I love to think about how I would make the classroom if I were a teacher. How would I decorate it? Would the students be in clumps or in rows? What about displays? Pets? So I'm going to share about how I would decorate this classroom if it were mine own (and some general favorite decor), and I'd love to hear about how y'all want to decorate your future classrooms.
My setting for this hypothetical question: 5th Grade Science. Room size and student desks are based on current placement.
First, this poster is going somewhere.
Here's how I'd like to arrange the classroom.
And here's some detail of the poster wall.
In my placement, my teacher uses the U formation with a carpeted space in the center. I adore the layout. I will 100% be doing the same thing in my future classroom if space allows. My teacher also uses workout balls rather than chairs. This is also an amazing idea. Although some students get super squirmy and won't stop bouncing, it prevents them from being able to put their head down and makes sure that they are stabilizing their bodies. This substitution also works for special education students. In an IEP meeting, an occupational therapist who works explicitly with one of our students stated that this substitution will enable students to build muscle strength in addition to maintaining posture.
ReplyDeleteThe rooms in the Lockeland fourth grade team are Pinterest worthy. I am amazed with how much effort has gone into each room and making it visually appealing. It is never overkill and most decorations are also educational resources such as anchor charts, procedural notes, etc. I am so excited to be able to set up my own room and design it based on what I think would work the best. Also, not a fan of the idea of classroom pets. My class hamster died in my third grade classroom and let me tell you, it was traumatizing!
First, laughing that you have 'pet rats' already detailed in your plans.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Niki, how does the U formation work with group work? I really like the idea of the U, but I also like the table formation because then you have built in face partners and shoulder partners.
One of my current dilemmas about classroom set-up is in regards to the carpet. Our projector is in the front of the room where the white board is, so our carpet is right in front of it. The desks are set up in tables around the carpet. For this reason, it's not exactly easy to do a lot of instruction at the students desks, especially if we're using the ELMO or the computer. We end up using a great deal of instruction with the students on the rug. The rug isn't that big, and the kids are 8, so they're really too old to be spending HOURS a day on the rug. There's not really a better way, though, to arrange the rug and desks, I just wish we could find a solution so that the kids got in more time at their desks. I think with them moving up to third grade, they need to learn how to spend more time working at their desks.
PETS! Let's talk about the pets thing.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid of animals. I am seriously afraid of animals. I am with Nikki in that I think there could be a lot of problems - keeping the animal alive, making sure all the students feel included in looking after it, what to do with it on the weekends/holidays, will it need veterinary care, etc.
HOWEVER, at my first placement, one of the biggest struggles I noticed with the students and teachers was that the main focus was on math and literacy. There was hardly any instruction on social studies, and none of it was direct. It was all vaguely brought up for a minute during morning meeting. SCIENCE was never mentioned, except for once for a couple of minutes.
SO, I think that having a class pet could be a great opportunity for science! You could teach them about the animal, it's 'habitat', it's needs, what it eats, it's scientific family, etc. Not only would this be interesting - it's THEIR class pet, how fun! - but it would also be intrinsically motivating because they have such a huge stake in it! Cool idea.
The biggest consideration for me would be - what animal? And does it have awesome survival skills? -- because I am definitely not going to be a reliable source of life.
PETS! Let's talk about the pets thing.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid of animals. I am seriously afraid of animals. I am with Nikki in that I think there could be a lot of problems - keeping the animal alive, making sure all the students feel included in looking after it, what to do with it on the weekends/holidays, will it need veterinary care, etc.
HOWEVER, at my first placement, one of the biggest struggles I noticed with the students and teachers was that the main focus was on math and literacy. There was hardly any instruction on social studies, and none of it was direct. It was all vaguely brought up for a minute during morning meeting. SCIENCE was never mentioned, except for once for a couple of minutes.
SO, I think that having a class pet could be a great opportunity for science! You could teach them about the animal, it's 'habitat', it's needs, what it eats, it's scientific family, etc. Not only would this be interesting - it's THEIR class pet, how fun! - but it would also be intrinsically motivating because they have such a huge stake in it! Cool idea.
The biggest consideration for me would be - what animal? And does it have awesome survival skills? -- because I am definitely not going to be a reliable source of life.
First of all, I love that poster, Emily! Second of all, Suzannah: life cycles and habitats are a part of the fourth grade science standards! My teachers actually talked about how they "had" to order animals for their life science studies in the upcoming weeks. We spent almost an entire team meeting talking about their animal horror stories. In the past, they have ALWAYS had frogs and crabs die partway through the year. One of my teachers said that the crab had died before school one day and she threw it away, not mentioning it to the kids. When they came in and asked where the second crab had gone, she said: "what? We have only ever had one crab!". Besides that approach, though, many of the teachers talked about how seeing the animals live and die helps emphasize what the students would be learning about the life cycle. Eventually, everything has its own expiration date. :/ The teachers also talked about how you had to constantly clean the cages because otherwise the animals would begin to stink. My boyfriend even told me about a teacher he had who had pet snakes. He was in charge of feeding the snakes live mice! I could never do that...too much ickiness and guilt!
ReplyDeleteAs for the classroom arrangement, I have always been partial to a nice, cozy library. I have wanted to include a nook-style library with big pillows in my classroom since I was a little kid! Now that I am thinking about the educational practicality of the classroom, everything I choose has to fit around my library! Because reading is important, darn it! Another thing about classroom arrangement is that I think I will be moving my ideas around a great deal until I find what works. In my placement now, I see teachers who are still updating their classroom arrangements and behavior systems in order to find what works best for the kids--and it is February! One of the teachers recently switched to placing the desks in pairs so that students' distractions are limited but they still have someone to do think-pair-share with. Ever since I heard of her idea, I have been thinking about how that could be a beneficial set-up. But, I would want to try it out with my students before deciding what I will maintain. Additionally, I know that I will change the wall decorations on a regular basis because--get this--in Tennessee, one of the teaching evaluation criteria is whether you have current student work and anchor charts on the walls! So, word to the wise: keep updating your walls or you might be penalized! :)