We headed over there the week before school started to scope things out... and this is what we found! They had an empty floor all right, but it was more or less storage space! We had a lot of cleaning to do! Dead bugs, old books, even a Christmas tree! I swear it smelled like a dead animal! It took DAYS just to get stuff either thrown out or put into the storage closets at the back of the room.
I really never thought I'd see the day when it looked and felt like a classroom, but we did it. I still wouldn't call it MODEL, but at least we have a space that my adult students can come into and learn. I have a classroom. It even has a bulletin board!
That's a picture of Sydney. She is my coordinator for Small Group Literacy schools in the District and she worked SO HARD in this classroom with me. This work is NOT for the faint of heart!
We are ready for teachers! It still needs some work and I'll do a little every time I go, but I have a classroom again- I have no budget to set up this classroom- and I had to buy my own garbage can, but it is my classroom.
Just being in a classroom again feels so good! Best part of the whole thing- there are REAL LIVE KIDS right downstairs every day. So when teachers come to trainings in "my classroom" I can do demo lessons with students from the school! REAL Guided Reading lessons- here we come!
Not sure if you can tell, but this bulletin board says CAUTION: Teachers at Work! There is another side that will say LITERACY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Thanks to the DCPS interns, otherwise known as UELIPs (Urban Education Leadership Intern Program) for their artistic skills in this lonely space! Slowly but surely, this is going to be a great place to learn! We are DCPS- and we can DO THIS!
