Well time went by and our new custodian told me that I could have a new desk. As a side note, we have the best custodial staff ever...they are amazing. So I went to take a look at it and thought it was pretty nice. He even told me he would customize it for me and take some length off of it. I remember being excited. Well, I got the desk....I did the same old thing...spent alot of time getting it ready and putting all my things in there. In the meantime, I had asked my admin for new tables for my room...I wanted to get rid of the students desks. I hated them. He told me he thought it was a great idea and to send him a plan of why I thought I needed them and what I was envisioning in my classroom. So I sent him the blueprint up on top of the page to start to show him what I was thinking.
It was really interesting because last year, in May, when I got my new desk I had a student say, "Mrs.Collette, why do you even have a desk? I don't think I have ever seen you sit there. We use our desks. You just throw things on top of yours." This blew my mind. A nine year old asked me question that I had never even thought about myself. My reply was, "You are right....Why do I have a DESK?" The kids went out for recess and here I was left to ponder that question. I don't know if any teachers out there have done this...but do you ever just catch yourself staring and looking at something and people are walking by wondering what you are looking at? I had a colleague walk by and then walk back and say, "What are you looking at?" "My desk, I think I'm going to get rid of it." My colleague replied, "Where will you sit?" I said, "I guess I'll sit everywhere." She told me she thought that was the best idea I have ever had.
So I took the advice from the 9 year old. On the last day of June...I asked the same custodian who customized the desk for me to help me move it out. He looked at me stunned and said, "Now you don't want the desk?" However, he laughed and helped me move it out. I explained my reasoning and he also thought it was a great idea. He told me he would find a new home for it. So, we are now in October and this is what has happened since I got rid of my desk:
1. I don't have a desk and neither do my students. We have beautiful tables that seat 6 and they make it easy to collaborate. Students don't have "given" spots at each table. They sit where it feels comfortable at their table. There is a spot for me at every table to wheel in and have conversations with students. We are often working together to create things and learn.
2. I sit everywhere. I wheel around on my chair and spend the class sitting with students and helping them. I have nowhere to hide. I am out in the open and available to my students all day. It is amazing how getting rid of a piece of metal can change you as a teacher.
3. I am far more organized. I don't have anywhere to just "dump" my stuff. I file it now right away. This is a new idea for me and I feel so much better. I know where things are.
4. The learning space is the entire classroom. Everyone is respectful of the space and there are no "off limits" areas for students.
5. I know that everyday I will have connected with every student more than once. I think when my desk was in my room it was easier to hide behind it while they were doing independent tasks. Now when the are doing independent tasks I am doing more observing and asking questions. I've learned alot during this time about students.
6. I use my time more wisely. I don't have time to complain about drawers not working or spend time organizing a desk. There are way more important problems to tackle and way better uses of my time.
6. I found out last week that my beautiful customized desk never did find a new home and there are others too. I'm glad.