Project Numero Uno: Desk Arrangments

Yesterday, I spent a good 3 hours at school (I was the only one there as school doesn't start for another month) adjusting my student's desks so they were all the same height. (Aren't teachers known for being OCD?)

The goods. 

 

 

I realize how ridiculous this sounds, adjusting the height on 30 desks? Well, even though it was a pain (I smelled like WD-40 for hours), I think it was totally worth it. In my classroom, we do a lot of group projects, where my students use their table groups as a work area. Students may be working on posters, researching with the netbooks, conferencing about their writing/reading, the list goes on. But in order for them to be able to do all of those things(without getting into brawls with table group members), they all need a level work area. And I might just think its more aesthetically pleasing. 

These puppies aren't moving.

I have made the decision this school year that when I switch up seating arrangements, it will be students and the contents of their desks moving, not the desks themselves. In my room, I like to switch up where the kiddos are sitting at least once every quarter, sometimes twice. I always dreaded those days, desks and children and chairs everywhere, students wanting to clean out their desks before they made the big move across the classroom, stray papers and glue sticks strewn all over the floor...just an absolute nightmare. So this year, students will be only moving their locations, not heavy desks and chairs. I hope hope hope this will be a more efficient system. I also hope this will make for more tidy student desks and a feeling of classroom community. The first time we make the move, I will make sure to blog about how it went.