So this post is going to be a teacher post. Feel free to stop reading if you are not a teacher. Or, if you are not a teacher, keep reading if you want to know what truly goes into setting up a classroom.
Ahhh August. It arrives every year and brings with it lots of anticipation about the upcoming school year. Typically, I begin having first day of school dreams around this time (this year they started a few weeks ago which is quite early- gasp!). Sometimes my dreams are really bad. You know, the kids aren't listening to me at all, I have somehow forgotten to prepare any sort of opening day activity, I oversleep and show up with rats nest hair and disheveled clothing, or a student splashes mud in my face while a friend records it and then they post in the internet. Totally normal dreams to be having- I swear. Some dreams have a sweeter tone. Students are eagerly working on the activities I work so hard to plan and there are respectful interactions between all members of the classroom community. Such dreams, both the former and the latter, motivate me to carefully plan out my classroom. Some of you may not know what goes into planning a classroom for the arrival of the students. It is not just about putting up a colorful bulletin board and taping some motivational posters featuring cute polar bears to the wall. It is about imaging the space running productively with two (sometimes three) adults in the room along with the real inhabitants that can make it shine- the 25+ students who call that space "home" for 62-minutes a day. In order to plan a classroom effectively, us teachers have to get into the minds of our students and transport ourselves to our best and worst days of the previous school year to either identify what went right or what went wrong with those class periods. (Sometimes, we have control over this :) ) I would suggest actually drawing out a plan in pencil before you shop for your classroom and even step foot in it. (This was my first plan, but I had to make some updates after spending some time in my classroom yesterday.)
To plan our classroom space, we have to consider such questions as the following:
1. If I am a typical self-conscious middle school student, in what seating arrangement am I going to feel most comfortable? I know lots of experts love the U-shaped format for student desks, but a lot of students are going to feel very exposed in this formation. Some students are going to be more focused on what they look like to the cute student across the room who they have a crush on (this week) than what we are learning about. Rows? Simply do not work in most spaces. They do not lend themselves to collaboration or discussion between students and, at least in my room, make it difficult to move around. I typically arrange my desks in tables of 4 and arrange these "tables" in a way so that each student is facing either the windows or the opposite side of the room. In other words, each student needs to turn to the left or the right to face the front board, but no one has their back to the front either. What other formations do people find successful?
2. Where can I store student supplies so that they are accessible, but not in a distracting location? This is a BIGGIE. We need to put our supplies in a place that students can easily and comfortably get to, but not too easily or comfortably. You do not want a student getting up in the middle of you going over the agenda to sharpen his pencil (efficient pencil sharpening is a post of its own as most educators know). You also do not want a student to have to squeeze behind the desks of others to get a highlighter. Be sure that supplies are in a location that works for the types of activities you typically do in your classroom. (My suggestion in the next section might help.)
3. How am I going to organize student supplies to maximize time on learning? This is where some non-teachers are going to pause and be like, "Aren't we over-thinking this a bit?" and most teachers will exclaim, "No!" (if we could actually hear each other :) ) I have tried a few systems for materials. First, I have tried the one kit per table group method. When supplies are needed I will have the person from each group whose name comes first in the alphabet, the person whose birthday is next, or something of the like go and get the group's supply kit. Each "kit" might contain glue sticks, markers, colored pencils, crayons, highlighters, scissors, sticky notes, rulers, and maybe a little surprise based on what we are doing that day (packages of "smarties" if we are having a quiz, bookmarks if we are reading a novel, etc.) This method only works until June if you develop a system holding each group responsible for the materials in their kit. If you assign the same kit to the same group each day than you can always narrow it down to 4 kids if you are missing a blue colored pencil after period 2. You could also start the year with a checklist of what needs to be in the kit at the end of the class period and you can physically have one student check the items off while the other members of the group hold the items up. It seems like a lot of work but when you invest this time upfront you are more likely to not be left with only brown crayons, yellow and orange colored pencils, and some broken rulers at the end of the year. A second method is to have a bin for each type of material. This way, if you are using scissors and glue that day but not coloring utensil you can instruct one member of the group to go obtain those materials. I have tried this method and personally do not like it because a. my students are 7th graders and some of them are mature enough to know what materials they are going to need to execute a specific task, b. I do not have enough supplies for each member of the class, and 3.
4. Where am I going to display student work to celebrate strong effort? Admittedly, I did not plan a good space for such displays last year and, as you would expect, I did not do a great job of regularly displaying student work. This year, I have a plan in place. Student work is going to be displayed across from my main door and to the right of a secondary door (both doors are used each day). This way, excellent work is in the direct line of their vision. I would venture to say that 99% of students enjoy seeing their work on display when they know they put good effort into it. This year, I have a banner that reads, "Good Work Grows Here" (Dollar Tree purchase). Underneath it I am going to attach a tree made out of brown shopping bags. One of the first homework assignments this year asks student to trace their hand, write in important information about themselves, and then cut it out. I will then attach these hands as the "leaves" of the trees. (Access this homework assignment here.) Strong work will be displayed around this tree with the assignment description and rubric attached. I once read that it is important to change classroom displays (or even rearrange them) every few weeks. After this point they lose their impact and become part of the landscape. This means, that I should probably put new assignments up each time I collect and grade interactive notebooks. (More on the use of interactive notebooks in another post.)
5. How am I going to effectively use wall space to maximize learning? Last year, I had a lot going on when it comes to the walls of my classroom. I had moved into a new classroom and the walls were very dirty. (Footprints on the wall 6 feet off the floor? What in the world...?) I decided to cover up this yuckiness with lots of maps. Visually I thought it looked great until I started to think about it from the perspectives of some of my students. For a student with attention issues this was probably very overwhelming. This year, I am going to make sure that each section is devoted to one specific purpose:
1. Displaying student work as I mentioned in #4
2. Word wall
3. Reading tips and information
4. Writing tips and information
5. Information like upcoming events, lunch menus, team birthdays, etc. (outside bulletin board)
6. Information like daily agenda, homework, objectives and standards
7. Geography skills
This way, if a student needs assistance with vocabulary I can point them to one specific location (word wall).
Hmmm, that was a lot of information. Some of it probably obvious to some of you, some of it hopefully new and helpful. What other tips do people have for planning and organizing a (hopefully) effective classroom?
Since this is Part 1, I will be sure to post Part 2 with before and after pictures in the next few weeks. (Not next week though because my husband and I are leaving for our HONEYMOON tonight!!! Sweet vacation time!)
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