My Haunt

I figured it might be nice to show you where I spend my days. 

Welcome to my classroom.

(I wish you could see the whole thing at once, as it doesn't look as nice chopped up into so many different photographs...). 

The fancy-schmancy room label made by one of the boys who is now over at the middle school. Golly, I miss him. I couldn't get rid of this. I'll probably have it as long as I teach:

   

Exhibit A: 

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Exhibit D:

Exhibit E:

A note on Exhibit E. The Wall of Fame is something I've had up since my first year, but I'm especially pleased with some of the things on it right now. Take a gander at a few of them close-up.

She's reading!!! Really, this is pretty exciting.

His name was even announced over the loudspeaker. A couple of students from each grade are chosen each week. It says why he was awarded it on the back. The reason? Being a true friend to one of the students from the self-contained Life Skills classroom when they pushed into regular math class. The particular student J. was kind to has a pretty debilitating disability that significantly affects his physical appearance. My favorite part was that J. connected it to a novel he read in class with me last year; one of the characters in the book had a stigmatizing disability but was portrayed in a rich way, a complex way, a really good way. We had many discussions revolving around that character, and he connected getting this award to what he learned from reading that book. Books do things to people, I'm telling you.

I love this boy to his bones. His very bones. For the first time in the year and almost-a-half I've known him, he did homework. You have no idea what this means. It was so much bigger than the homework. I grin every time I see it.

So there you have it. A bare-bones glimpse into the daily life of Debbie. I wish you could meet all of my children. They're so much nicer than the room I teach them in.