Meet....My Desk.

This post is part of the 30-Day Blog Challenge from TeachThought. To learn more about the challenge go to www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/.

DAY 8: What's in your desk drawer, and what can you infer from those contents?

Although I didn't get a chance to take a photo of my desk drawer today, I do have a photo of the outside of my desk from last week. I promise this was a genuine, in the moment photo - no posing at all!

As mentioned in a previous post, I recently moved my desk out of my classroom. I have a little office space I share with the other science teacher that is situated between our two classrooms, so you can actually see into the classroom a bit in this photo. Since I'm trying to keep the classroom space more about the students and less about me this year, my desk has turned into "my space." You can probably see I have a few family photos on my desk, and many art projects created by my two boys hanging on the window between the office and the classroom. Also, boxed in yellow is a pencil holder my sons made for me out of LEGOs this year. I am often conflicted about the amount of time I sacrifice with my family because I'm working at school. All of those late nights and early mornings somehow seem better when I'm surround by reminders of them.

Scattered about my desk are little reminders of the dual position I've started this year. I'm teaching high school science in the mornings (hence, the safety goggles boxed in blue) and working as the District Technology Integrationist in the afternoon (notice there were actually 5 devices on my desk on this day: my iPhone, my MacBook, and three iPads, boxed in green). I was initially worried about taking on the technology position this year, but so far I've really enjoyed the experience. It creates a nice balance in my day, and I've truly enjoyed getting to know my colleagues better by working with them closely on technology goals.

The yellow arrow is pointing to an ink drawing my sister-in-law made of a jumping spider. I love the artistic side of science and have it scattered throughout the room. Other artwork includes framed nature photos taken by my mother and butterfly still-lifes created by my grandmother. I think it's important to remind students of the beauty of living things - even spiders!

The red arrow is pointing to my "I'll get to this eventually pile." I am a pile person. And a list person. It makes me feel better just to organize things. It might not make them get done any faster, but boy do I feel refreshed after shuffling some papers into a couple of piles or, best of all (!), transferring three lists into one. Try it sometime; it's amazing how good it is for stress reduction!

The red circle is around a wearable, light-up bracelet I made at ISTE this summer. Well, it's supposed to light up, but I never got it to work. I like to keep it visible because it reminds me that sometimes the process is more important than the outcome. Enough said.

Finally, I'll wrap up with the bumper stickers boxed in red and blue on the wall. I point these out only because they are a reflection of my dry sense of humor. One is from a favorite thai restaurant in St. Paul. It says, "Thai it. You'll like it." The one above that one says, "Honk if you understand punctuated equilibria," (biology teachers out there should be smiling at this point), and the one at the top says, "Promote Global Worming." That one came with some vermicomposting bins we ordered for a school project. These are my attempts to keep things light-hearted when busy working away at my desk.

Family, science, technology, art, organization, and humor. If this is what my desk says about me, I think I'm okay with that.