October 4, 2010

First Things First.


Our school’s physical layout was standard for the time: Front office building, separate two room Kindergarten unit, cafeteria, primary playground, upper grade playground, storage areas in each complex, a quad in the center, two teaching complexes; eight classrooms each, one for the primary grades one –three, the other grades four to six. Between each four classrooms was a work, storage area. The rooms were connected by doors to and from each other.

It was Tim, our wonderful custodian who was the champion in our first efforts to establish what we knew as an environment more suitable for our special primary children. They needed their own space, their own table. Not to be invaded by friend or foe. He emptied out the classroom of single tablet type desks. He scrounged every supply room, every used storage area. He even called his cohorts at other schools. He found us thirty-two two space tables. Teachers in all the grade levels donated their unused tables. He scrubbed the tables, polished the floors in the empty classroom. He placed the tables in long rows of six tables each, one chair for each table, with two tables fitted in the back for use as the needs demanded. Then he installed chalkboards that began three feet from the floor to six feet high along one entire wall.

He even found chalk and eraser holders that spanned their entire lengths. Where he got the materials he didn’t say, we didn’t ask. He was having a grand time. We were thrilled. Then in came four spanking new trash baskets, contrary to the one per classroom allowed.

Next he got together with the reading specialist, Dorothy, and removed most of the furniture, materials from the area that would be her remedial reading center. She placed her reading machines, sight, sound, flash cards in their appropriate places, designed her own personal area for direct teaching.

We asked the primary teaching staff for any and all of the outdated primary books they could find. Tim came with carts of discarded outdated books, from the storage areas throughout the school. We worked as a team sorting them by reading levels and placing them on the shelves that were on the windowed side of the room.

Our physical layout was complete. Any alternations would come as we needed.

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