The desks in my room are fairly sturdy, and provide a large, flat work space. But their Achille's Heel is the book basket.
They are made of round metal strands, about the diameter of a pencil. Each basket is attached to the underside of the seat by spot-welds, which cannot endure the weight of students' feet, and often snap off by such treatment. Many of the baskets have suffered such a fate, and have been discarded, leaving nothing at all to hold books.
Not that it's a great design to begin with. They have the depth of serving trays, and are open on each side; more like flat shelves under the desks. So the books tend to slide to one side or the other, and will fall to the floor with the slightest provocation. "Kids, turn your desks to face your working partner" results in twenty books flopping to the floor. It's just another struggle against entropy.
Kids grab whatever book is handy: desk, floor, basket. So some baskets have three of the same book; others are empty.
It all drives me absolutely batty. Between the strewn books and the leftover food packaging from their snuck-in food (a battle all its own), the room can look pretty trashed in just a couple of days. Add to that my own disorganization up front, and it really changes the psychological climate of the room.
I day-dream sometimes of improving the baskets. It would take some welding, and some hardware attachments and strips of wood, but that would still leave the basket-less desks. Sigh.
I'll make the last class of the day straighten up, which is their Friday ritual. And then the slide will begin again on Monday morning.
And don't get me started about the crooked rows of desks.
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