Renee Shaw works at a Public School in Arlington, Virginia. Just a year after their school was renovated in 2004, they were already short on space. Renovating again would cost too much money so instead they added a trailer. When renovation schools, the state goes in order to all the schools to renovate them. With all the schools in Virginia, a school could go an incredibly long time without renovation. With the constantly growing population this un-growing set up does not support it’s surrounding area. trailer was like another small class room right outside the school. When they needed yet more room, they got a pod. A pod is equivalent to 4 trailers. Renee Shaw is generally in favor of the trailers. My group and I weren’t quite as thrilled at the idea. Even though they give extra space to schools that need it, it is an short term solution that isolates kids.

Trailer pod

I think that since the idea of working in a trailer is so far from what we currently do, it is harder for us to see the positive side of it. Renee said that the trailers generally don’t effect student learning but if a grade spends all their time in the trailer they would not be able to do projects with other students. The trailers come equipped with all usual classroom functions. The trailers have cable, smart boards,water fountains, and bathrooms.All trailer doors stay locked throughout the day. This makes it hard for substitute teachers when they need to get the key in order to enter their class room.

One thing that we found particularly intriguing was the concept of “art on a cart.”The concept of “art on a cart” is for when a school has to make cuts and if they don’t have space for an art room, all the art supplies will be put on on a cart so wherever that class is that day, the card goes there. This can be difficult with the trailers because art supplies will blow away in the wind and valuable supplies will be lost.