As we get closer to the coming school year (my kiddos return on August 28th,) I've been thinking a great deal about classroom set up. I really should stop kidding myself about that statement though, because in all honesty, I think about classroom set up often, all throughout the year, and most definitely love to switch things up if they get stale or stop working the way I want them to.
I'm of the persuasion that many good things in life begin with a solid list: guest list, top 10 vacation destination list, play list, wine list.... (ready for a terrible pun?)... the list goes on. Tee-hee.
At my school, we're provided with a basic checklist for our classroom environment, which I actually think could be helpful to just about anyone setting up an elementary school classroom-- so here is my lightly modified (with commentary, of course!) version:
(1) Classroom name/picture of classroom namesake clearly displayed.
- Each class in our school has a classroom namesake. In many schools, teachers use themes to unify their room. My only caveat/thought about themes is to be sure you have a good reason. If you like leopard print, feel free to wear it, but try not to impose it on your kids without some sound academic or character building tie-in. It's a classroom, not a nursery. Just my two cents.
(2) Accurate daily schedule/agenda is displayed.
- This will come as a surprise to no one: our students love to know what's coming. My kids took to the habit of examining (and getting excited over) the daily schedule as they walked in and did their unpacking routine. It also keeps me focused, grounded, organized...
(3) Lesson objectives are clearly posted.
- I was surprised to learn that this wasn't common practice. I post mine with the schedule-- makes it very easy for the kids to put the pieces together.
(4) Monthly planning calendars/unit plans are clearly posted.
- We post ours in the hallway. Keeps me accountable and allows visitors to understand the scope of what we're working on before they enter the classroom.
(5) Classroom library is accessible, inviting, and engaging, and books are sorted by genre and level.
- I have a lot to say about classroom libraries and will be returning to this topic in later posts.
(6) Word Wall and Math Wall are visible and up to date.
- These should start to grow exponentially in the first weeks of school, but for initial set up, you want to be sure you've made adequate room for what you'll need.
(7) Morning Meeting board is visible and up to date.
- In addition to all the items you need for calendar, you want to be sure your space accounts for enough room for circling up and making the morning message visible to all your students.
(8) Math/Reading Process Skills Charts are visible and up to date.
- I will probably start the year with one basic chart for both math and reading, but nothing more. The rest will go up as we begin to delve into our units.
(9) Recent student work from various subjects is prominently displayed throughout the room.
- Clearly, you have nothing to display yet, but the things I'm thinking of are: Have I made space for an abundant amount of student work? Have I made it easy on myself to put things up and pull them down (using clothespins? marking a spot for each student? stocked up on thumbtacks? chosen colors/borders thoughtfully so that they can be used for a variety of units?)
(10) Room is colorful, inviting, engaging and print rich.
- I love color! We can't paint our walls, but in addition to bins and bulletin board paper, etc... this year I think I'm going to try to find some inexpensive fabric to brighten things up even more.
(11) Room is orderly and neat with labeled storage areas.
- This allows students to be more independent, and it keeps me sane.
(12) Desks/tables are arranged to provide freedom of movement and logical traffic patterns.
- When thinking about classroom arrangement, I try to think of the whole day, but for movement in the classroom, I most especially think of lining up by the door, a circle for our meeting times, lines at mailboxes, loading and unloading their belongings from the closet, and all chairs pushed out at once. I check from many seats-- does it fit? Are they bumping into one another?
(13) Areas are defined by purpose: meeting areas, writing center, conferencing table, computer station, etc...
-This year my challenge will be trying to accommodate a secondary teaching space in my room, for my Associate Teacher and any specialists who might do push-in work. I want them to have the space and materials they need for full instruction.
(14) School values/motto/cheer are clearly displayed.
- Any sort of school-wide values should be echoed in your classroom and the classrooms of other teachers year after year.
This is a lot to think about. Even after doing all this, however, I still harken back to advice I got from a (very wise) teacher I worked with my very first year. She told me that I should leave much of the classroom as a blank canvas and let the kids fill it up with their work and the things you do together, giving the students a sense of ownership and belonging within the classroom. The more I planned to do/hang/craft/create (so guilty of this last year) the less space I had for posting the charts/work of students, and the more the classroom reflected me, not them or even us. I'm on a mission this year to remedy that.
**Tangent Alert** When working with any materials or speaking of the classroom generally, I try never to say "my" or "mine" in reference to anything, even if I purchased them with my own funds. Unless something is actually mine, "my" coat, or "my" mug. In all other situations, "our," "ours," or "yours," works just fine, and lets the kids know that they are responsible for what they do-- not because it's mine, but because it belongs to everyone.
Over the next few days, I'll be posting some pictures of my classroom set up from last year and thinking about what I'd like to do differently now being in 2nd grade. I'll also be musing on creating a brain-friendly environment based on what I learned about in my summer course. Once I get into the building, too, I'll be posting on my progress with all my new furniture (woo-hoo) and hopefully I'll be swamped with brilliance and genius about how to make it all work. Do you have any back-to-school lists that you love? What would you add to this checklist? Do you have a system that keeps you super organized during your unpack?
No comments:
Post a Comment