Feng Shui Your
Classroom
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Think
about how much time you spend in your classroom each week—more than you care to
admit right? Let me show you how to create a room that inspires you as well as
your students. Let’s make this space a place that feels positive, fresh, and
inspiring. Your students should walk in that first day and feel relaxed in an
open work environment with a flow of positive energy. Let’s Feng Shui your
classroom.
Aside from the positive relationship
that you foster with your students, a positive classroom climate is essential
for a successful year. A high performing teaching space will be comfortable,
attractive, and highly functional.
Feng Shui is an art/science developed in China over 3000
years ago. Feng means wind and shui means water, and in the Chinese
culture wind and water bring good fortune. This Taoist vision also includes yin
and yang and the elements.
This instructional guide is really an ongoing project that
I’ve been working on for the last ten years of my nineteen in teaching. The
first few years you spend perfecting the art of teaching. The next few years are
about delving deep into your subject. After that you can take a breath, exhale
if you will, and really look around your classroom and think about what type of
environment you have created. When I looked I found it lacking a little life,
and a little serenity. Although serenity might be a funny concept for a High
School English classroom, it is essential for focus and contemplation. Over the
years, I have created an environment that is inspiring to my students as well
as myself.
I’ve
“teachified” the tenets of Feng Shui: water, earth, wind, and fire. I’ve
created an easy to use guide that you can implement to make your classroom
effective and engaging.
Water
I
bring water into the classroom in many different ways. I’ve had a few
inexpensive fountains and set them up on my desk, or in an area that the
students use often (near the pencil sharpener or where papers are turned in.)
The sound of the water is pleasing, and the sight of the water is very calming
for students that get easily distracted. Home Depot and Lowes have really
beautiful fountains in the garden area.
A
vase of colorful flowers is another way to work water into your atmosphere. Fresh
flowers instantly make everyone feel refreshed. They are natural and beautiful.
You don’t have to spend tons of money on an expensive florist. Just check out
your nearest grocery store or warehouse store. Gladiolus are always on sale in
August in my area. They are enormous and beautiful.
A friend of mine buys a large
bouquet and divides it into 3-4 smaller vases. She gives the small bunches of
flowers to several other teachers and it brings each one a little touch of
sunshine.
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| Poseidon the fish |
My best idea for bringing water into
the classroom came this year. On a recent workday my friend and I decided to
get a couple fish at the local Walmart. We were going for supplies anyway, and
we found a water jug that said “fish bowl water” and we had our idea. We
re-used a couple of large mouthed flower vases and glass pebbles (we washed
them carefully), and purchased three Beta fish (Japanese fighting fish). These
fish are viable in smaller containers and have beautiful angel wing-like fins. I named mine Poseidon (I love teaching Greek
mythology). We enjoyed the fish so much that the recycled vases became larger
and more interesting tanks. Our third friend bought it a fish condo with lights
a bubbler and a hiding place. We bought a fourth fish for a friend that was
having a rough week – she loved it. The kids love having something alive in
their English class. They beg to feed him, and love to come up to my desk to
visit him. At the end of the year, I
started letting the fish bowl sit on the desks of one group of the students for
the class period. It was a reward. Not only does the fish bring in water, but
life. Living things are key to a comfortable, relaxing environment.
Follow this blog for the next two installments of fire and wind.
Try these ideas out and let me know
how it goes. I would love for you to post some pictures of your results on my
blog.
Or my
Facebook page:
Thanks so
much,
The Crazy English Teacher
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