Having your own classroom

mrsherself

First off, I'd like to say that I am in no way permanent and I'm only on half hours, so I'm not in an ideal situation anyway. But on a lighter note - I would LOVE to have my own classroom. My first two years teaching I was filling in for a teacher who had their own classroom. It made a massive difference in many ways:
1. I could decorate the room with the students posters and artwork
2. I could put up my own posters and grammar notes and diagrams
3. All of my books were near at hand, including books not used in the school.
4. All my photocopies were near at hand.
5. All my student's copies could be stored in the classroom.
6. If I wanted to work by myself on something, or just get a bit of peace during some time off, I could sit in my classroom.

I then moved to another school after two years and have not had my own classroom since. Let me tell you, it was a rude awakening!! The worst thing is misplacing books or leaving things back in the staffroom locker that I need in class. I hate having to carry loads of things around - cd players, bags full of copies, books etc. Not only that but it leaves me more stressed having to run around a school building to get to my next class - up stairs, downstairs, out into different buildings in the rain etc. It makes a difference to how the students perceive me too. Rather than them entering my classroom at the start of class, I come into class five minutes after the bell puffing and panting and having to lay everything down on the table, open out the rollbook and organise myself before I can get started. It's awful. How I miss having a classroom to call my own.

whiteandlight

mrsherself wrote: »

First off, I'd like to say that I am in no way permanent and I'm only on half hours, so I'm not in an ideal situation anyway. But on a lighter note - I would LOVE to have my own classroom. My first two years teaching I was filling in for a teacher who had their own classroom. It made a massive difference in many ways:
1. I could decorate the room with the students posters and artwork
2. I could put up my own posters and grammar notes and diagrams
3. All of my books were near at hand, including books not used in the school.
4. All my photocopies were near at hand.
5. All my student's copies could be stored in the classroom.
6. If I wanted to work by myself on something, or just get a bit of peace during some time off, I could sit in my classroom.

I then moved to another school after two years and have not had my own classroom since. Let me tell you, it was a rude awakening!! The worst thing is misplacing books or leaving things back in the staffroom locker that I need in class. I hate having to carry loads of things around - cd players, bags full of copies, books etc. Not only that but it leaves me more stressed having to run around a school building to get to my next class - up stairs, downstairs, out into different buildings in the rain etc. It makes a difference to how the students perceive me too. Rather than them entering my classroom at the start of class, I come into class five minutes after the bell puffing and panting and having to lay everything down on the table, open out the rollbook and organise myself before I can get started. It's awful. How I miss having a classroom to call my own.

I know your pain! I'm hoping and praying that I get a classroom of my own this year for all of the above reasons and as I'm finally on full hours, the idea of travelling constantly for that many classes is slightly terrifying!

thefasteriwalk

Agree 100%. I've covered maternity leaves where I've both had and not had a base classroom. I think it makes a hugh difference and I really think I was far more effective when I had a base room. I know there is the argument that it's better for 1st and 2nd years to have base rooms, but I really think the majority tend to find their way in no time and then they're walking into the classroom of a teacher who is fully organised with all resources to hand. I've also has the issue where, when I've not had a base room, the ICT resources work differently in different rooms and I might have to spent three or four minutes trying to organise that.

evolving_doors

Keeps students on their toes... literally

Fuinseog

mrsherself wrote: »

First off, I'd like to say that I am in no way permanent and I'm only on half hours, so I'm not in an ideal situation anyway. But on a lighter note - I would LOVE to have my own classroom. My first two years teaching I was filling in for a teacher who had their own classroom. It made a massive difference in many ways:
1. I could decorate the room with the students posters and artwork
2. I could put up my own posters and grammar notes and diagrams
3. All of my books were near at hand, including books not used in the school.
4. All my photocopies were near at hand.
5. All my student's copies could be stored in the classroom.
6. If I wanted to work by myself on something, or just get a bit of peace during some time off, I could sit in my classroom.

I then moved to another school after two years and have not had my own classroom since. Let me tell you, it was a rude awakening!! The worst thing is misplacing books or leaving things back in the staffroom locker that I need in class. I hate having to carry loads of things around - cd players, bags full of copies, books etc. Not only that but it leaves me more stressed having to run around a school building to get to my next class - up stairs, downstairs, out into different buildings in the rain etc. It makes a difference to how the students perceive me too. Rather than them entering my classroom at the start of class, I come into class five minutes after the bell puffing and panting and having to lay everything down on the table, open out the rollbook and organise myself before I can get started. It's awful. How I miss having a classroom to call my own.

I have nearly always had my own classroom, which is brilliant. posters prove to be a headache as they invariably became decorated with the unofficial school crest, the phallus.
the classroom in most schools is supposed to be locked if a teacher a teacher is not within, but some teachers do not adhere to it, meaning stuff cam also go missing, which is a pity.

its a good idea to get a classroom timetable so you know when it is vacant and when it is occupied by another teacher.

mrsherself

Oh believe me, when I had my own classroom, it was always locked tight when I wasn't there. And then when the door handle fell off, that was even better, I used to just take the door handle with me!

Fuinseog

I remember a senior teacher in a school where I worked once and they had the old style desks in their room. they could have had them removed but knew that with those desks there would be no swinging on chairs, slouching or sleeping .

mtoutlemonde

mrsherself wrote: »

Oh believe me, when I had my own classroom, it was always locked tight when I wasn't there. And then when the door handle fell off, that was even better, I used to just take the door handle with me!

I shouldn't laugh mrsherself but the thought of you taking the door handle with you is hilarious! I'm sure there was a good laugh in the staffroom! I didn't have that problem - door was left open all the time - CCTV on the corridors but I really loved having my own room!!

mrsherself

Yeah it looked a bit crazy alright! And then one time, I put the correct door handle on the wrong side of the door and when it fell off, we were locked in! (until a latecoming student picked it off the floor outside, and put it back in the door, and came in!) You have to laugh when things like this happen!

Miss Lockhart

All our classrooms are in use for all periods so even with your own classroom there would be no access to work in the room during your free classes.

We have teacher-based rooms but they are shared between teachers. It is a huge improvement overall and has really improved the overall standard of the school environment.

Our doors lock once closed so they are secure between classes. This bothers me slightly from a safety point of view however.

mrsherself

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

All our classrooms are in use for all periods so even with your own classroom there would be no access to work in the room during your free classes.

We have teacher-based rooms but they are shared between teachers. It is a huge improvement overall and has really improved the overall standard of the school environment.

Our doors lock once closed so they are secure between classes. This bothers me slightly from a safety point of view however.

God, I wouldn't have thought that would be allowed. So, they're inaccessible from the outside, is it? Strange...

Miss Lockhart

mrsherself wrote: »

God, I wouldn't have thought that would be allowed. So, they're inaccessible from the outside, is it? Strange...

Well they are accessible with the master key which all staff should have. But I worry about an incident and there being a delay in locating the key to get in quickly. It has already happened with fights in classrooms.

mrsherself

I can imagine, yeah... Wow, it's fascinating how different all schools in this country are. I've only been working three years, and I've worked in 2 different schools, as well as done my teaching practise in another. One of them was a gaelscoil and a great new building - clean and bright with great facilities. The next one was a rural disadvantaged school, which also was a new building. Each classroom had its own computer connected to an overhead projector. I also had a tv and dvd player in my room attached to the wall. (Those were the days!!)
And the most recent school I'm in is a suburban school that desperatly needs a new building. There are no computers, a lot of classrooms have no projectors and there's no space on the teachers desks to put all your belongings and books.

Fuinseog

mrsherself wrote: »

God, I wouldn't have thought that would be allowed. So, they're inaccessible from the outside, is it? Strange...

what is allowed or not allowed depends on your status within the school.

Fuinseog

mrsherself wrote: »

I can imagine, yeah... Wow, it's fascinating how different all schools in this country are. I've only been working three years, and I've worked in 2 different schools, as well as done my teaching practise in another. One of them was a gaelscoil and a great new building - clean and bright with great facilities. The next one was a rural disadvantaged school, which also was a new building. Each classroom had its own computer connected to an overhead projector. I also had a tv and dvd player in my room attached to the wall. (Those were the days!!)
And the most recent school I'm in is a suburban school that desperatly needs a new building. There are no computers, a lot of classrooms have no projectors and there's no space on the teachers desks to put all your belongings and books.

its great when you have the technology in the room and it actually works.

I am happy if there is an overhead projector in the room. its generally reliable. Data projectors are great.

rolling a TV into the classroom and spending half an hour trying to get it to work is a pain.

in a lot of schools the office seems to crib if you need more than one white board marker per term.