Theme Work Makes the Dream Work

 

 Pinterest is inundated with amazing classroom themes.  This time of year, many blogs, especially those of Elementary teachers are all abuzz with pictures of their amazing classrooms and themes.  People are so clever.  I love to see their talent on display.  I started out in Elementary and have had the privilege of teaching throughout all ages of the school system with some stints as an administrator in between.    When people hear me talk about my classroom theme, they are always surprised to hear that I am a high school Math teacher.  Always.  

Can you guess what my theme this year might be?  All aboard to find out the what and the why.  I'm sure you'll want my justification and explanation for my investment in my class environment.

That's right.  (Insert your own train whistle here). Our theme this year is railroad travel.  We are traveling across the North American continent via train.    As you can see, my bitmoji is train related.  My walls have train posters, train signs, and once covid is over, train ephemera.  I had to hold things down because of the disinfecting procedures and social distancing.

The reason I invest time and money in a new theme every year is pretty basic and simple -- it forces me to be accountable and pushes the students to learn to speak my vernacular.  It becomes a teaching tool as well.

Think it's dumb?  Think I'm extra? Think the kids don't consider me cool?  Well, think again.  This year, I have already spoken to them about what trains do when the load is heavy.  They add an additional engine.  What do students do when the math load is extra heavy?  They add an additional engine in the form of office hours, or study groups, or tutoring, or practicing extra.   All of the learning aims are considered souvenirs.  Things you value and want to remember.   Students must list the souvenirs each day when they arrive.  At the end of class, they are to evaluate if they have ownership of the souvenir.  If they don't won the souvenir, they must do what it takes to have possession.  My classroom theme creates an environment where ownership of the material and metacognition and growth mindset are built in to the framework of the class, literally and figuratively.   If I didn't call the learning aims souvenirs, I wouldn't feel obligated to put them up every day.  (You know, you get to school late, you are busy, and even though it is best practice, you leave it undone.)  It keeps me accountable and keeps me in the mix for the entire year rather than until the time I get interrupted, get sick of it, forget the rules we established.   

If you have a huge poster hanging on your walls that's tied in with your management system,  it is very difficult to neglect offering rewards.  It is difficult to abandon my discipline plan since it is advertised on my walls.  It's like moving the alarm clock across the room.  You did set the alarm, but circumstances cause you to hit snooze.  However, if the alarm is across the room, it is much more difficult to ignore.   You are forcing yourself to do what you set out to do rather than putting it off.  Classroom management craves consistency.  That said, we know many people who are perpetually changing their management system.  I had a team member who shared a set of students with me.  She changed her incentives and consequences every Monday.  I am not exaggerating.  She would text me on Sunday afternoon with her new strategy--idea--experiment, and be all excited.  Surprise!  It never worked for a full week.  The kids knew it would change in a week.  Conversely, I had the same system all year (that year it was a basketball theme decorating my walls).  Kids would break their backs to do what was right in hope of getting my "trophies" and the privilege that went with them.  They were well behaved for me.  She would lament that the kids liked me better, obeyed me better, responded to me better than they did for her.  It was a fact.  She never got a hold on the concept that consistency is the winning formula.  Decorations help me to remain consistent all year.  This is true in Elementary, Middle School and High School.

Decorations help me talk to students about lots of topics.  Today, I was talking about ways to represent the number 7 for the Computer Science class I'm teaching.  One student said, "Hey, we could use Morse Code."  Yay.  Morse Code poster on the wall was a benefit.  We will also use it when considering binary numbers tomorrow.  That was an unintended win, but still a win.  When we are talking about reflection sheets for failed tests, we use the language of "returning the the station to reschedule the trip".   When we are talking about staying on the right track, we will be talking about starting with the end in mind.  If I need to speak with someone about their homework, we talk about luggage.  (You pack it for the trip, and you unpack it when you get home.  You launder the clothes before the next leg of the journey.  Same thing for homework.  Pack the bag, which is bring it home; launder it, which is do it; and repack it for the next leg of the journey, which is bring it back to school.

Pretending you are on a railroad journey makes students feel as though they are members of an exclusive group.  And, they are.  No one else can enjoy what we are doing in Geometry.   Only those that are part of the railroad.  Students respond well to this sense of community.  Think of it this way.  When you are serving a special meal, you set out the best tablecloth and tableware.  It is part of the eating experience and the enjoyment attached to it.  I just do that with my classroom.  I'm setting the table for the success of my class, and for my success as a teacher.

With the online teaching situation, I was reluctant to set up my room in the traditional manner.  As I thought about it, why would I do less for this group of kids.  Even if we only have school for a month, I will have that community feeling already established.  My Google classroom carries on the theme by using a banner I customized with me in a railroad station.  I will keep changing that as time goes by, but it will still be something that keeps me on the right track.  (See?  It naturally creeps into your conversation.)  :)

After all, theme work makes the dreamwork.