Classroom Design Assignment

Among the residual elements of Polly that I can access are various notebooks, journals, sketchbooks and other physical items that help mark her imprint on the world. Passionate as she was about educating herself and becoming a teacher, it is natural that many of those elements speak to one purpose of her life as she saw it. 

This is a page from one of her courses at UNC Charlotte, with a focus on in-class instruction and an assignment to design a classroom. She has sketched out the physical layout of the space for us with labels, and then shares her thoughts:

“I think the design of the classroom indicates that the teacher is someone who likes open discussions and the classroom to feel more like a community, The desks are situated in a U-shape so students will be able to interact with each other. The primary focus of the classroom is the board at the front of the room. I think that the teacher shows respect for the community among students by having the room set up for easy interaction.”

Polly thoughts are centered on community and interaction, suggesting her awareness of the importance of building a culture for her class. She maintains the importance of instruction by noting the attention-gathering placement of the board front and center, with the teacher’s desk off to the side. It delights me to no end that she has accounted for no less than two play areas inside the classroom. I suspect that if she had her choice in the matter, her classroom would be close to a door that led directly to the outside and if she could get away with it, that door would be inside her room. The access to nature would be immediate – just as she would have it.

Culture building was no small matter to Polly. The ethos that she established for herself as a visual artist – across many mediums –  sought to express matters of belonging, growth and self-worth. Kindness and camaraderie were the center point of the culture that she demanded at the ZTA House. No story about Polly’s life there is complete without mention of her ruling law that no one passed by her seat on the den couch without checking their baggage first. But for all of these organizing principles of living that she advanced, her own room was another matter entirely. More on that – and the hilarious conversation I had with a university housing official – later.