Here is my desk. As you can see it is positioned facing towards the wall, away from the class.
The desk is faced this way as I have no need of it during my lessons other than to be a home for my laptop. While my lesson is taking place, more often than not, you will find me, in amongst my students, working with them, talking to them, guiding them.
A desk and a comfy chair can be very tempting, particularly towards the end of a long day. It can be easy to slip behind it and teach from there, but that is not good teaching and will certainly not encourage good learning. Don’t let your desk become a barrier between you and your students. For me, this was the first mistake David Starkey made in ‘Jamie’s Dream School’, he went in with an ‘us and them’ attitude, setting a desk in front of himself as a barrier; orating from the front. Instant fail!
If I didn’t need to attach my laptop the board I would seriously consider removing the desk all together. Could you live without yours? Why not try it and see?
—
Oh, and yes the Glee calendar is mine, let the abuse begin!