Home Improvement
I'm in the middle of several projects to improve the comfort levels in my classroom, to make it a better learning space. Today I went in to school and worked on project #1, Setting Up Stuff in the New Arrangement. I started to organize things on my shelves (I had to clear them all off in order to move them around.) I put up one set (of three) of curtains and finished papering and bordering the outside of my door.
Then, I went to Southaven, a big town near Memphis, to equip myself for projects #2 and #3. Project #2 is the Pet Project. Most of my students are too poor to be able to afford pets like suburban kids often have (gerbils, fish, etc.). Some of them have dogs or cats, but most are pet-less. So this year, we will have a classroom pet, and it will be a rat. Don't cringe -- I did quite a bit of research, and I found out that, as classroom pets go, rats may very well be the best. They are more interesting than fish or hermit crabs, more cuddly than centipedes or hissing cockroaches, more intelligent than... well, than anything else that you might have in a classroom, cleaner than any other rodent, more disease free than a turtle (known to carry salmonella), and, unlike hamsters and gerbils, they don't bite. So I bought a rat and all the fixin's.
Project #3 took me to Lowe's, where a very friendly salesman helped me find supplies to make two benches for the room and to cut some plywood so that I can create a baffle around my hideously ugly air-conditioning unit. I am going to assemble it this week, prime and paint it, and then during the first week of school, have the students decorate it.
Then, I went to Southaven, a big town near Memphis, to equip myself for projects #2 and #3. Project #2 is the Pet Project. Most of my students are too poor to be able to afford pets like suburban kids often have (gerbils, fish, etc.). Some of them have dogs or cats, but most are pet-less. So this year, we will have a classroom pet, and it will be a rat. Don't cringe -- I did quite a bit of research, and I found out that, as classroom pets go, rats may very well be the best. They are more interesting than fish or hermit crabs, more cuddly than centipedes or hissing cockroaches, more intelligent than... well, than anything else that you might have in a classroom, cleaner than any other rodent, more disease free than a turtle (known to carry salmonella), and, unlike hamsters and gerbils, they don't bite. So I bought a rat and all the fixin's.
Project #3 took me to Lowe's, where a very friendly salesman helped me find supplies to make two benches for the room and to cut some plywood so that I can create a baffle around my hideously ugly air-conditioning unit. I am going to assemble it this week, prime and paint it, and then during the first week of school, have the students decorate it.
posted by Jessica at 12:23 AM
2 Comments:
what a great idea -- having the students help decorate the baffle! That helps them take pride and ownership. Awesome projects!
I think the rats are going to be sweet. Isn't driving to Southave awful, having to sit in all that suburban traffic. I guess we are spoiled living out here in the middle of the Delta.
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