Entree 1

Classroom Environment: Physical Layout & Features

General Overview

The students and myself will be spending a lot of time together every year in our biology classroom and it is imperative that all aspects of the room be intentionally and strategically set up to provide a comfortable and optimal workspace. Similarly to how I would like my students to view my teaching style, I want my classroom to be warm and demanding of learning, while still adhering to student’s physical, social and emotional needs. I thrive in a somewhat clean an organized environment so I will be taking pride in my classroom layout throughout the school year.

Furniture Arrangement

The door is at the front left hand side of the classroom and is adjacent to the supplies table and cabinets in the front of the room (see figure 1). Students will have bins to turn in their assignments on the supplies table and there will also be new materials placed there for students to pick up before class begins. There will be a makeup work folder for each class hanging on the wall in the front that has what each student missed while they were absent. They will simply need to look in their class period and take the papers that are clipped together with their name on it.

The teacher’s desk is on the right hand side in the front of the room. While there are students in my room I do not anticipate sitting at the desk much, but my computer will be there in case anything needs to be projected up onto the screen. That will also be where I do all of my planning and grading during my planning period as well as before and after school.

There will be a few flexible seating options in the class as well. On top of typical science classroom chairs with backs, I plan on having some wobble stools for students who may need to fidget a little to pay attention. I’d also like to get on or two stand up desks for students who would prefer to stand. There are also two round tables in the back (see floor plans below) that I plan on using in many different ways. I will use them as a flexible seating option as well as a place to have one on one or small group instruction with students who may need a little extra help. They will also be available for group work.

In every science classroom there should be sinks lining the walls with an ample amount of storage space for the laboratory equipment. Typically, there are built in bookshelves too, but if there aren’t, then I will definitely buy a few for my classroom (they’re the pink structures in the floor plan model below). Not only do I want a nice bookshelf for our textbooks, I also want to have a library full of other interesting biology related literature that students can use for projects or just at their own leisure. I already have a nice collection of field identification guides, Virginia Natural History books, and a myriad of other science related books that will hopefully help spark student’s interest in biology and get them reading on a more consistent basis.

To help minimize distractions I am going to have a small box on each desk for students to put their cell phones in during class (pictured below). I will also give the students the option to place their phones in the charging station over behind my desk (pictured below with the box) I would like to have at least three trashcans throughout the room so that students wont disrupt the whole class if they need to throw something away (the little round figures in the floor plans below).

Floor Plan 1 – desk arrangement

During direct instruction, independent work, a movie or any tests/quizzes that are not collaborative; the students will be sitting two to a table facing the front of the room. This will help minimize the student’s desire to talk to each other and will allow me as the teacher to make eye contact with students as I’m interacting with them. In the case of a test or quiz, I will provide cardboard dividers for the students.

Figure 1

Floor Plan 2 – desk arrangement

In a science classroom there are a lot of collaborative assignments. Sometimes the assignments will have the students working in pairs, and in that case they will leave the tables as they are laid out in floor plan 1. However, if the assignment calls for students to work in groups of three or four, then the students will turn their tables (or the tables will be turned before they get to class) into the groupings seen in floor plan 2. There will be two students on each side facing the other two students, which provides an optimal workspace for discussions and group projects. I plan on having floor plan two be the layout more often than not.

Figure 2

Decor

I would like to have science related posters hanging on some of the walls. They will mostly be informative and related to science content, since I anticipate students will be staring at them at least at some point during class time. I would also like to have a bulletin board somewhere near the front of the classroom to post any cool news stories. On the bulletin board I will also have a calendar so that students can write up any important dates on there. I will definitely have birthdays written, but I also want students to put up any other extra-curricular events that I may be able to go to if I have time.

Poster & Bulletin Board Examples: (note: more examples of posters that promote tolerance can be seen in entree three under peer-peer relationships section)

Along the top of the classroom walls, if space permits, I would like to put an outline of every unit and the information we covered in it on display. This is something I will post up at the end of a unit so when students are zoning out and staring at the walls during class, at least they’ll still be engaging somewhat with material that they have been learning and will have something to reference when trying to connect any new material to material they’ve learned in the past. For example, if we have just finished a unit on evolution I would put something like “Unit 4 – Evolution” and that have maybe 8-15 key terms, ideas, theories, etc. underneath along with relevant photos like a cladogram or something. This will be something I as the teacher put up, but I will also use it as an option for an anchor activity if a student has completed all of their work for the day.

There will also be a space somewhere that will rotate displaying student’s work. I haven’t figured out how I will decide whose work will be displayed because I am anticipating having at least 70 students at once. I will probably end up displaying one class’s work for each assignment that is worthy of being displayed.

I would likewise like to have some of my own personal affects around my classroom since I am going there as much if not more than I am in my own home. I’ll probably hang some things I’ve acquired in my travels and have some photos of important people in my life around my desk. I would also like to have a place to display previous student’s photos who I may have bonded with over the years to remind me that not only am I having an impact on my students, but they are also having an impact on me.

Plants are also important for me to have in my classroom. They bring a calming sense and I would like to task the students with the responsibility of keeping them alive (I’ll have a watering chart and schedule for them to follow). Plants also soften up a classroom by bringing beauty and life into it.

Environmental Preferences

Lighting – If I’m lucky, there will be windows in my classroom bringing in natural light from outside. If there are a lot of windows, there will be thick enough shades to block any glare or direct sunlight that hinders instruction. If there are no windows, like in many biology classes I have witnessed, then I would like to be able to create some sort of softer lighting than the typical fluorescent lights. That may mean a light dimmer, turning off half of the lights, or getting separate lamps with softer bulbs. I prefer softer lighting because the bright fluorescent lights have been found to be linked to hyperactivity in some students and can give some people headaches.

Color – I’d like to paint my room so that it looks fresh at the beginning of the school year and I’d like it to be a soft, cool color like a light aqua because apparently cool colors can reduce behavioral problems ("How Classroom Design Impacts Learning and Engagement Infographic", 2015).

Temperature – I’d like to keep the temperature as comfortable as possible and not too warm so students won’t be tempted to fall asleep, I’m thinking around 65 degrees. On nice days I will (hopefully) be able to open my window’s and I will have fans if necessary on hot days.

How my future classroom will fulfill the six functions of the classroom setting as outlined in Management

Security and Shelter

I will have lab safety posters reminding students of the rules.
My classroom will be accessible to any and all students with disabilities. There will be flexible seating options, a quiet corner in the back if students need to retreat for a little, and I will have calming and cool color schemes to help with student’s hyperactive disorders.
Cardboard dividers will be provided for testing.

Social Contact

I have different seating arrangements based on how much I want students to interact. I have them in groups when they will be collaborating with one another and I have them facing forward when I need their undivided attention for a moment.
I have created multiple pathways around the student’s seats so that I can easily get into close proximity to any student in either of the arrangements. I plan on having the students collaborate a lot and therefore it will be easy for me to circulate constantly.

Symbolic Identification

I will have a place where student’s work will be displayed on a rotating basis.
I am going to have a calendar displayed in the front of the classroom where all of my students can write in events that are important to them such as birthdays and extracurricular events that I can attend.
I will have some personal affects around the room to represent who I am including photos of loved ones and certain artifacts I’ve collected throughout my life
I will have a bulletin board or some other space to keep past student’s photos to remind my current students that I really am invested in their lives.

Task Instrumentality

The table in the front of the room will have bins for turning in work as well as missed work, and new work to be collected before class starts.
The ample storage space in most classrooms will allow me to neatly organize and label all of my materials. If students will be using materials they generally don’t use I will either have them distributed to their desks before they even get into class or I will have them up on the table at the front of the room where they know I will place any instrumental materials for each days lesson.
The seats are all facing forward in the floor plan created for direct instruction so that every student can see the board.
There are multiple pathways throughout the room in each of the two floor plans making it easy for teachers and students to navigate while being minimally disruptive.
My desk is in the front of the room so that I can hook up my computer easily to the projector for presentations. I don’t plan on sitting in it very often, but if I do it is facing the entire classroom so that I can see every student. It also is facing the door to the classroom so I can keep an eye on what is happening in the hallway.

Pleasure

I plan on having the classroom decorated with many aesthetically pleasing things. These include fun and informative posters, plants, student work, and bulletin board displays
I also plan on intentionally making a calming and cool color scheme and have soft and pleasant lighting in the room.
The flexible seating options also will allow students to be more comfortable by being able to choose from a variety of seating options.

Growth

The bookshelf I plan to have is going to be full of literature pertaining to all of the physical and life sciences since they’re all intertwined into the biology curriculum. I plan on having field identification guides, books that delve deeper into some of the topics we’ll cover like genetics and human impact; as well as some other books that may not be related to science that I think adolescents may enjoy.
The group work seating arrangement and the tables in the back allow for collaborative learning to take place and for students to experience growth with each other.

References

Birds of the Garden: Winter I Identification Chart. Retrieved May 06, 2017, from http://www.nature-discovery.com/birds-of-the-garden-winter-i-identification-chart
DNA & RNA NEW CLASSROOM BIOLOGY SCIENCE POSTER. Retrieved May 06, 2017, from http://www.posterenvy.com/dna-rna-new-classroom-biology-science-poster/
Flynn Scientific Safety Posters. Retrieved May 06, 2017, from https://www.flinnsci.com/products/safety-supplies/safety-posters--signs/
How Classroom Design Impacts Learning and Engagement Infographic. (2015, June 11). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from http://elearninginfographics.com/design-can-impact-learning-engagement-classrooms/
Icovia® Space Planner. Retrieved March 27, 2017, from http://thelibrarystore.icovia.com/
Pinterest. Retrieved March 27, 2017, from https://www.pinterest.com/
The Teacher Girls: Teacher Binders and Organization Part 1. Retrieved May 06, 2017, from https://teachergirls.files.wordpress.com/
Weinstein, C. S., & Novodvorsky, I. (2015). Designing the Physical Environment. In Middle and secondary classroom management: lessons from research and practice. (28-47) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.