Classroom Environment Guide
Classroom Design: Floor Plan
Description Of Space
This learning space is perfect for young learners as everything they would need throughout the day is at an easy access point and easy to find. The teacher’s desk is also in the back corner of the room so they can see the entirety of the classroom and the students throughout the day. Once the students walk into the door, they can walk straight to the rug, the cubbies, or their desk. The art center table is in between the rug and the reading corner so if students want to spread out when creating their art, they are able to. The bookshelf is in the back corner which allows students to have a secluded area to read. This area would also include beanbags and pillows so they can be comfortable when reading. The seating arrangements are scattered so each student can see both the smart board and rug along with the teacher’s desk and the small group instruction table. The students’ tables also take up most of the space of the room so they have ample room to move around and discuss with one another when participating in activities. The small group instructional table is near the teacher’s desk and also on the other side of all the student desks for easy traffic flow from the students’ seats and the rug to the small group table. This is also beneficial for the teacher to be near their desk if they need any materials. This way, selected students can venture to the small group instruction table without disrupting the rest of the students in other spaces of the room or at their own desks. The student cubbies are also off to the side out of the way of the general classroom so students can just grab what they need and bring it to their desk.
Rationale
I really took inspiration from my field classroom I observed two years ago at Shamona Creek Elementary in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. My mentor teacher had her classroom set up very similar to my design and it flowed very well especially with transitions. The main aspects of the classroom such as the student desks and the rug were very close to each other so the children would not have to move across the entire room to transition from one activity to another, which causes less disruption and off-task behavior. The small group instruction is also very close to the rug, the students’ desks and the teacher’s desk which would help with transitions as well. When the students need to line up at the door to move to another class, they would just line up over the rug and through the art center and student desks as the teacher chair on the rug is mobile and can be moved out of the way. Group activities such as the weather chart, the calendar, the white board, and attitude popsicle sticks would in the front of the room near the easel so the children can have morning meetings on the rug and work collaboratively to start the day.
Wall Space
Build Community: The Best Part of Me!
This community building wall space is focused directly on each individual student and what they love about themselves. This not only encourages positive self image within each student, but also fosters a beautiful environment where students can express themselves and begin to make the classroom their own. This helps with the students’ sense of belonging within the classroom as well as they can see themselves as a part of the physical classroom. Feeling welcomed in the classroom with a
sense of belonging also encourages the students to learn, as they feel comfortable in their environment and those around them. This also helps the students get to know each other along with the teacher getting to know the students and what they appreciate about themselves. An important part of my teaching philosophy is student responsibility and this wall space encourages students to create a prompted piece of art on their own. They are just given a pre-made worksheet to start them off with their sentences but they have the freedom to write or draw whatever they want! They can also include their own picture of whatever their favorite part about themselves is.
Academic: Interactive Sight Word Wall
For the academic wall space, I wanted to include an interactive sight word wall where students can visually see the sight words they are learning and have fun placing them on the board under the correct starting letter. There will be a little bin under the sight word wall which contains velcro laminated sight words so students can look through the various words and put them on the board throughout the week. At the end of the week, the teacher will hold a class discussion going over the board and correcting any possible mistakes. The teacher can use a call and response tactic
as they point to each word and have the class say it out loud. This helps students practice their sight words and exposes the words to them all day, every day as the board is constantly visible to all students. This not only allows the students to practice seeing the words and reading them, but also helps them practice their speech at the end of the week correctly speaking each word as a class. To challenge students, some pictures could be included without any words accompanying them so students would have to think about what the possible sight word could be as they place the pictures on the board along with the other words.
Supports Management: Wall of Kindness
This wall space supports classroom management as it encourages kindness, respect, and good behavior in the classroom which is what the determined code of conduct and list of classroom rules emphasizes within each point. Instead of having a boring, straight to the point list of classroom rules, I wanted to include a collaborative aspect where students get excited to follow the rules and to participate in good and kind behavior. The teacher should have the majority of the contributions to encourage the students to contribute their own witnesses of other students
performing acts of kindness and to also guide the students in how they are supposed to participate and interact with the wall of kindness. There will be sticky notes and markers available under the wall of kindness so students can just walk up and write their own addition on a sticky note and stick it to the wall. At the end of the week, the teacher will go over each sticky note with the class and recognize each student that was identified and congratulate them on their good behavior and kindness. Children love recognition, so the teacher reading each sticky note aloud to the class and having their classmates acknowledge their accomplishments will encourage them to contribute to the board and perform acts of kindness so they get on the board as well. Positive reinforcement is also an important aspect in my teaching philosophy and this recognition in front of the entire class is exactly what the students need to contribute and be a part of the wall.
A Space for ALL Students
This classroom along with the various wall spaces and their purposes are designed for all students because every individualized student is able and expected to participate. The community building wall space portion allows each and every student to express themselves and in turn, make the classroom their own by including a part of themselves in it. By seeing a part of themselves in the physical classroom, they should feel connected to it and also welcomed in it. This sense of belonging not only makes students feel comfortable in their environment but also encourages them to learn and participate because they feel like they deserve to as they are an essential part of the environment. For the academic wall space, students again are asked to participate in the activity throughout the week and receive reading and speech support at the end of the week as the teacher goes over the sight words with the class. Every student is included in this small review session of the sight words and every student is also expected to try and say each word as the teacher goes through them. ELL and below grade level students can also go over these weekly sight words with their paraprofessional in addition to the whole class instruction because the general education teacher can give the paraprofessional the updated sight word list as the weeks go on. Therefore, each and every student is included in the weekly review activities. For the management support wall space, the wall of kindness is readily available for every student to contribute to and be a part of regardless of their development/grade level, diversity, or willingness. Students will actively be given the chance to be an imperative part of their own classroom by being given the resources to contribute to the wall of kindness. As time goes on, those students who are timid and do not want to write on the wall will see their fellow peers participating and want to be included in the activity. All students are included in each wall space section and also within the classroom as a whole as every student is incorporated into each activity. The entire classroom is a very open concept and flows nicely from one area to the next which works well with each and every activity located at various points in the room.