Saturday, August 18, 2012

What's the deal with the Teacher Desk?



 What's the deal with the Teacher Desk?
This is something I am pondering as the new school year begins in just one week.
 Here's the situation:  brand new high school building; brand new classroom;  16 tables instead of individual desks (love this!); tall storage cabinet on wheels; "end table" type thing on wheels; a wall full of cabinets (high & low at the back of the classroom); two whiteboards with one hooked up with projector; teacher desk.
I can only plug my computer/phone in an area in the corner of the room (see pic) - so thinking of putting the "end table" there (which I did - see here):




Now, what to do with the tall storage cabinet on wheels and the teacher desk.  Some background info - I am not organized.  Never have been, and chances are pretty good never will be.  My desk is just another place for me to randomly set papers, pens, pencils, rulers, calculators, you name it.  At times my teacher desk has looked something like this (note: not an actual picture of my desk - just an illustration):



So, why the need for a teacher desk?  I put this question out on twitter and here's some responses I received:


So true!  As if the teacher desk is some "throne".  I spend the majority of my time working with my students so why create a physical barrier that takes that away?  Teaching is more than content and great lesson plans . . . its about interpersonal relationships and building of trust and confidence in the student. Also, so much of my work is going in the online direction that it's easy to move my computer to a student desk area and do my work.
Supplies & files . . . only if I were organized.  LOL!

Love it because I have one of those - a tall storage cabinet!

Conclusion:  Spoke with my inclusion teacher and she is going to take over the desk - she is very organized and being in my room for only 3 periods a day, it's a nice "home base" for her to keep all of her things.  I found a great place to put the tall movable storage cabinet - fits perfectly in the corner in the back (this will be my "go-to" area / a desk on wheels that will hold dry erase markers, boards, graph papers of varying sorts, etc.):  see here -

Here are a few shots of the layout of my tables (love this as it's very student centered which I want) - at this time I have 6 "islands" that can accommodate 5 students for a total of 30 students.  I don't have my class rosters yet, so it wouldn't surprise me if I end up adding another "island" to the mix.  I have the space if needed.  Best case scenario - I have the 4 extra tables removed and then have a lot more space to work with!!  *fingers crossed*






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