Creative Use of Space

During summer, it's a great time to take stock of what you really need and don't need. Without being guilty, if you haven't used that resource book or statue of Zeus in a long time, get rid of it. Clutter is the deathknell of an organized room.

After clearing as much as you can, observe the layout of your classroom. Are your shelves keeping what you use? Are your closets packed with items you actually need? Is there a missing opportunity?

Double or Triple Use?
At our classroom, we store our students books within our classroom. They are stored there, during summer. I realized once the student books are removed, I have five shelves that I could utilize with teacher materials. These materials, in turn, I keep in plastic boxes within an empty closet. When the students return, the closets are full of backpacks, the plastic box is a storage for their playyard equipment which arrives from where it's stored at the athletic department, the shelves are emptied and then filled with my teacher 'stuff'. It's a circular path of storage!

Hang 'em High
I don't have much wall space. But students love (and I think need) to see their artwork. With the help of the plant manager, we created a 'cross hatch' of strong fishing wire, like multiple tic toe games. Until it's in use, the fishing wire is unnoticeable. Using clothes pins, I can hang student artwork or creations. The cross hatch allows more possibilities than straight simple lines. Using yarn, I can create vertical lines when needed to hang smaller artwork and this also lets me more arrange more student work than if I simply clipped them directly onto the lines.

Win with Cork Panels
Again, the wall problem. On the plus side, I have many closets. On the downside, these closets are not ideal for pinning or taping anything on them, as this destroys the varnish of the wood. Well, after a year of feeling guilty about pinning the wood, I dove in and "resurfaced" the doors of two closets by pasting cork panels. This gave me a lot more space for pinning than a simple corkboard. I paneled the doors from to to bottom. Before you think it's a 70s flashback (and it is) in my classroom it actually had a nice appeal. If I were to completely cork panel the remaining closets (and that is a goal of mine) I wonder if it will diminish some of the sound vibrations. Well, we'll see.

Now learn from my mistakes. First, sanding down the doors would have been better. It would have created a better surface for adhesion then the varnished wood. If I were clever, I would have sanded down only the areas being covered by the panels, leaving a nice varnished ring of wood around them. Second, use Liquid Nails brand 'glue' , specially marked for use with cork. Do not use those silly sticky back squares that the cork panel companies provide. In a classroom, cork panels will get heavy use and in a matter of weeks of pinning and unpinning, the sticky back squares will loosen and drop the cork, leaving an embaressingly pockmarked door. Thirdly, don't be afraid of using the Liquid Nails glue. Experiment with different amounts and find what works right. You may find as I did that I had to hold a panel in place for about thirty seconds to keep it from sliding down. Once I did that, it "stuck" and til today, is near impossible to remove.

Be Kind in Design
Oh, please note: you can cut the cork panels with sharp scissors. If you want to cover your surface completely, I suggest you measure your area carefully, and then lay out your cork panels on a large flat surface. Mark where you have to cut, then cut. My assumption here is you will want to see evenly paced cork panels, not large pieces then skinny pieces filling in "short" areas. Or you can do it the lazy way (which isn't bad) and start from the top, knowing that the bottom may be cut off short. Not too many people notice the bottom of an area, especially a door. In addition, any 'design' approach you use with the cork, do it consisently. If you've got a short bottom on one door, the door next to it should have the same short bottom. Haphazard patterns of any material is an eyesore. I've used tempera paint on the cork panels in small designs, like stamping, and it brightened up an otherwise plain cork area. I think an oil based paint would have been better, because the tempera paint gives off very tiny flakes after awhile.

Cloth is Boss
Some classrooms have built in bulletin boards. A nice touch is to cover your bulletin boards with cloth. Some teachers use paper because its cheaper or more available. This is an okay option, but with cloth your background lasts longer, looks attractive when papers are taken down (the pin holes disappear) and really isn't that much more expensive. If you are truly stuck for money (and what teacher isn't) shop at a local thrift shop for an old sheet or curtain with an interesting pattern. (You may wish to cover your cork panels with cloth, but these panels are thinner than a real cork board, and may not hold up the weight of the cloth. You decide. I haven't done it and can't comment but those are my thoughts on it.)

Use a staple gun to affix the cloth. And don't imagine you are Wild Bill Cody. Two or three staples along each side should suffice.

Other Things
I had too many coathooks in my closets. About sixty. I removed twenty and that left forty for my students on which to hang their backbacks without stabbing themselves on the arms. I also eyeballed the hook space, being careful not to plan a backpack to hang where the closet door should close.

A strong magnetic hook on the side of my filing cabinet holds my car keys. A second holds extra closet keys. (I never hang my school keys, for security reasons).

A magnetic curtain rod is hanging from my classroom door. Beneath it is a general poster of learning. I can hang seasonal "flags" from it, without using tape (which peels off my door paint) to change the "look" of the entry way.

Other Things I've Seen
I can't use these "chair backpacks" but I've seen them, in various teacher supply books. It's essentially a hanging wall of pockets for the backs of the student chairs, some pockets being large enough to hold extra books. These are better for self-contained classrooms, in my opinion. They are expensive, about $15.00 per chair (multiply that by 30!), but I've had the thought that a willing parent or other person with good sewing skills could possibly make the same thing out of canvas.

Coat hooks on the inside of some locking closets could work for my personal items.

Other Plans I have
I'd like to hang window boxes from my classroom windows so I can show off a student created garden. Since my walls are brick, I'm going to install a heavy duty adhesive style hooks to hold my classroom's set of broom and dustpan. I know I can use a cement drill bit, but you know, the adhesive hooks sound easier. I'd like to see a locking area above my closet so I can have additional secure space. I'd like a lateral two drawer filing cabinet so I could use the top of it as additional table space for books or files or decoration. These are very expensive so I keep an eye out for a used one. I hope one turns up!

There may be other creative ways to use your classroom space. You have to look and imagine all the possibilities.