My room/my stuff

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My room/my stuff
By Cathy-Dee

When it comes down to it, whether a room is too messy or not is up to the administration of the school. I know my administrator would be the first to talk to us if he felt our rooms were too disorganized. And if the adminstrator
doesn't care there isn't much you'll be able to do.
To Latham: Before you comment on primary grades you should do some research into those grades. Centers, hands-on activities, etc., are how these little ones learn. They are not simply playing and teachers have not collected these items or set up centers simply for kids to play with when they are not able to be in the classroom

teaching.

Yes older grade teachers may not be as possessive of their room, but they are of their materials. I would love to see a substitute teacher walk into a science teacher's lab and decide to throw away "things" they thought were messy and not worthwhile. It's not the substitute teacher's classroom and you don't know what is important or not important for that classroom or teacher.

And for your information, I'm a primary teacher and I do keep my room very organized and tidy. I also have quite a few items in my room and many which I have purchased or made or collected over time. And I actually own quite a bit of nice things in my home, grew up in a nice upper-middle class family and really didn't want for anything. And I am very possessive of my classroom and belongings. I work hard for my paycheck - I buy lots of things for my classroom -and I would not appreciate anyone coming in and deciding they have the right to make changes to my room without consulting with me first.

I think many of the teachers started out giving some good advice on the original posting before they were shot down for their ideas on ownership and classroom organization. Basically it does come down to a few factors. If you make changes to another teacher's classroom you may end up upsetting the teacher and that will most likely mean you won't be hired as a substitute teacher in that school again. So as a substitute teacher you have to decide which is more important to you. Should substitute teachers be expected to work in classroom settings or situations that are unpleasant, No!, but that is not always the case. Then you have to decide what your limits are and if necessary refuse to take certain assignments.