First of all, I know that many of you reading this post will wish you had my two classroom problem. It’s not a huge issue – it’s more about the best use of space. Here’s some background on the problem.
Last year, my school split in two. We went from having over 2,700 students to less than 1,100 students. It was a huge change. We also had a brand new school building built to hold around 1,800 students. That left us with many empty classrooms. (I know what you’re thinking – what a fantastic problem to have.) Well, my principal made the decision to give all science teachers two classrooms. Our two rooms have an adjoining door. One is a middle school science lab (which means it has sinks and lab tables), and the other is a regular classroom (no sinks, and individual desks and chairs).
Here is my problem. I am not happy with the way I used the space last year. We spent to little time in the lab and way too much time in the classroom. I want to spend more time in the lab this year. In fact, I want the lab to be our primary place for class. There are a couple of reasons for this. Practically, I need to use this space more because when I no longer have two classrooms, this is the one I will keep. With regards to instruction, it seems better practice to have my students in the lab more. It puts them into the culture of being a scientist. Many times last year we completed some activities in the regular classroom and not the lab. They were not traditionally labs and so did not need to be conducted in that environment. Students had a more difficult time realizing they were still doing science. Later in the year, we spent more time in the lab, and student engagement seemed to increase just because of where we were.
So my problem for this year is – how do I best use this secondary classroom space? I’m thinking of using the lab almost daily and breaking out in the regular classroom on the following occasions:
- during assessments (individual desks make for easier monitoring)
- break out groups (sometimes we just need to spread out into two rooms when doing some projects – sometimes even into the hallways)
- a student escape (we all get overwhelmed by people be around us too much – it’s nice to have a close spot to get away)
- a lounge area (a place for students to work on their e-portfolios, read a book, or work quietly on their own)
I think this will make the use of the space I have work better. I’m not sure though – it’s all a bit of trial and error. So, if you had two classroom spaces, how would you use them?
