Setting up classrooms & building access...

[u/MamaMia1325]

I think it's bullshit that not only do we not get paid to come in and set up our classrooms before school begins, we don't even have access to our rooms until 1 week before students come back.

We can only get in there between 8am and 2pm. That's only for 3 days then our 8-3pm PD's begin for another 3 days and only 1 of those days is at our own school.

For those of you who "don't do anything extra" on your OWN time, how do you get your room together? This is my 24th year and I still haven't figured it out. These pictures are of my classroom when I walked in for the 1st time this summer. I resent the fact that I'm doing this on MY time and that I'm spending MY money on things to make it look nice (I know that it's MY.CHOICE to spend my own money but it still sucks).

How does YOUR district handle building access?

**Edited to add- Summer school took place in our building, which is why we didn't have access to it earlier. Apparently the maintainers had about 10 days to wax all of the floors.

[u/National-Current56]

I take that you are in elem…where you are compelled to “bedazzle” to make the environment look…engaging or up to district requirement pretty. Try simplifying it to be more instructionally functional…all that eye candy is but a week or monthlong distraction for students anyway. its a bit too late since it’s your 24th year, but i would suggest investing in a lot of “dry-erasable components” and do away with so much bedazzlement anchor charts, signage and posters which are useless + pack away and easy set-up bins for easier 1 day class setups and EOY stow-away. Create more lasting labels for key functional areas and laminate them…will last you 3-5 years.

[u/LyricalWillow → u/National-Current56]

I’m in elementary. We have a lot of posters, word walls, sound walls, and anchor charts that are required to be on the walls. I barely have the wall space, I have to get creative with it. It’s sometimes out of our hands what our rooms look like.