He called each of us down in turn to find out which keys were in which hands and who had the all-powerful "A" keys–the masters that granted access to every door in the building.
My visit went something like this:
AP: "Mike, I've got you down on records as having an 'A' key. That right?"
Me: "Sure is, Jake."
AP: "Well, I need to ask for that back--we're limiting the number of people who have those."
Me: "Not a chance Jake. I'm in the building more than you are."
Granted, I said this with a laugh and he responded in kind. Point is, I spend quite a bit of time at school, and though I've moderated my schedule significantly since my daughters were born, I put in a lot of hours in my lab, room 607.
We were moved there two years back, after my principal double-booked my old lab in the master schedule for the year. "We need to talk about room usage," she said, and before I knew it, she had carved out a brand-new space for us. Part and parcel of the move was her granting us permission to personalize the room. My kids have enjoyed painting the lab (now a late-August tradition; they paint to match the theme colors of the book. That's great, until the colors change in October!) and contributing strings of Christmas lights that hang from the ceiling. We're tight with the head custodian, and he lets us know when the fire chief is a week away from his inspection, if you catch my meaning.
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| The kids love our lights! We added a second-hand couch in February, and kids make daily use of a 'dorm'-style fridge and a 12-cup coffee maker. We hang the kids' individual awards, Crowns, and Pacemakers as well as large photos. |
It can make all the difference to our students. To what extent do you (or are you given latitude to) give ownership of your lab space and its look to your kids? Comment below!
-Mike Simons
West HS / East HS
Corning-Painted Post NY
Newspaper is just one period per day, so that means the lab is used by various other teachers four periods of the day. For a good chunk of the year, state testing takes place during some of the non-newspaper periods.
ReplyDeleteWe have two whiteboards dedicated to our layout in much the same way we saw whiteboard layouts at The Arizona Republic.
We are not allowed to paint rooms.
That being said, newspaper period is the only time in my workday that I am in a room with windows and get to see daylight. I need that and feel very lucky to work in that lab.
Greg Cantwell
Sheldon High School
Eugene, Oregon
I would die without windows :(
DeleteCindy Reves
Honolulu
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe individualization of cubicles at The Arizona Republic brought back memories of when I was employed at Black Hills Pioneer newspaper. Given a latitude of creating a workable space means you are part of the team with your "own" space.
ReplyDeleteA key difference, however, is we did not have weekly themes, an idea I would like to take back to my journalism students!
The tour was well worth the time. Providing insight to how a large newspaper and all its many publications are run is invaluable, an opportunity not likely to happen again any time soon.
Tere Froelich
SBHS
Sturgis, South Dakota
I love this picture of your room! While we don't paint our room, we do post photos of our staff all over the room, decorate heavily at Christmas, and populate an "Awkward Photo Wall" with funny photos of members of our class while they were out on the job shooting at games and such.
ReplyDeleteI think the weekly themes will be a great way to keep things fun, especially on deadline.
Bailey Elise McBride
Bishop Kelley High School
Tulsa, Okla.
I so wish I had a separate room for Yearbook. I have a large classroom and I've been able to section off a part of it as "Yearbook land," but we haven't really personalized it. Since we're currently under construction, maybe this fall is the time to do that. We could paint that section of the room and personalized it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the prompting!
I so wish I had a separate room for Yearbook. I have a large classroom and I've been able to section off a part of it as "Yearbook land," but we haven't really personalized it. Since we're currently under construction, maybe this fall is the time to do that. We could paint that section of the room and personalized it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the prompting!
I wish I had a picture of the publications room (the pub!) to share. Right now it's insanely clean for summer. I had to put away all our toys and nonsense. One other thing we do is put up pictures for inspiration for design and anything goofy that we want to see. I also encourage competitions for who can best hide their stash of food-- whoever can find it can eat it. I don't tell the janitors....
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate this topic being addressed on the blogs. With all the responsibilities and pains of being advisers, it is important for us to remember that our home school staffs are our second families, and the staff room is our home. I cannot paint or string lights, but I do have a Kuerig (hottest spot of the day...competitions as to who can get their cup in there first)and a Wall O' Inspiration, where we post crazy things and beautiful things that inspire us.
ReplyDeleteMelissa Langlois
Whitewater High School
Fayetteville, Ga.
As a first year teacher, this was the last thing on my mind (I didn't have much stuff to start with), but now it is definitely something I want to try for next year. I can't paint the walls or anything like that, and I'm in a small classroom, no lab, and have huge tables where the kids sit (which takes up most of the room). I will have to work hard to use my walls to help flavor the classroom to fit my staff, but it will be well worth it. The kids will definitely buy in to their publications more if they feel more at home.
ReplyDeleteLauren Ramcharan Gutierrez
Corbett Jr. High
San Antonio, Texas