Hannah Liss EDTE 402 Classroom Design

The classroom design I have manufactured is not necessarily the most rigid of all plans. Keeping in mind the individual learning preferences of differing students, as well as a schedule involving both lab work and lecture, I have drafted a loose blueprint of my ideal classroom. It is my understanding that not every plan a new teacher begins with works out quite as expected. Though I currently plan to have the students desks in rows corresponding with a behaviorist approach, I will be sure to have students rearrange desks and group together for certain tasks/portions of lessons. The involvement students have with one another will not only vary based upon the lesson at hand, but also by the behavior each interaction activates. My classroom layout, just as my lesson plan and teaching strategies, will change and mold to fit best each group of students attending class.

My classroom will be painted more neutral colors, with a neutral floor. I will have a gigantic poster displaying the periodic table of elements (showing all necessary information) on the portion of the wall directly behind my desk. Along the walls ear the lab benches will be fun, illustrated posters reminding students of important safety rules. In the back of the room I will have a clock posted upon the wall. This will be so that I can tell the time for management purposes, as opposed to students counting down the minutes until the bell rings. On this back wall will also be a bulletin board upon which each student, as well as myself, will post a favorite picture or piece of information. I imagine

the classroom to be rectangular with the front/back walls of the room measuring approximately 1/2 of the length of the adjacent walls. The visual representation I have constructed of the room displays a 20x40 square foot area containing lab desks, student desks, sinks, a smartboard, a storage unit, and a lounge area. The size of the room is not as large as desired, but I wished to keep my ultimate classroom design reasonable and achievable. The rectangular shape is, however, important to the layout due to my preferred lab bench/student desk placement.

I have intentionally placed have two rows of lab benches on either side of the classroom walls. It seems reasonable that students will find themselves to be slightly more independent if placed at individual benches rather than a few long benches. Those students looking for help will be less inclined to simply mimic neighbors actions to their right or left and instead ask the students directly behind them. It will be difficult to copy the actions of those students ahead due to their bodies obstruction of the view. Instead of taking the easy route, students will try more steps on their own, helping them to better learn by discovery. Students will be partnered up for each experiment, so that they can help one another and also strengthen community. This also isolates any safety hazards involved with chemical spills or broken glass. Each bench will be fitted with a small sink and gas hose (which only I will light). At the end of each lab bench row near the front of the classroom is a set of sinks. These sinks will be for hand washing and eye-washing only. This will help me to ensure the safety and cleanliness of the students.

The front of the room contains a smartboard, long teachers desk, and storage cabinet. The smartboard is centered in the room so that students may easily view the notes and examples covered during the lecture portion of the class. Though nostalgia tempts me with chalk or dry erase boards, I envision my on classroom to contain a smartboard. This is simply because I want the students to have access to any notes or examples I cover in class via the Internet. Smartboards allow lessons to be easily edited and shared. My desk will be long so that many papers and things can easily be organized on top. My desk will also be more toward the corner of the room so that it is out of the way. This is because I plan to walk around the classroom constantly during lab, and will be standing while utilizing the smartboard. The storage cabinet in the front of the room will contain any supplies I see fit for the classroom. I have placed it up front mainly because it fit there best, but also so that students will be less inclined to rummage through it. My classroom is lacking two things common among other rooms. I intentionally left out textbook shelves and computers. Firstly, I have an ideal plan that I hope will entice students to come to class prepared and well read. Students will be encouraged to leave heavy books at home and instead bring with them to class notes taken on each assigned portion of reading. I have a few ideas about the way students and I will go about utilizing these notes. Some days I plan to have a more guided lecture in which I stress the most important aspects of the readings and they add any missing pieces to their notes, other days I may open the classroom with a bell ringer directing them to pull together desk and discuss in groups, and at other times I may have a more student-driven class period in which many questions are asked and answered. These more interactive

methods will hopefully inspire students to stay alert and focused, while also alleviating any forgotten-book-issues. I also left computers out of my classroom. Any technology students will need to view may be projected upon my smartboard at the front of the class. I strongly believe class discussion and lab work will teach students far more effectively than the use of computers. Computers can sometimes prove to be distractions. I also put lab work at a higher regard due to the hands-on incentive.

The behaviorist inspired arrangement of students desks will be interchangeable with small groups of approximately four clustered together. Though I will primarily have the desks in rows, it is because a certain amount of Chemistry must be lecture pertaining to laws, formulas, and certain basics. Though I will do my best to be active and interesting, I will need students to partake in a certain amount of lecture time. This seems to be more compatible with columns. In addition, their involvement with the lab bench areas will add variety to the stuffier rows of desks.

In the back of the classroom I would like to have a small lounge area for students. Upon allowing group work, I may use the lounge area as an incentive for highperforming students (behaviorally or results-wise). The wall behind the couch will be decorated with work of the students, deeming it their area. This will also add an element of comfort to the seemingly stiff scientific behaviorist modeled classroom. In addition, I plan to post a bulletin board upon which each student will be encouraged to tack up a photograph or document that is important to him or her. This will help develop

a stronger sense of unity by acting as a potential conversation starter and also sharing happy memories.

Though we had many freedoms with this project, I attempted to keep my classroom as realistic and simple as possible. I understand the need for resources and funding throughout many schools, and would like to form a plan allowing me to make do with less, rather than more. I believe the layout I have constructed utilizes a small/average space and contains reasonable amounts of equipment. This classroom is completely reasonable as well as functional. It allows for some behaviorist approaches in teaching as well as some constructivist. This will help with my various desired elements of teaching and not constrict me to certain methods.