Welcome to Room 4!

This year, I have been teaching 8th grade English in Room 4, a big, warm classroom on the first floor of UPCS that is full of natural lighting and bright ideas. Every day, the students wait outside the classroom to be greeted before entering into the space, and once they come in, we begin our lessons with a Mindful Minute, in order to help relax and transition into the lessons of the day. This classroom is colorful and loud, full of energy and movement. We act and dance, perform and present nearly as much as we read and write.

Because UPCS is such a small building, teachers often have to share classrooms, meaning that I sometimes teach in other rooms, or other classes might be held in Room 4 while I have a prep period. Especially this year when the science lab was being remodeled, it felt a bit crowded and always as if we were short on space. Despite this, the classrooms themselves are spacious, and each is equipped with a projector and ELMO that all teachers are invited to use. Thus, it is easy to use the space to its full potential, planning multimedia lessons or lessons with a lot of movement. I often arrange my desks in pairs or groups, spreading them out around the room to allow for space to move around. Though the school building is small and we play a lot of “musical rooms” to make sure each class can be accommodated, the classrooms themselves are wonderful spaces in which to make learning happen.