Decorating a Publications Lab

Many of the presenters, speakers, and instructors have used attention grabbing quotations and, as of course today, infographics about journalism and I had the thought about using them for my future learning environments. After seeing the video of Alan's Productions Lab, I am giddy in thinking about how I will design my own. Unfortunately, though, I am a traveling teacher and haven't been told the room my first journalism class will be held in.
This blog will muse on what I'd use to decorate the room and I would love suggestions as comments.

For posters, I was thinking:

• 3 E's of Diversity
• Inverted Pyramid
• The First Amendment
• The Jefferson quote that is on the wall in the Cronkite building
• The Orwell quote about truth that was on a PowerPoint somewhere

My hopes reflect a lot of what Alan described as an atmosphere that is welcoming for the students. I am lucky to have a school culture that is very trusting of students and I could easily give them the freedom to come and go before and after school in a "hang-out" type of environment. I am sure that I can section off a portion of a classroom with my posters, but using bulletin boards, etc for work flow information might be hard to manage. I am pretty sure that I will use the classroom I share with another Creative Writing teacher, who advises for the literary magazine, and has the type of environment for them that I want for my kids. Hopefully the journalism kids will carry on that culture in the same space.

Working in concert with my Google Docs system (I won't ask my admin for money for SNO Flow until after next year at the earliest), I am wondering what type of hard copy of an organization system would work in a smallish space on a wall somewhere. I will be watching that tour of Alan's classroom a few times more to get ideas.

I have taught for 10 years and never had a classroom of my own. 

Don't cry for me though, because I hate decorating, but for decorating a space that will assist in bringing a journalism program, I feel actually interested.

Steve Whitman

Geneva High School

Geneva, Illinois