I designed my classroom floor plan for a Kindergarten classroom. It is so important for teachers to plan out what they want to do with their classroom before moving furniture around because teachers need to effectively use the space they are given and make it accessible and safe for their students. I used Diller's book on classroom set up to plan out my classroom and to make decisions on where I placed all my furniture.
I decided that in order to be able to move around and help my students best, having individual desks would not work. So I put my students at table clusters. That way I can put all the supplies each table needs at the center of the table so students are not running all around the classroom to gather things. It also allows students to help each other because they are sitting in small groups all the time. This will allow me as a teacher to be able to move from table to table to observe and help out my students. I placed the classroom carpet near the Smart Board and my rocking chair so that it can become a gathering place in the classroom. Here on the carpet I can have morning meetings, teach from the Smart Board, and allow students to congregate there while reading books. I also placed my easel and mobile whiteboard near this area so that I can easily write down brainstorm ideas or visual demonstrations without having the students moving around too much. Behind the rocking chair, I placed bookshelves so that students can pick out books to read either around the room or on the carpet. By placing the books near the carpet students have easy access to them and it creates a comfy reading area for students. I also made sure to include a small group table in the back of the classroom. This will allow me as a teacher to work with a reading group or a group of students who are struggling to complete a task. I also placed the table so that as a teacher I can still observe the entire class from my position at that table. Kindergarten students do not always stay on task, so being able to work with a small group of students and still keep an eye on the rest of the class is very important. This is also the reason why my teacher desk faces the entire class as well. At the front of the classroom, I also made a computer station/center for students to use during indoor recess. This will help incorporate technology use into my class and gives students another activity to do during recess or center time. In my class I included a lot of storage. The two storage closets, the filing cabinets and the mobile storage bin will all contain teaching supplies and teaching aids. This will help me as a teacher to stay organized as well as help me to find things I need for a lesson easier. Near the door to my classroom is the classroom coat rack and student mailboxes. I placed these near each other so that at the beginning and end of the day everything my students need are in the same general area. This will make unpacking and packing up a lot easier and less chaotic. Overall, I tried to make the room easy to navigate, especially for students who may have special needs. This is also the reason why I made a lot of the objects in my classroom mobile. If I need to make more room for these students all I have to do is move some of the objects around to give them better access to materials.
This project ties into the Danielson Framework for Teaching Component 2E because it is all about creating a safe and accessible classroom environment for students. By planning out where I was going to place my furniture, I showed thoughtfulness and a deeper understanding of the needs of my students. To achieve this, I used the program Floorplanner. All I had to do was draw out the dimensions of my room and then I could search for the furniture I desired. From there I could move and rearrange the furniture however I liked. While doing this, I had to consult Diller's textbook to assure my setup would be effective and safe for my students. I also had to rearrange furniture multiple times to make better use of the space I was given, as well as to make sure that every area of the classroom was accessible for students who might be handicapped. Overall, this project went really well. The program was easy to use and made planning out my classroom extremely easy. In the future, I would try to find a way to create a better reading area for my students and include more storage. Although the carpet would work for a reading area, Kindergarten students love pillows and comfy chairs to sit in, so having them in my classroom would make reading more enjoyable for them. I, as the teacher, have a lot of supplies and I do not feel they would all fit in the storage I provided myself in this project. So in the future I would include more cabinet space to take care of this problem. This project ties into what I am learning in Educational Psychology because in this class we are learning about how students' senses can affect their learning. If the classroom environment is not stimulating these senses, some students might have difficulty learning, which is why classroom set up is so important.
Sources
Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing professional practice a framework for teaching (2nd ed.). Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Diller, D. (2008). Spaces & places: Designing classrooms for literacy. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse.
I decided that in order to be able to move around and help my students best, having individual desks would not work. So I put my students at table clusters. That way I can put all the supplies each table needs at the center of the table so students are not running all around the classroom to gather things. It also allows students to help each other because they are sitting in small groups all the time. This will allow me as a teacher to be able to move from table to table to observe and help out my students. I placed the classroom carpet near the Smart Board and my rocking chair so that it can become a gathering place in the classroom. Here on the carpet I can have morning meetings, teach from the Smart Board, and allow students to congregate there while reading books. I also placed my easel and mobile whiteboard near this area so that I can easily write down brainstorm ideas or visual demonstrations without having the students moving around too much. Behind the rocking chair, I placed bookshelves so that students can pick out books to read either around the room or on the carpet. By placing the books near the carpet students have easy access to them and it creates a comfy reading area for students. I also made sure to include a small group table in the back of the classroom. This will allow me as a teacher to work with a reading group or a group of students who are struggling to complete a task. I also placed the table so that as a teacher I can still observe the entire class from my position at that table. Kindergarten students do not always stay on task, so being able to work with a small group of students and still keep an eye on the rest of the class is very important. This is also the reason why my teacher desk faces the entire class as well. At the front of the classroom, I also made a computer station/center for students to use during indoor recess. This will help incorporate technology use into my class and gives students another activity to do during recess or center time. In my class I included a lot of storage. The two storage closets, the filing cabinets and the mobile storage bin will all contain teaching supplies and teaching aids. This will help me as a teacher to stay organized as well as help me to find things I need for a lesson easier. Near the door to my classroom is the classroom coat rack and student mailboxes. I placed these near each other so that at the beginning and end of the day everything my students need are in the same general area. This will make unpacking and packing up a lot easier and less chaotic. Overall, I tried to make the room easy to navigate, especially for students who may have special needs. This is also the reason why I made a lot of the objects in my classroom mobile. If I need to make more room for these students all I have to do is move some of the objects around to give them better access to materials.
This project ties into the Danielson Framework for Teaching Component 2E because it is all about creating a safe and accessible classroom environment for students. By planning out where I was going to place my furniture, I showed thoughtfulness and a deeper understanding of the needs of my students. To achieve this, I used the program Floorplanner. All I had to do was draw out the dimensions of my room and then I could search for the furniture I desired. From there I could move and rearrange the furniture however I liked. While doing this, I had to consult Diller's textbook to assure my setup would be effective and safe for my students. I also had to rearrange furniture multiple times to make better use of the space I was given, as well as to make sure that every area of the classroom was accessible for students who might be handicapped. Overall, this project went really well. The program was easy to use and made planning out my classroom extremely easy. In the future, I would try to find a way to create a better reading area for my students and include more storage. Although the carpet would work for a reading area, Kindergarten students love pillows and comfy chairs to sit in, so having them in my classroom would make reading more enjoyable for them. I, as the teacher, have a lot of supplies and I do not feel they would all fit in the storage I provided myself in this project. So in the future I would include more cabinet space to take care of this problem. This project ties into what I am learning in Educational Psychology because in this class we are learning about how students' senses can affect their learning. If the classroom environment is not stimulating these senses, some students might have difficulty learning, which is why classroom set up is so important.
Sources
Danielson, C. (2007). Enhancing professional practice a framework for teaching (2nd ed.). Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Diller, D. (2008). Spaces & places: Designing classrooms for literacy. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse.