The teacher’s desk is arguably the most important part of a teacher’s room. For some, everything has a place and if one thing is moved it will bother them until it is righted. And then there are those who thrive in… shall we say organized chaos. The way a teacher keeps their desk says a lot about their style of teaching. In my experience, there are three types of teachers in relation to their desks and most of the time their desk style matches their teaching style.
A Place for Everything…
…And everything in its place. These teachers have everything properly labeled and in its place. Their files are filed under specific categories and subcategories. These are the teachers with whom no student is going to get away with anything in their class. They have a set of rules and those rules will be followed. This doesn’t mean they aren’t fun and their students like them any less. It just means students will have an understanding of the boundaries.
How Can You Find Anything on this Desk?
This is the question often asked of those teachers whose desks look as though a tornado has just passed over it. While they don’t have a set filing system, more than likely, if asked to produce a document they can whip it right out. When it comes to teaching, these teachers are usually as wild and creative with their lesson plans as they are with their organization. They are usually a more laid back teacher, but students still know they can only push the teacher so far before the laid back personality vanishes and their worst nightmare appears.
The In-Betweeners
Somewhere in between obsessive compulsive organization and organized chaos is the teacher who has a place for everything, but if something is out of place they don’t get bent out of shape about it. These are the teachers who modify and adjust the best when a lesson plan doesn’t quite go as planned. They have back-up plans and fall backs to help them out when they are in trouble. Their best friends are filing cabinets filled with lots of labeled file folders, even if the papers don’t always end up in them. There are trays on their desk to separate the paperwork while it waits to be filed. They also have some held together with clips to keep everything together and in place.
We would love to hear from you – what does your desk say about your teaching style?
