Classroom Design

classroom floorspace design

In this learning space, the seating arrangements are table groups of 4-5 students. The teacher's desk is placed at the corner of the classroom where it has all parts of the classroom in sightline, as well as the door. There are a few work areas for students including an art table, a half circle table for small group work, a computer station, a reading nook, and a supplies station. The student cubbies are next to the door so students can easily pack and unpack their belongings when entering and leaving the room. The desks are only a short walk from the carpet making it a smooth and quick transition going between the two. Supplies are near the art table and students desks, helping prevent materials from ending up all over the room.

This space was designed in a way to foster student choice and cooperation. The table groups allow students to work together with their peers when completing activities. The small group work table in the back of the classroom allows the teacher to pull and work directly with a few select students when needed. Having this type of table in the classroom supports Vygotsky's zone of proximal development theory, or the idea that each student has a range of skill that they can perform with having the teachers assistance. Once students progress and are able to master a task on their own, this skill is no longer in their zone of proximal development. The teacher will use this table to support students and help build their skills to surpass the zone of proximal development to the point where they can work on those skills at their table

As mentioned before, the teacher's desk is placed at the corner of the classroom where it has all parts of the classroom in sightline, as well as the door. This is strategic. Jacob Kounin, educational psychologist, coined the term "withitness", or the ability of the teacher to know what was going on in all parts of the classroom at all times and dealing with problems before they turned into misbehavior. He found that teachers with the best-behaved classes displayed teacher awareness or “withitness”. He found that teachers were able to monitor and interact with groups of students doing independent work even while the teacher was teaching lessons to smaller groups if the structure of the classroom was set up correctly.

Alfie Kohn spent his whole career focusing on how to improve curriculum and build supportive classrooms alongside the students. He urged educators to remember three key facts about teaching: (1) Students learn most avidly and have their best ideas when they get to choose which questions they want to explore; (2) all of us tend to be happiest and most effective when we have some say about what we are doing; and (3) when students have no choice and control over learning, their achievement drops. Given these facts and the difference they make in learning, Kohn finds it astonishing that present-day instruction ignores them. Having many stations students can pick from to complete projects at or select resources from promotes student choice in the classroom.

UTILIZING your wall space

supports MANAGEMENT: positivity wall

A wall space concept that supports classroom management is a class positivity board. For this the teacher will have the bulletin board read "take what you need" and "give what you can". In addition, the teacher will have pads of sticky notes and markers in a bin below the board. Whenever a student is feeling down, or whenever they feel the need, they can go over to the positivity board and take a sticky note. The sticky notes will have positive and encouraging affirmations written on them for a student to take and keep with them. When students take a sticky note, they must write a new positive message in place of the message they took for someone else to have. This concept teaches children to spread positivity and practice using positive affirmations to improve their mindset.

A good way to use your wall space to build the classroom community is through a good to be me because board. The good to be me because board features a short paragraph written by each student detailing one or more things that they like about themselves. This is a great board for building community in your classroom because students can learn about their classmates while also acknowledging their strengths and the qualities they like about themselves. When students know more about one another and feel valued as an individual, the classroom begins to form a community like environment.

building community : good to be me because...

academic: interactive sight word wall

For an academic wall space design idea, I wanted to include an interactive sight word wall. The wall will have a small section for each letter of the alphabet a-z. There will be a small bin under the sight word wall which contains velcro laminated sight words. When students have downtime in class throughout the week, they can look through the various words in the bin and place them on the board under their correct starting letter. At the end of the week, the teacher will hold a class discussion going over the board and correcting any possible mistakes. Having the sight word board be interactive allows students to visually see the sight words they are learning and have fun placing them on the board. It also gives students a content related activity to participate in during their free time in class.

support from theorists

These three types of wall spaces promote classroom management, encourage positive communications with classmates, and boost children's self-esteem. Linda Albert is a former teacher and university professor who wrote a number of books about classroom management. In her books she noted that students want to feel like they belong and have a place in the classroom. She came up with concepts surrounding cooperative discipline and coined the 3 Cs which help students see themselves as Connected with others, a Contributing members of the class, and that they Can succeed. She suggested that teachers can increase student's sense of capability by doing four things: counterting fear of mistakes, building confidence, making progress tangible, and recognizing achievement. The good to be me because wall and the positivity wall are great examples for how you can use your wall space to make students feel like connected, and contributing members of the classroom community. In addition, they both also help actively build student confidence and recognize achievement and individuality throughout the class. The interactive sight word wall helps students feel like they can succeed by giving them tangible pieces that they can practice their sight words with. Each week when they are reviewed, if a word is misplaced the teacher will remind students it is alright to make mistakes, and we can try again until we get it. This helps counter student's fear of making mistakes and encourages them to try their best.

space for all students

The classroom floor plan I have created and my choice of boards to use to utilize wall space in the classroom are designed for all learners because every student can participate and contribute to them, regardless of skill level. The interactive sight word wall bin has words beginning with every letter that are anywhere from one to seven letters long. This way, students can pick words that they are comfortable and familiar with to place on the board if they are struggling with a bigger word. In addition, the positivity board allows each and every student an equal opportunity to receive and give a compliment or positive affirmation. This, and the community building wall space portion allow 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. 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. 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.

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