My Classroom
I want my classroom to be an inviting place where students feel comfortable and engaged. I've had four different classroom spaces over the years, but certain elements always remain constant in my design of a teaching space.
Below are some of the elements I consider vital to my classroom environment.
Below are some of the elements I consider vital to my classroom environment.
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Literacy Focused
I want my students to read and the best way to make that happen is to put books under their noses and in every corner of the classroom. I have over 800 middle grades books in my classroom that students can borrow at any time. In the back of my room, the window ledges and countertops are lined with great novels. In the front of the room are another four shelves of books. When we are running our Battle of the Books program, there is a book cart that stays stationed at the door with copies of the book selections for students to check out. In addition, I realize that sometimes it takes a little more to interest students in books. Last summer, I decided to decorate one wall with a "book to film" theme using movie posters. I have posters from The Lightning Thief, Fellowship of the Rings, Prince Caspian, Alice in Wonderland, Eclipse, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Harry Potter series is a particular favorite of mine and I also have a life-sized cut-out of Harry Potter from the book release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A colleague attended a midnight release party at Barnes and Noble and after it was over, the store gave away some of their displays. The kids love all of these connections and sometimes are surprised to learn that a film they liked was a book first, like Holes or The Tale of Despereaux. Right now, my students are eagerly awaiting the release of Catching Fire and I will likely add that poster to my collection. I always am looking for new and creative ways to engage my students in reading. |
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Collaborative Workspace
I like my students to work in groups often. In our literature studies, I have students work with partners to look up vocabulary definitions and answer study questions about the reading. They are allowed to spread out anywhere in the room and often will sit on the carpeted areas or on ottomans in the back of the room. Occasionally we use literature circles as part of our novel studies and students must meet in bigger groups to share their assignments. Last year, I began videotaping one discussion each time we did literature circles. Again, having enough space for students to sit down in a comfortable spot and have a discussion is very important to the process. |
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Technology Friendly
I integrate technology into my lessons as much as possible. I am fortunate to have a room equipped with a SMART Board and mounted projector, so I often use that to display websites or demonstrate what students will do in a Google Docs lesson. As a 1:1 Chromebook school, my students are able to use technology in meaningful ways on a daily basis. Recently, we have transitioned to online reading logs and a digital reader's notebook, which they work regularly to keep updated. Our 5th grade curriculum is reading-focused, so we try to orient many of our activities around our class study novels. Students have kept blogs this year for a character journal and contributed to a class wiki for a novel, thereby creating a valuable knowledgebase of information about the book. Students are used to seeing my iPhone out in class, not for my personal calls, of course, but for taking pictures of notes on the whiteboard to upload online, taking pictures or videos of class activities, and for listening to audiobooks and music as related to our activities. They also watch me enter scores into a gradebook app on my iPad and sometimes we will use my iPad via a hookup to the projector or wireless mirroring to the Apple TV. |
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Relaxed Learning Atmosphere
I want my students to feel relaxed and comfortable in my room. I have tried to organize the tables so students have enough room for their materials and the ability to move chairs around when needed for group work. I have six colorful ottomans in the back that students are free to use and move as needed during group activities. During Friday independent reading time with my advisees, they are able to find any comfortable place to read and many will often sit on these ottomans. I have an open door policy and students know they can come back to the classroom to see me for help during our break time, scheduled study halls, or after school. Many do or will contact me after school using our account on Schoology, an educational social media site for classrooms. I love to incorporate games for review and practice and students look forward to these days. To review vocabulary, we'll play traditional games like bingo, but I have also designed other games like baseball and basketball, Battleship, and kooshball using the SmartBoard to help us study. I think fun is an important part of every classroom and something I try to inject whenever I can. |
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Space for Club Activities
Although providing a space for teaching and learning are the primary roles of my classroom, my room always has to be flexible enough to serve other needs. Since I started Stitch for a Cause almost 10 years ago, the materials I store for our work have multiplied almost exponentially. I work hard to try to keep our materials organized and easy to access for students. We have a cubby system for storing yarn, books, and patterns and the space under the counter in the back of the room hides several more storage bins of yarn. My room is also used for Fusion, our students of color affinity group. We have lunch in the room twice a month and sometimes do crafts and art activities related to our discussions. Having a room that is flexible and provides lots of table space is very important. |
