The keys to the car

I can't help but compare today's experience to one I experienced the day I passed my driving test at the DMV. It's that one test that offers very tangible rewards upon receiving a passing score. I felt like screaming with elation on the drive home. It was my first ride as a legal driver, one I could have managed solo if I were inclined to do so (if I really, really needed to!). Today I finally received the keys to my first classroom. I have been teaching in some fashion for nearly seven years--the elementary and junior high schools in Japan, the ESL adult classes for HBAS, and, of course, the many subbing jobs around Southern California. Always a temporary location, though, the teaching felt all-too-permanent. Now I have been granted the freedom to create my own learning environment as I see fit. I've always believed that where one learns has as much an effect on the process as how one learns. If I cannot control the world outside and all of the distractions that come with it (but should a teacher really strive to do so?), then this corner of the world can be reserved for creation, expression, work, work, work.

With the keys comes obligation to manage the space, not necessarily for my own comfort as it is so often used, but to create an engaging environment for learners. More than stimuli--this can often be random firings which evoke random results. What covers the walls needs to be relevant to what we are learning in class, and, by chance that it all may bleed into the backdrop of white noise, needs to be renewed regularly. A scenery change for each unit? Is this a lofty goal? Will I be overwhelmed with the curriculum itself, the phone calls home, the IEP meetings, the assignments to grade? Perhaps.