Series First Days of School: It's Always Awkward in the Beginning: Teaching Without a Classroom

Teaching Without a Classroom

Lesson Objective: Navigate life as a roaming teacher
All Grades / All Subjects / Environment
2 MIN

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

  1. How does Ms. Wessling create a strong classroom culture without a traditional classroom?
  2. What materials does Ms. Wessling include in her cart?
  3. How does Ms. Wessling utilize digital resources?

10 Comments

  • Private message to Michael Burnett
  1. How does Ms. Wessling create a strong classroom culture without a traditional classroom?
    She still engages students in her mannerisms and tone even though she is in a different space for each class. She also moves the class to a location that benefits the learning objective of the day rather than try to force it into a physical space that doesn't fit well.
  2. What materials does Ms. Wessling include in her cart?
    She has basic teaching supplies, folders with resources and handouts, drinks, technology, and areas for problems of practice.
  3. How does Ms. Wessling utilize digital resources?
    She has scanned all her files so they are accessible via computer in any location without having to bring bulk files with her daily.
Recommended (0)
  • Private message to Isabel Rangel Hernandez

This amazing method of organzation. I use couple of these strategies and incorporate them to my methods of organization. Not for the purpose of transporting my material, but for its minimalistic approach. 

Recommended (0)
  • Private message to Cade Patterson

Going into to the special education field there will be times that I may have to have a cart and bounce from classroom to classroom. Having a cart such as Ms. Wessling does will be a great tool for students as well as my students. It is also a great idea to scan all documents or files that I need to use to my computer instead of having to try and carry around everything on a cart or in my hands. This video provided me with some ideas to think about as I begin working in the future.

Recommended (2)
  • Private message to corina pedraza

I may start to sound repetitive but I really love this! This reminds me a lot of my high school. I went to a very small charter school with 93 students in my graduating 2014 class. We were far from traditional school and would find open spaces just like the teacher in this video! I think that even if I work somewhere (most schools) where I have my own classroom, I would want something mobile like the teacher had for us to be able to have class outside or in different areas of the school. I think it's helpful for teachers and students to get out of routine and do something different for new learning to occur! 

Recommended (0)
  • Private message to Melissa Gomez

This is an interesting method of teaching. As a teacher moving between classrooms sounds tedious and potentially, chaotic. There are pros to this as it requires the teacher to take on a minimalist approach and be flexible. In addition, the idea of flexible seating sounds great for collaboration and group discussions!

Recommended (2)

Transcripts

  • Teaching Without a Classroom Transcript

    Speaker 1:      Good morning.

    Speaker 2:      We are in a really unique situation.

    Speaker 1:      I

    Speaker 1:      Good morning.

    Speaker 2:      We are in a really unique situation.

    Speaker 1:      I can't find my key.

    Speaker 2:      We are opening up a brand new school.

    Speaker 1:      There it is. There we go.

    Speaker 2:      This year there is a lot more shifting. So all of the teachers have a shared workspace, there aren't any teacher desks in the classrooms themselves.

    Speaker 1:      Okay.

    Speaker 2:      Teachers are moving from one room to another.

    Speaker 1:      I'm losing stuff.

    Speaker 2:      In preparation for this, there's actually quite a few things that I've had to do.

    Speaker 1:      Back and forth.

    Speaker 2:      I found a card and tried to include some of the things that I loved about my classroom that I'd had for 19 years. I did a lot of purging and a lot of careful thinking about what was really important to a classroom.

    Speaker 1:      We're gonna take a look here.

    Speaker 2:      I took my entire file cabinet, and I scanned it. It's all electronic.

     I also tried to be really thoughtful about how to make sure we, as a group of learners, understand that we have agency over our own space.

    Speaker 1:      Today, I need us to be in a small, tight circle on the floor. So we're gonna go down to the end of the hallway. There's a nice space there.

    Speaker 2:      I don't want to be defined by a traditional classroom any more. I can't be defined by a traditional classroom any more.

    Speaker 1:      This is good right? This works. Yeah.

    Speaker 2:      We will be a class and we will be a community wherever we're at, and that the people are far more important than the walls that will define us.

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Class Culture/ Lesson Planning/ New Teachers/ Professional Learning

School Details

Johnston Senior High School
6500 Northwest 100th Street
Johnston IA 50131
Population: 1668

Data Provided By:

greatschools

Teachers

teachers
Sarah Brown Wessling
English Language Arts / 10 11 12 / Teacher