Classroom without windows

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm with OP's friend, I'd be concerned about this, and would definitely raise a big stink about it. While it might be a pain to do it, I would suggest that the kids rotate rooms every __ weeks so no one set of kids had to be in a windowless room all year.

You go right ahead and do that, honey. I'm sure the principal will be grateful for your input and suggestion. NOT!

So what if there are no windows? This isn't going to have any kind of negative effect on the kids. I can see how it would be hard on the teachers but the kids will be just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I'm going to tell my boss that it is unfair that some of us have windows and others don't, so we should rotate offices every month!!!! OMG, you are a nutball. Your kid is not going to be able to deal with anything as an adult.

My child is not a snowflake, and you people are ignorant. You've lived in this region so long that you think everyone is supposed to just get used to substandard treatment, that the luck of the draw drives your life and you just have to live with it. That's just bullshit.

What everyone here forgets is that everyone's job, mine included, is to provide a SERVICE, not to be a DICTATOR. I don't like working in spaces with no windows, so guess what? I make sure I am least near a window. I don't believe in suffering in silence. I also make sure anyone I work with/for gets the best situation available without being unfair to others. People in my company fight to be on my team and others are rotated in for training to bring my processes back to other groups.

My principal works with me and other parents because we invest time and resources to make sure every child has a great learning experience. But really, if I didn't contribute one damn thing, the principal is there to provide my child a good educational experience, and if I don't think that includes being in a windowless room, I have every right to speak up, and that principal better damn well not ignore me or treat my child any differently because I spoke up. You have to have standards, people, for the way you are treated, the way your children are treated, and the way people around you are treated.

The issue here that I see is that it is only the parents of the kids in the windowless room who are complaining. It should be ALL the parents, because if you let one set of kids be in a windowless room, then yes, you have no right to complain when it's your child in that room.

My child will be able to deal with things just fine in life, because she will have as an example a parent who contributes to her community and stands up for others as well as herself and her child.

Sounds like you PPs and your kids will be the ones sitting in the windowless classrooms of life. My child and I will be the ones enjoying views and sunshine and advocating to get you out. Hope to be enjoying the views with you soon .

[Anonymous]

Wow. That was amazing.

I just visited my daughter's 1st grade for the open house. Turns out she's in an interior classroom (no windows). I'm a little bummed about it.

But it would never occur to me to go to the principal and demand something. What could she do? All the classrooms in the building are in use. It's not like my child has been singled out - there are other interior rooms as well. Poor design, but that's the way it is.

She'll survive. In fact, she may be less distracted. I know she leaves the room multiple times a day.

The PP may raise a child who demands what she wants. My child will grow up learning to accept the things she cannot change.

[Anonymous]

I would not want my child in a classroom without natural light. Studies have shown that elementary school students in classrooms with the most daylight showed a 21% improvement
in learning rates compared to students in classrooms with the least daylight. Here is the link

http://www.energy.ca.gov/2003publications/CEC-500-2003-082/CEC-500-2003-082-A-04.PDF

Research is also linking inside time to a higher rate of myopia. People see best in natural light. Florescent lightening, with the flickering on and off, can really bother some sensitive kids. As an adult I do much better the more I am exposed to natural sunlight. What administrator thought it was OK to use a classroom with no windows. I bet the administrator's office has a window.

[Anonymous]

Elementary school principal here--
If you think that any administrator made the decision to put kids in a windowless room without angst, you are sadly mistaken. 17:58 makes it sound as if there are empty classrooms with windows and that all one should do is speak up to get kids out of the windowless classroom. Good luck with that. I will bet my paycheck that the school is at or over capacity. It's very likely that classes were added in the last weeks of August when more students enrolled than was anticipated. I would also venture to guess that the school was built in the 1950s or 1960s and has not undergone a renovation within the past 10 years. I would invite you to sit down with the floor plan and figure where everyone should go keeping in mind the need for adequate space to learn and proximity to bathrooms. Please share with the principal your plan for where every student can be in a classroom with windows. I'm sure he or she would be eternally grateful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elementary school principal here--
If you think that any administrator made the decision to put kids in a windowless room without angst, you are sadly mistaken. 17:58 makes it sound as if there are empty classrooms with windows and that all one should do is speak up to get kids out of the windowless classroom. Good luck with that. I will bet my paycheck that the school is at or over capacity. It's very likely that classes were added in the last weeks of August when more students enrolled than was anticipated. I would also venture to guess that the school was built in the 1950s or 1960s and has not undergone a renovation within the past 10 years. I would invite you to sit down with the floor plan and figure where everyone should go keeping in mind the need for adequate space to learn and proximity to bathrooms. Please share with the principal your plan for where every student can be in a classroom with windows. I'm sure he or she would be eternally grateful.

17:58 here, I shared my plan previously -- rotate the kids every __ weeks so that no one set of kids has to be in windowless classroom all year. I believe another PP indicated such a plan is already in place at another school. I certainly never said I don't think decisions are made without angst, but I do think there have to be contributions and sometimes push from parents to come up with creative solutions.

I would also welcome solutions/input from others -- I don't think my ideas are the best or the only solution, but the thought process has to be started and some compromise that does not unduly affect one set of kids needs to be found.

It's great that you would invite parent input and participation!

[Anonymous]

The rotation plan is just not practicable for many reasons, but if there are extra classrooms, perhaps an older class with a bathroom can switch into one without, freeing up the room for preschoolers?

Kids in windowless rooms get more cavities and grow more slowly. It is most of the day in an unnatural environment. Why would anyone think there would be no impact on a growing child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not want my child in a classroom without natural light. Studies have shown that elementary school students in classrooms with the most daylight showed a 21% improvement
in learning rates compared to students in classrooms with the least daylight. Here is the link

http://www.energy.ca.gov/2003publications/CEC-500-2003-082/CEC-500-2003-082-A-04.PDF

Research is also linking inside time to a higher rate of myopia. People see best in natural light. Florescent lightening, with the flickering on and off, can really bother some sensitive kids. As an adult I do much better the more I am exposed to natural sunlight. What administrator thought it was OK to use a classroom with no windows. I bet the administrator's office has a window.

If this is true, then the internal rooms shouldn't be used for full-time classrooms where the children spend most of the day. I think it's one thing to use them for pull-outs and another to put children in it for most of the day. It's too bad it's not as simple as adding a trailer to make up for the new class (whatever the grade). It should be.

[Anonymous]

Rotating classrooms is not practical at all. As a teacher, I can tell you that with confidence. Teachers are territorial about their rooms and supplies. Kids have materials like workbooks at other items that are in their room. Whatp- should they pack up every day? Kids need consistency. Kids will barely notice windows/lack thereof. They will not know why they are moving. Also, if you make a big deal and tell the kid why they are moving then on the day your kid does have a window room she'll be staring out it and be distracted. If snowflake gets the room on a grey, rainy day, then what? Do over? Just take your kid out for fresh air when school is out. Or paint a window on the wall. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

To the "Rotate the children every x weeks" poster:
I'd guess that the teacher who explained that kids rotated was referring to the room being used for specials or for pull-outs (e.g. music,reading specialist, ESOL) so that children weren't there full-day. A teacher is assigned to the room (or multiple teachers when space is tight) and children from various classes come to them throughout the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rotating classrooms is not practical at all. As a teacher, I can tell you that with confidence. Teachers are territorial about their rooms and supplies. Kids have materials like workbooks at other items that are in their room. Whatp- should they pack up every day? Kids need consistency. Kids will barely notice windows/lack thereof. They will not know why they are moving. Also, if you make a big deal and tell the kid why they are moving then on the day your kid does have a window room she'll be staring out it and be distracted. If snowflake gets the room on a grey, rainy day, then what? Do over? Just take your kid out for fresh air when school is out. Or paint a window on the wall. Sheesh.

17:58 here again, I used to teach as well, and I actually did switch classrooms on a regular basis -- I can tell you that teachers being "territorial" about "their" classrooms should not be an issue. Switching could happen on teacher development days or other times when teachers are changing their boards. If the room switching happens every quarter or some such timeframe, kids will adjust and no kid will have the "windows" rooms on just inclement weather days.

The idea that kids would not notice that they are in a windowless room is not a reason to subject them to it. Kids barely notice whether they eat healthily or poorly, is that a reason to feed them sugar-packed junk? It seems strange that you would suggest that a child can adjust to being without natural light for most of the day but can't adjust to a room change every few months. It sounds like your arguments are mostly for the convenience of teachers, rather than what may be best for students. I'm also troubled by your reference to any child as a "snowflake".

[Anonymous]

17:58--So you taught a full class of elementary grade students and switched classrooms every few weeks? Is that what we should infer? If not, please share the grade level and numbers of students you taught.

[Anonymous]

Look to all the complaining people --- My child has been through this for a full year. She was not scarred, did not get cavities and her class had the highest number of kids scoring well on the DRA and the CogAt (abilities test). This was an interior room in a new-ish school (built 2003). This year the same school added walls to make another interior classroom. I wasn't thrilled when I saw my child in an interior classroom, but it NEVER crossed my mind that I should or could make a fuss over it. I think that is going into the crazy zone. Would you prefer your child be in a trailer where there is no access to a bathroom? Probably not. Oh, wait, you just want it to be someone else's problem?

Seriously, though... your child is not the first child to have an interior classroom. It's SMALL potatoes. Really. Please, please move on to concerning yourself with something else. Your child will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think I'm going to tell my boss that it is unfair that some of us have windows and others don't, so we should rotate offices every month!!!! OMG, you are a nutball. Your kid is not going to be able to deal with anything as an adult.

My child is not a snowflake, and you people are ignorant. You've lived in this region so long that you think everyone is supposed to just get used to substandard treatment, that the luck of the draw drives your life and you just have to live with it. That's just bullshit.

What everyone here forgets is that everyone's job, mine included, is to provide a SERVICE, not to be a DICTATOR. I don't like working in spaces with no windows, so guess what? I make sure I am least near a window. I don't believe in suffering in silence. I also make sure anyone I work with/for gets the best situation available without being unfair to others. People in my company fight to be on my team and others are rotated in for training to bring my processes back to other groups.

My principal works with me and other parents because we invest time and resources to make sure every child has a great learning experience. But really, if I didn't contribute one damn thing, the principal is there to provide my child a good educational experience, and if I don't think that includes being in a windowless room, I have every right to speak up, and that principal better damn well not ignore me or treat my child any differently because I spoke up. You have to have standards, people, for the way you are treated, the way your children are treated, and the way people around you are treated.

The issue here that I see is that it is only the parents of the kids in the windowless room who are complaining. It should be ALL the parents, because if you let one set of kids be in a windowless room, then yes, you have no right to complain when it's your child in that room.

My child will be able to deal with things just fine in life, because she will have as an example a parent who contributes to her community and stands up for others as well as herself and her child.

Sounds like you PPs and your kids will be the ones sitting in the windowless classrooms of life. My child and I will be the ones enjoying views and sunshine and advocating to get you out. Hope to be enjoying the views with you soon .

You do realize that you lose all credibility when all we can see is that big vein in your neck throbbing.

[Anonymous]

21:58 Lighten up. I'm sure you were the teacher of the year who never, ever, thinks thought there are parents who think their children are exceptional and perfect and should not have to live by rules other children do. You "used" to teach, do not teach now, so please do not judge me or my opinion. Yes, I use the term snowflakes when applicable and yes, I am also a committed teacher.

Do address your other points. Would I mind if another class used my room if we were on a field trip? No, as long as it was left in good shape. Not sure what you mean by prfessional development days-on those days there is no school for kids. And bulletin boards? Teachers do that on their own time. Kids do not leave the room so their teacher can do boards!