A wonderful friend and I gave her grade 3/4 room a much needed cleanout. It took us about 5 hours together and worth every minute for seeing the end result. We began by emptying all the cupboards and working out what could stay and what could go. This gave us more cupboard space for other stuff just laying around the room that wasn’t currently being used by the kids. Her classroom library was a higgledy piggledy (don’t use that term much!) collection of containers, so I went to Kmart and got a whole heap of very cheap white baskets. Some of her students had done a great job of alphabetizing all the books by title. Not my favourite way to sort books (I prefer genre) but this was how they wanted to organize them so we’ve got them all set up in baskets and I put alphabet stickers on the shelfs in front of each basket. All the books face forward in their baskets so it’s easy for kids to browse and flick through. The top shelf of the library was cleared and now has some very cute soft toys (previously stored in a wooden trunk). The stuffed Cookie Monster toy wouldn’t stand up by itself so he’s now displaying a book which in turn is holding him up! There’s now room on the shelves for a nice little prayer centre – just a bible, cross and candles on a white tray (we’re a Catholic school). We cleared all the walls, all ‘finished with’ display, cleaned all the benches and set up the tables and chairs in the new configuration Fran wanted to try. We cleared away things that had been in the classroom a while that related to previous integrated units. Lots and lots of glass jars were put into the cupboard. A campfire and a pirate’s treasure chest got stored high in the cupboards, a large wooden trunk is now storing equipment in the sports shed. Fran decided a lot of her art equipment could probably be stored in the art room which is very close to her room. Old Christmas decorations, old unused storage drawers and a palm tree umbrella were tossed out along with copious amounts of ‘stuff’ that you find in classrooms. The room has so much more space now, it’s amazing. This teacher doesn’t have a desk, but uses one of the student tables, so we’ve set her up with a shelf behind her for all the teacher reference, stationery and all the rest teachers collect on their tables. A vertical file is set up ready to collect all the paperwork, and a few empty tubs for the collection of student work etc. Fran has told me she feels like a weight’s been lifted and she’s excited to begin the new term. We had the music blaring while we worked and had lots of talk about the writing program she’s been working on and is hoping to introduce. Lots of trivia and gossip too! It was a great day for both of us and the sense of satisfaction was immense.
2 Comments
Laura
22/7/2014 00:42:45
I teach at a Baptist school and I love the prayer station idea. My class has been called the prayer warriors because we pray for everyone and everything...Jesus said let the little children come to me. I will be implementing a prayer station into my classroom this year. Smile, God loves you!
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Marg
24/7/2014 06:10:45
Hi Laura, glad the prayers have been a help to you. They've certainly helped our prayer sessions become more meaningful and interesting each morning. As we're a Catholic school, that's how we start each day and you learn so much about the kids' lives as they pray for their families and pets and football teams!
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