My students live in a rural area in Michigan. We are a high poverty school district and 100% of our students are able to receive free breakfast and lunch. While our district recently passed a millage rate to update the technology in our buildings; there will not be funds available to update classroom furniture.
This year my goal is to create an inviting and warm space to help encourage creativity from my students.
I want my vibrant teenagers to be proud of their classroom and enjoy walking in the door each day.
Thanks to generous donors, we recently acquired a few new tables, lamps, curtains, bulletin board supplies, two futons, air freshener, and essentials like Kleenex and school supplies. However, we would like to continue to build on our classroom and add more flexible seating options.
I have large classes and it is difficult for me to navigate around the room with ease. Therefore, I am trying to utilize the space around the walls in hopes that I can come up alternative seating arrangements and get rid of some of the cumbersome desks that take up precious space.
My Project
The layout of a classroom can have a large impact on how students learn. Since I have large classes (most are over 30 students) the current layout of desks in rows does not allow me to easily move around the classroom. This year I got rid of my large desk and streamlined to a small kitchen island and added tables (with more work room). Our classroom also features a seating area for students to congregate during writing workshop and it allows me to conference with parents, other teachers, administrators, and my students.
My students need four futons, Eight small tables, and clipboards to create a flexible seating arrangement in our classroom.
While I do not have to option to take out walls to make my classroom larger, I would like to make the most of our small space and minimize the number of desks in the room.
The four futons would allow me to use space along the walls that is wasted. The stools would serve as tables for supplies/computers for students sitting on the futons and the clipboards would also provide a hard surface for composing writing.
This project would make our classroom space more student centered and allow it to be more conducive to creativity. Utilizing seating along the walls would help our classroom feel more flexible, modern, welcome, and inviting. Thank you for making a difference in our learning environment.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Waldo and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
