Early in my teaching career, I was a push-in teacher. It wasn’t because of my content but more out of necessity. Space was often limited; I wasn’t a homeroom teacher. The idea of having my own classroom was really foreign to me.
Last year was the first year I was given a classroom. I serve a dual role: teacher and director. I usually have my own office. However, because office space was limited, I was given a classroom. Since I teach, it made sense. Initially, I had to get used to having my own classroom. It eventually grew on me once I realized it was my space to outfit.
Whenever I think about teachers decorating their classrooms, I often think of cutesy trinkets, bulletin boards, posters with corny sayings, and an apple on the teacher’s desk. I think of carpets for circle time, stations around the room, and student work hanging on the walls and windows. That’s not what I think a history classroom should look like.
But I didn’t want a classroom with maps that didn’t accurately represent the size of African and indigenous lands. Or a room with a globe on my desk, pictures of a Eurocentric telling of history with a bookshelf loaded with culturally incompetent and historically inaccurate texts for students to read. I wanted a room that was authentically me and authentically Black… a room that honored our students and our city.
So, I went to work.
My classroom is unique. Of the four walls, one is made from material where I’d have to use magnets to hang things up. So realistically, I had three walls to work with where I could use nails or thumbtacks. But I had a blank canvas. So, on one wall, I put pictures of our students; random pictures of my kids doing life with each other at the school. Some of those pictures have me in them. There is a special section for the previous year’s graduating class.
I did this so my students could see that I value you them and our time together; enough to celebrate the memory of our time together.
On another wall pictures of Camden City—taken by one of my students last year—showing the beauty of a city so many believe to be ugly. Also, I have a few poignant tweets on the wall with other posts that debunk myths of urban school labels, like “at-risk youth,” “growth mindset,” and “grit.” I did this so that my students could see that while content is important, so is the dispensing of wisdom and understanding.
Our classroom is a space where we utilize history to dispense wisdom and understanding for young people of color (Black and Latino students) to be better equipped for navigating an anti-Black, anti-poor, and anti-woman society.
Lastly, I have a wall dedicated to Black excellence. One might think there are pictures of heroes such as George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, and Dr. King. They would be correct. But I also have Angel Reese, Sha’Carri Richardson, Fela Kuti, and Sade on that wall. The cast from Set It Off is on that wall. Dwayne Wayne, his mom, and Whitley’s mom are on that wall. Tommy and Pam are on that wall. So are Arsenio and Spike… so are Bobby and Huey.
I did this so my students could see Black people, Black culture, and the continuum of Black excellence through time and memory. The kids ask questions to find out who these folks are on the wall. Many will point to a picture and can remember watching a show or their parents singing a song… through these pictures, our governance structure—who African people are to each other as opposed to how the world sees us—is established. With that, relationships are born and teaching and learning look, sound, and feel a lot different.
Because creating a classroom environment that is safe and conducive for learning isn’t done by simply hanging encouraging sayings, colorful carpets, and pictures, with a bunch of knickknacks to keep kids busy. Creating that kind of environment means facilitating the familiar. When kids see themselves, where they live and the culture they’ve grown up around when they walk into a room, their guard goes down.
As we embark on a new school year, if you have a classroom, decorate your room with intention. Cute colors and empowering phrases are cool. They absolutely are. Establishing trust and relationships with students is the goal. But you must AUTHENTICALLY represent them in your classroom; their faces, their culture, and their community. That means not displaying images or objects that culturally appropriate or that portray a familiarity and trust with the culture and community that you don’t have.
Your classroom should celebrate your students—who they are and their community—and your relationship with them. Do so respectfully. Do so with intention. Do so with their interest in mind. Do so with love for them.
Adorning your classroom offers an incredible opportunity to build relationships and trust with your students. Be courageous and be willing to let the essence of your students lead your action. Start with decorating your classroom. Next, decorate your curriculum…
