My New Digs at Cambell High School: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I finally got a look at my new classroom, D210, at my new school, Campbell High School, in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. In some ways, it is an improvement over my classroom at Kahuku High & Intermediate, in others, I've moved backwards. Here's the break down:

The Good

• I am in an actual building, not a portable.
• There is a water fountain about 20 yards from the door of my classroom. Ah! What joy to quickly fill my water bottle between classes.
• There is a bathroom on the same floor as my classroom. Good for me AND the students.
  
• I am not too far from the administrative building.
• My department chair is on the same floor and in the same building as me.
  
• I am not too far a walk from the public/school library. (Yes, a lot of schools in Hawaii share their libraries with the public. Kinda weird, in my opinion and occasionally causes difficulties in ensuring students can use the library appropriately, but that's a long story for another day.)
• The photocopier is one flight down and the walkways to it are all covered! In other words, I don't have to worry about carrying books and papers to and from the copier in the rain. Good stuff.
  
• I have a TV.
• I have a working computer, printer, and telephone. Hallelujah for small favors!
  
• I have an overhead projector, although it appears to be circa 1980.
• I have whiteboards. (Many of the classrooms in this school still have chalkboards!)
• I have 6-foot folding tables and chairs instead of the desk-chair combo thingies. These add a lot of flexibility in arranging classroom space so I prefer them. And bonus - they mostly match.
• The floors are freshly polished and very clean.
• I have enough chairs for 40 students. (Wait...maybe that should go under "The Bad." Let's hope I don't actually NEED that many!)

The Bad

• No LCD projector. I know this is a pretty fancy item, but I used mine EVERY day last year. They make such a difference for visual learners and are great for lecturing with Power Point. Look for a fundraising campaign to help me get one in the very near future. I can't imagine teaching without one.
  
• No maps. Hello? I'm a social studies teacher! Teaching Modern Hawaiian History without a map of the Pacific or the Hawaiian Islands, much less a world or US map? I suppose I will have to improvise on that one.
• While I have a TV, there is no DVD or VCR. Ermmm...gotta work on that one. Are we just supposed to watch soaps during class?
• No real windows. I have jalousies that come down from the ceiling about 2 feet and will help circulate a little air, but it was pretty hot even at 10:30 this morning when I stopped in. But hey - we'll survive.
• While I have a printer, it looks really flimsy and beat up. I will keep my fingers crossed that it survives the school year!
• Not all my textbooks have appeared yet...but it's still early. Fingers crossed that they will somehow appear before school starts on August 4th.
• I have no paper. That one should be easily rectified before the school year starts, too.
• No CD player. Meh, not too big a deal. I can rig some speakers to the computer and use it's drive when I need to use music or other audio materials.

The Ugly

• The walls. The walls of the room are scary and gross. They are hopelessly covered in gummy-glue type stuff, tape, and remnants of past teachers' attempts to decorate. The paint is peeling and it looks like the room hasn't been painted in a decade or two. I may host a painting party early on in the school year. I can't stand working in a place that looks like a garbage truck wrecked it and I think its insulting to students. They should have a clean, respectable environment for learning.
• The teacher who used the classroom before hasn't removed all of his stuff, including two giant file cabinets. This is a major pet peeve of mine as I have left my previous two classrooms in very good condition. I removed all of my files and belongings and made sure that all books that wouldn't be used by the incoming teacher were moved to their correct new homes. On the upside, he left a giant un-opened box of granola bars in the teacher desk. If he doesn't come to claim his things, I will pitch most of it and keep the granola bars.
• Last but not least, scary amounts of gum on the bottom of the tables. Par for the course, I suppose.
  

In sum, its not too bad. If I can get my hands on an LCD projector and a DVD/VCR, I can work on the rest and I'll be a happy teacher-camper. The room doesn't have much of a soul right now, but I will remedy that. It's gonna take a lot of work to fix it up, but it'll get done. Look for "after" pictures in the not so distant future!

View from just outside my classroom door.
When all else fails, it'll remind me I'm in Hawaii.