As an American teacher, I am used to having an office for my job. I loved my desk in the business office and it was a place to relax and not be stressed for a short time. It was very important until it was taken from us a couple of years ago. That is a grievance for another day because I want to talk about my office in Germany. The school we work with has a large teacher room where all of the teachers have a desk. The second picture shows the teacher room. The room where teachers have their desks is large but if you look closely you can see that the table is divided in two and a person on each side. The desk is merely a place to work and not a place to collect your entire life. They also change locations every year. You don’t want to miss the day that people choose their desks or you may end up next to the person who has an overflowing desk that lands on your side. All of the departments are in the same room and there is no set location by the department. It is an excellent time to talk to people from other departments and get to know everyone. I am not saying there aren’t conflicts but it does seem to be fewer. Also, if you think there is a bunch of stuff in the classroom you would be wrong. The teachers move from room to room to work with the kids, not the other way around.
Now to my office. There is a courtyard outside of the teachers room and I always loved to work out there. It was a running joke for many years that if I could have an office outside all the time I would. They are correct. During our school year, I love to spend Sunday afternoons on the patio with my dog and my work. The only problem that occurred was that one time a teacher was visiting me and when they went back in, they did what was natural and locked the door. The only problem was that when they left for class I was locked out. It only last a few minutes and when someone came in, they freed me from my vine-covered cell. Some of my best times in Germany have been on a patio no matter where it was. This was never more evident when I spent on the trip with the Principal, Lutz Großman and I walked outside to see a sign on the patio table designating it as Randy’s Office.