Sunday, September 14, 2014
Mrs. Plant’s classroom is rather
small than a normal size classroom. In my opinion, the way her classroom is set
up makes the room a bit crowded. As you walk in, her desk is set up on the left
side of the door. On the right side, there is a medium-sized cubby that she is
not utilizing at the moment. The students have small individual desks that are
grouped in five. Their names are taped onto the desk and their books are stored
into the book box. The white board is located on the east side of the wall, right
next to the medium-sized cubby. In front of the white board there are two small
tables, one is rectangular and the other one is a half-moon. The half-moon
table is the listening center and the rectangular table is the writing center.
Next to the writing center there is a wide bookshelf with various workbooks. The
back door is located close to the wide bookshelf and across from the front
door. Around this area, there is a sink with cabinets, where the students wash
their hands. In between one group of student’s desk and the sink, there is a
medium-sized table. I utilize this table to grade papers and check if they have
their homework completed. The guided reading table is located at the corner
right, next to the sink. Across from this table is the little library, which
contains all types of genres for the students. Ahead from the little library is
the colored square carpet, where the students sit down and listen to the
teacher read aloud.
The way I
would arrange and decorate my classroom would be differently. I would put tennis
balls on the ends of the desks and chairs for safety purposes. It will prevent
the students from getting hurt and scratching the floor. As you enter through
the front door, my desk would be located on the left. Next to my desk would be
the computer lab and the library in the left corner with three beanie bags. The
audio reading center and guided reading centers would be east side of the room.
The colored square rug would be located at the left upper corner, between the
east and south wall. The sink and cabinets are against the south wall near the
colored rugs and the back door. The student’s desks are located near my desk,
there is a set of four grouped desks. Next to the desks are the math, science,
and writing centers. I would cover all my walls with colorful and educational
posters.
Photo credit to Ana Siu.
I would set
up the classroom like this because the centers would be all in one area. It
would be easy to just view the students working in centers in one direction. There
will be spacing between the board and the desks so that the children have
enough space to line up at the exit door. I would change the students around
every two months, so that they get to work with everyone in the classroom.
According to Classroom Spaces that Work, “change groups often provide
deliberate mixing of genders and friendships” (Clayton,
2001). I have noticed that most of the children still have
trouble copying from the white board. In order for them to all copy down the
information, I will provide a separate sheet of paper. I want to decorate the classroom
with a fair amount of colorful, educational posters because it will catch the student’s
attention. These posters will consist of vocabulary, letters, numbers, colors,
and motivational quotes. I will also be hanging up the work of groups of
children to reflect the “value of diversity in the work displayed” (Clayton,
2001).
Resources:
Clayton, M., & Forton, M.
(2001). Classroom Spaces That Work.
Turners Falls, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.
