If you are suddenly transforming a home space into a classroom here are some ideas for you. There are all kinds of free resources available to support students from home. I did a blog at the beginning of the school year with links to free resources available to support student learning while decorating your room at the same time. Now that we are turning our homes into classrooms, I thought it might be a good time to repost. I have these circumlocution posters in my classroom but decided to print out a set for my home classroom.
At first I had them taped to my whiteboard but realized this is going to be a pain going from French to Spanish. So I came up with this.
I strung a piece of twine and used clothespins so I can switch them out easier. There are lots of question word posters available for free that you can print out at home, or make your own with markers.
I had an old white board in my office that I covered with white board paint. You can see the difference in the two photos above. You can buy white dry erase paint and put it on anything to create a white board. However, an old white binder works also. Even though there is a white board function in Zoom, sometimes it’s a nice change to go old school.
I revived and old cork board by covering it with fabric and hot glued some framed postcards from Paris onto it.
Don’t forget to add plants to your work space. They help clean the air. I just went out to my yard and cut some bamboo and clipping off other plants. I like baskets and boxes for stashing miscellaneous things.
Surround yourself with things that inspire you or bring you joy. You can print inspirational quotes off the internet and frame them, or have pictures of your favorite people near by.
I wanted to change my zoom backgrounds, but couldn’t find our green screen. So I looked around the house and found a Seahawk’s blanket that works great, sheets, paper it doesn’t really matter.
This is now my recording studio.
Tina Hargaden posted a really cool assignment called where I work today. Each student added a slide to a google slide show with a picture of where we are working these days and some sentences about our space. It was really interesting to see all the different places and ways people are working. I think I am going to try it with my students this week.
Where is your work space and does it bring you joy? Post your current work space photo here with a short description.