It was the summer after I graduated college. I applied for a job teaching Spanish I to freshmen in a little city south of Fort Worth, Texas. Excited and very naive, I asked to see my classroom after signing my contract...I remember how anxious I was to see the room in which I would change the world. The lock clicks, the door creaks and...I see it. It was a tiny, concrete room with no windows with a chalkboard and 35 desks crammed into it. On the walls was a navy blue paint with lines of white down the walls where the desks had scraped the paint off. There were no bulletin boards and the lighting was depressing. After choking down my diet coke, I thought....well....um...I could...let's see...huh...you get the picture. This started my adventures with painting my classrooms. I want an atmosphere that would invite students and get their minds thinking. I wanted a color that would calm them without putting them to sleep. Basically, I wanted a place they would enjoy coming to. I know that the idea of wanting to come to a class deals largely with how I teach and the memories made in the room...but honestly, I have to practically live in this room so I want it to be fun and exciting for me too! I've painting city skylines, the painting of Don Quijote by Pablo Picasso, a mural of Frida Kahlo, maps of the U.S. and of the world, quotes, and other fun paintings. How do I do it? Do I have an art degree? You can clearly see from the pictures that the answer to that is absolutely not!!! I use a projector, a pencil, and some paint from Walmart. You could use an old-time overhead projector with transparencies of what you want to do, or a new age projector hooked up to a computer. It's that simple!! I had students come help me this time and they had the idea of doing part of the song America the Beautiful. So...we painted spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountains and a fruited plain. Yes, I did google a fruited plain - don't judge. I love that my students contributed to this project and made it their own. So to recap: 1. Having a fun environment for learning...check. 2. Having thought provoking quotes on the wall...check. 3. Doing it all for about twenty-five dollars...check. 4. Having students participate and feel pride over what they accomplished...one of my reasons for being! Be sure to look back next week for our new classroom cafe video and post a comment while you are here on how you are working on this challenge!
By Kathleen
By Kathleen