With the new construction in A Hall, we have been moved out to portables. For the students, it has been hard to get to our classes quickly and efficiently, allowing little time to take a breather. But what about the teachers? How do they feel? We had the chance to talk with some of our portable teachers, Ms. Riva being one of them. Riva says ¨Working in the trailers is an exercise in problem solving”. Some of her biggest issues are the limited space. The classrooms in the math trailers are much smaller than the teachers are used to, causing them to feel very crowded. She spoke about how group work strongly helps students to learn and comprehend the work, but due to the space, they have not been able to do it. Some positive things she talked about was feeling closer and more connected to her colleagues. Out in the trailers, Ms. Riva feels more at peace with nature and enjoys the fresh air. We were also able to get input from Mrs. Hudson. She believes that the windows are the biggest benefit of teaching in the portables. “It is lovely to have natural light and to be able to see nature, unlike the classrooms in the school.”
Along with Ms. Riva and Mrs. Hudson, we got to speak with Mrs. Belmouloud. Since she is new to this school, she has a very different perspective. She enjoys the portables and says, “They feel like home.” Though she likes the portables, she is excited to move into the school, have better internet, and have easier access to places like the library and nurses’ office. The only things she dislikes about the trailers are the lack of space, the spotty internet, the outdoor elements, and how bright the sun can be through the windows.
The last teacher we spoke with was Ms. Beck. She also likes portables because of the bigger room size and being able to spread kids out more. She has had some of the same issues the other teachers had, like the internet and students coming in wet on rainy days. One struggle she has is being far away from things in the school, like the office. She would make her coffee in the office in the morning, but now she’s very far away, making it harder. But she likes how there are fewer people in the halls. When students go to the bathroom, they often wander around to stay out of class, but there is less room to wander around in, so they often just come back to class after the restroom. The bathrooms are much closer to the classes in the trailer, so it’s easier to find them and not get lost. Ms. Riva, like the other teachers, loves the windows.
To conclude, teaching in the portables has been a new and challenging experience. Each teacher had a different perspective. Depending on the trailers they got put into. Some trailers are rather small, while others have plenty of space. Mainly, it was nice to get input from some of our portable teachers and to understand more about how they feel.
