Close quarters bring teachers together

As the student population rapidly increases to record- breaking numbers, the administration has been forced to get creative in terms of dealing with the availability of the classrooms.

In order to accommodate acceptable class sizes, teachers have paired up to share classrooms, becoming something resembling “roommates.”

One such teacher is English teacher Julie Curtin, who has co-taught a double block of English 11/12 for three years with ESOL department chair Sharon Carser-Brown.

“When we moved into the newly renovated classrooms in the B hallway, we knew that some of the teachers would need to share rooms,” Curtin said. “She asked if I’d like to share with her, and I thought it was a great idea.”

Like Curtin, world history teacher Amanda Schall splits time in her classroom with social studies teacher Joseph Brannan. However, instead of two teachers being in the same room simultaneously, Schall and Brannan split time in their classroom between red and blue days.

“[Brannan] teaches on blue days and I am on red days. It’s nice because we still have the room pretty much to ourselves,” Schall said.

Even though Brannan and Schall are separated for the majority of the time, they still must exhibit attentive and thoughtful “roommate” characteristics.

“When you share a room, you always have to be considerate towards your roommate,” Schall said.

In contrast, Spanish teacher David Barkley has primary control of his room and only shares it when other world language teachers need the language labs. This arrangement proves to be less time-consuming than the complete division of a classroom.

“It’s convenient not to have to physically move to another location during my planning periods,” Barkley said. “Another advantage is that my students always know where they can find me during the day; if I am in the workroom, it’s harder for them to find me.”

Curtin has found that the split of her classroom has actually benefitted not only herself, but also the students.

“We’re able to conference with students at the same time or have one person interacting with the class as a whole while the other works with students one-on-one,” Curtin said.

Spending three entire school years with a fellow colleague has allowed Curtin to evolve as a teacher and build a lasting friendship with Carser-Brown.

“I feel like I’ve become a better teacher by working so closely with Ms. Carser. I’m able to bounce ideas off her and gather inspiration by watching her teach,” Curtin said. “We’ve become really good friends over the last three years.”

Barkley’s room-sharing setup is different than Curtin’s, but he also sees it as a net positive for the school and his fellow teachers.

“We have a tremendous resource with the language labs, and it’s important that all classes have an opportunity to use them,” Barkley said.

The sharing of classrooms inevitably will bring two teachers together, but according to Barkley, sharing space is a statement on the camaraderie and close friendships found in the Marshall community.

“It feels very natural to share space with my colleagues at Marshall, due in large part to the community atmosphere here,” Barkley said. We are all in it together, and sharing space is just another aspect of the environment here.”