The previous teacher had been in this room for at least 20 years. Before that, she taught at a different district, but it was combined with another, and that's when she ended up in this classroom. So, needless to say there is about 35 years of collecting in this room! The previous teacher also had a COMPLETELY different organizational technique than me...meaning complete opposite...so I have my work ahead of me if I want to keep myself sane this school year! What works for one person doesn't always work for another...
I received the keys to the room yesterday and my hubby came in for an hour and a half with me yesterday to help me do some heavy moving and lifting. Today I spent about two and half hours sorting and cleaning as well. There are A LOT of extra cabinets and furniture in this room that make it feel very cluttered, so my goal is to get things sorted and consolidated so that I can get rid of that extra furniture.
There is also some lower grade paints that I will be donating to our new school supply room (a catch-all for unwanted supplies...teachers can come and give and take as needed), which will hopefully keep teachers from borrowing supplies from the art room! Unfortunately, there is also a lot of paint that I will be tossing because it is completely separated and will not mix back together. Same with about half the glazes. They are either VERY watery or completely dried out. Luckily, all of my elective requisitions were put through this year and I will get everything I ordered for the high school room, all of which will end up replacing a lot of the old stuff I plan on getting rid of.
Once the cleaners get the room cleaned and the floors waxed, I plan on having them move the three pottery wheels from my elementary room into the high school room so that I can have a ceramic nook, which has me really excited!
This is the door to the classroom. The divider and brown cabinet has been cleaned out and removed from the room (extra furniture!).
When you enter the classroom, this is what you see on the right side. All the tables and stools are pushed up against the cabinets because the custodians are currently working to clean the room as well. The door way in the back is the dark room.
Inside the dark room, left and right respectively. I plan to keep the enlargers for now, until those supplies are used up. Ideally, I would love to turn this into a mini computer lab with Macs!
This is the front of the room, when you enter the door to the left. Computer is under the sheet, storage behind the chalkboards much like my other room.
Corner of the room where the dark room is. There are two sinks and plenty of counter space. There is a grey metal cabinet that held lots of glazes and old paint that I cleaned out today for removal. The other open cabinet has lots of basking weaving and yarn in it. That will also be cleaned out, materials consolidated and that cabinet removed as well (I just got rid of the boxes upon boxes of yarn I had in my elementary room...there are THREE (yes 3!) cabinets full of yarn. Some of it will have to go!
View from the corner where the sinks are to the opposite corner of the room. The dark blue, low bookshelf will be gone, as well as the other two dividers in the corner and two of the three file cabinets that are behind the dividers. Also, the tall cabinets and three short cabinets behind those dividers are FULL of construction paper! Those will definitively be consolidated and donated to the supply room...There is more construction paper in this room than I have and use in the elementary room! Construction paper is also another one of those items that teachers want to borrow from the art room, so I'm hoping if I give a lot of it up that I know I won't use, they'll leave me alone...(I know, wishful thinking right?).
And finally, the back of the room. This is a small area that is adjacent to where the dark room is. The kiln is back there, as well as more counter space, another sink (to the right) and more storage. I have so far removed the curtains and consolidated the materials on those shelves. All the paint and glazes I am keeping have been moved onto those empty shelves I created when I moved things around.
The extra counter space...kiln is to the right, outside the picture. Sink and curtained shelves are behind me in this picture.
Stay tuned for more pictures as I share how I'm organizing this room to fit my needs and personality!
It's a nice room! It's got a LOT of potential. have fun with it :)
ReplyDeleteWooohooo! Looks like you're gonna be busy!
ReplyDeleteA real darkroom! I am jealous. Loved teaching darkroom photo!
ReplyDelete