I was in my classroom on my prep yesterday when my next door neighbor walked in. I’m still getting my bearings at my new school, but I’ve caught on enough to know she walks the walk and talks the talk.
“I love your classroom. It looks great!”
“Wow, thanks. That means a lot coming from you,” I replied. I’ve been working hard to get my class in shape and this woman’s classroom is a colorful picture of perfection, fit for the pages of the Lakeshore catalog.
“Can I just make a suggestion?”
“Of course.”
“Do you want this here?” she asked, pointing to a bookshelf bordering my rug. We moved it back to back with another bookshelf.
“Do you like where you have this?” She pointed to my conferencing table. Minutes later the classroom had a new, open look to it.
And I couldn’t help but, shake my head and laugh. We’re always taught to lead off our feedback to students and parents with a positive. My neighbor had buttered me up perfectly and before I knew it, remodeled my classroom in her image. Oh, she’s good, she’s very good.
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