Extreme Makeover:
The Classroom Edition

Those of us who have taken the plunge into coaching know that it is a difficult job. Armed even with our power points, videos, and handouts, there is some uneasiness that comes in anticipating whether our best, latest, research-supported ideas will be well received. So imagine our trepidation, walking unarmed into a classroom in mid-August, a classroom not our own, to be confronted with two massive kidney tables, an assortment of other tables piled one on top of another, a massive free-standing chalkboard, and the teacher of that classroom expecting us to help her “makeover” her classroom. We won’t lie. We wanted to run at first. But not because this space was in any way offensive; because we knew there were two additional rooms, in what condition we weren’t even sure yet, that also needed our design “expertise.” We are so glad we stuck it out. Through the process of designing classroom spaces, we found that we designed some pretty powerful new collegial relationships as well.

Our day had started out comfortably enough in the comfort of Kim’s classroom at Frederick Harris School, the “model” for teachers participating in our workshop Extreme Makeover: The Classroom Edition. With the help of our colleagues from Freedman School, Gerri Morgan and Jean Duperre, we began with a discussion centered on articles and videos from the Cornerstone website and an article from the Responsive Classroom newsletter*. Naturally, being teachers, we couldn’t just focus on the classroom without wondering about the eager faces that would look through our doorways in a few short weeks and wonder themselves, “What is going to happen in this place?” We also couldn’t help but be astonished by one article that we read in which the teacher actually – brace yourselves – got rid of her desk. But what really floored us was that some participants were considering making this life-altering decision that we ourselves were not, and are still not, ready to make. Eventually, with plans mapped out, we went off in teams to put our visions into action. The two of us headed to Walsh School and Gerri and Jean to Balliet School, our respective Cornerstone “sister schools.”

So, there we were, wanting to run out of Coleen Sullivan’s Kindergarten. We just stood there for a minute or two as Coleen and her colleagues from second grade started to push their way through the furniture jungle and point out things that needed to go. We moved a few odds and ends out, but it wasn’t until we hauled out the monstrosity of a chalkboard that we saw the light. Literally. It was suddenly brighter and we began to see the possibilities of the space. How had we failed to notice the adorable faux-fireplace? Roll out the carpet and you’ve got the reading nook surrounded by low shelves of books, miniature couches just waiting to be cuddled up on, and a soft table lamp to guide a child through their first reading of Goodnight Moon.

Take a step down from this raised library paradise and join the daily crafting session on the bright rug with the easel just waiting for its morning message. Finally, it was coming together. We needed to work together to lift the furniture, take a step back and survey, and then move it back, and sometimes move it again. We needed to utter those words, “Do you REALLY need this?” And we started to realize that whether the answer was a yes or no, it was okay. We were in this together. We were laughing about our collections of plastic and our habitual hording for fear that we just might need that again, you never knew.

Soon the extra kidney table went out the door and the guided reading area came together. Next came the housekeeping center, art center, writing center, and cubbies. But those trapezoid tables for composing seemed to be daring us to find a place for them in the perfect periphery we had created. We don’t remember how many configurations we tried, but once we had the right one, we just knew it. Finally! The room was done -- at least in the sense of the furniture placement.

We knew there would still be name tags to place and paper to organize, but it was done for now. Just one small problem. This was only the first of three rooms to make over. Off we ran to the second grade hallway to assess the situation in the other two rooms. With not much time left of our first day’s work, we quickly mapped some plans and promised to make those two rooms the priority the next morning. As we said our good-byes, we were pleasantly surprised to be invited to join our new friends for breakfast in the morning! In the span of just a few hours, we had gone from feeling nervous to feeling appreciated and trusted.

We pulled up to Friendly’s simultaneously the next morning, tired but excited. We were greeted with hugs, and it felt like we were all old friends. It’s amazing what sweating together in a classroom full of “stuff” will do for relationships. It was your usual teacher conversation, switching from our own families to our school families seamlessly and often confusing the two. Once our bellies were full enough to sustain us through the work ahead and we had told our share of stories, we were off again, but this time for a quick visit to our colleagues at Balliet School.

After checking in with our co-coordinators from Freedman School, who were both busy in kindergarten and first grade, we went upstairs to see how our third and fourth grade colleagues were faring. Music was blaring from Kim Swarts’ third grade classroom and she was bouncing around, moving furniture along with her, into what was becoming a well-designed space. Not wanting to interfere with her momentum, we made our way a few doors down to Lisa Cataldo’s fourth grade classroom. Lisa was looking pensively around the room. She seemed to be mentally weighing different options, so we engaged her in a conversation of “what ifs” and started moving furniture around the room. Soon Jean joined us and the four of us worked around the strategically placed desk and guided reading table. It soon dawned on us that the desk and guided reading table could be placed in close proximity to ensure that they served their original “dual identities” as both functional furniture and space partitions to lead students from the walk-in coat closet to the main area of the room.

Once those two pieces of furniture were moved, there were new possibilities for student desk configurations and traffic flow. A quick celebration of appreciative hugs was in order and we eagerly pulled teachers in from the hall to see this great space we created together. Time was ticking, so we quickly said our good-byes and good lucks for the new school year and jumped in the car to get back to Walsh School.

We began our work in Lynn Beglane’s room, and things took shape rather quickly. She had a plan in mind and mostly wanted input as to the best place for the table she uses for guided reading. Once that was in place, the room was visually appealing and space was allocated for crafting, composing, and reflecting. She had also carved out some room for two reading areas – one a classroom library and the other a science and social studies discovery center. Her desk, however, jutted out into the entry way and just didn’t “feel right.” “What do you think?” Lynn asked. “Should I get rid of my desk?” We looked at each other, wide-eyed and questioning. We certainly didn’t want to make a decision for her that we knew we weren’t able to come to for ourselves. “Ummm… Do you really feel comfortable doing that? You should think about it,” we suggested. She seemed a bit unsure but was definitely considering it, to our astonishment. Not knowing what else to say and wanting to leave Lynn with some time to think, we made our way across the hall to Rosann Wynn’s room.

Upon entering, “desk city” was the first thing that caught our eyes. Imagine 30 student desks all pushed together into one great cluster. As we walked around to better survey the room, we quickly noticed four file cabinets, an oversized teacher desk, six trapezoid tables, and a variety of portable shelving units. Rosann told us of her plans to “downsize” to a smaller teacher desk to save some space and to use the trapezoid tables in an area designated for small group instruction with another staff member. While we shifted furniture around and Rosann sketched some ideas, she nonchalantly announced to us that she was in fact getting rid of the desk altogether because she wanted that space for a guided reading area. Okay now. We acknowledge the importance of guided reading, but to get rid of your desk?!? We were floored. But now without the desk, the space really was more open and inviting to children, which is, after all, what classroom design is all about. And everything was coming together: a whole class crafting area, classroom library, space for invitational groups, and “desk city” was even becoming small neighborhoods where children could compose and work together.

As we returned to Lynn’s room, we quickly noticed a teacher desk in the hallway. Is that….? It couldn’t be. But as we walked in the room, it was apparent that it was in fact Lynn’s desk we had just passed in the hallway. Lynn seemed to have no regrets and was making final adjustments to furniture. Clearly, our work here was done. Our open-minded colleagues made it all the easier and more enjoyable. Saying good bye was hard because we could just imagine all the new relationships that would be built in these spaces and we were sad that we wouldn’t be there for it all. But we knew that, in the hands and classrooms of these teachers, all the children would be well.

We also knew that this wouldn’t be the end of our journey. And in a way it felt like a new beginning. We had found our way through our first year as sister schools and learned from each other through lesson study and classroom observations. But it was really in the span of two days that we solidified relationships and discovered some “next steps” for our work together.

So what about us? Neither one of is ready to get rid of our desk. We are ready, however, for a busy and exciting new year at Harris School. We take our lessons learned into our work at Harris. Teamwork not only gets the physical work done quickly, but it also opens our minds to new possibilities. And opening our classrooms to one another is so much easier now knowing that we’re all in this together and that a helping hand or mind isn’t so far away.

Laura Caron is a Collaborative Professional Development Teacher at Harris School. She has just completed her Master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and is licensed as an Elementary teacher as well as a Reading Specialist and an ELL teacher.

Kim Still Gilbert is a first grade teacher and coach at Harris School. She has also recently completed her Master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and is licensed as an Elementary teacher, Reading Specialist, and ELL teacher.

Articles and videos used in workshop “Extreme MakeOver: The Classroom Edition”:
• Responsive Classroom Newsletter: Spring 2001 - Vol. 13 No. 2
• Cornerstone's Learning Environment Booklet
• Cornerstone's Creating An Effective Learning Environment