; spending money I shouldn't have done on things I didn't need. In fact, in the times when I've moved classrooms, or rearranged my cupboards, I continually find purchases from my NQT year, many moons ago - mostly craft resources that I'm still yet to open because I haven't YET found the right task.

Over the years, I've seen my classroom designs keep a similar theme, with learnt adjustments along the way. It's clear to me that there are things I keep consistent, and things I try differently each year, all while seemingly more minimal each time. I assume it's experience that eventually teaches you what you can do without, and what has the most impact in real terms, rather than the first time walking in. Some of the things I have learnt include:

• I usually have a base colour, because I believe you can change the colour scheme by what you add over the top (plus it means you only back the boards once and the focus is on the work).
• There is usually some kind of colour coding. This year, I have borders that match the colour of the respective exercise book.
• I have tried lots of different ways of organising the books. After keeping them on a shelf in my first ever room, falling all over the place, I quickly sought different storage options. This year, I'm going for my favourite; magazine files split into their teams. I've always found this makes distribution more efficient. It also means that different tables can work on different things more easily, and it breaks marking workload down if they're in easily countable segments - you can fetch a quick slice of books at break time without losing track of where you got to.
• I have ALWAYS, regardless of age group, had a carpet area. I don't understand how teachers cope without one. Yes, I understand they grow, but I believe you need different kinds of spaces without moving furniture constantly. Sometimes you need them close, sometimes you need them far away. Sometimes you need to pause them, and that carpet area increases the likelihood of them paying attention instead of being too distant. Equally, sometimes you need them there in front of you; that emotional connection and eye contact is paramount. Inputs, specific groups for misconceptions, reading together, etc.
• I've always got a mixture of working walls and display walls. While a lot of this is often policy driven, I do think you need clear space for the prompts, models and interactivity, alongside area for the finished products, the celebration and so on.
• I've never really started with lots on the walls already. I believe that whatever the room looks like on Day One, is forgotten by Day Two; it's the changes that they notice. For this reason, I've always started very plain, and built the room up as we go, especially for the working walls. This way, there is a point of specific reference for everything we do. I understand the counterargument that 'I don't like blank walls', but I just don't understand how you expect people to pinpoint something easily if it's already amongst a chaotic puzzle of, so far unlearnt, information - even the 'reminders' need re-teaching.  

The finished product (although is a classroom EVER really complete?) is below. But one question remains, how long will the desk stay tidy?