Madeline Morrison
CI 406 – Management Project
Classroom Arrangement Plan
When researching articles to help me determine my classroom arrangement
and layout, one of the key things I found was the idea that when I’m creating an
environment conducive to students’ learning at all levels, each student’s
individualized needs are essential to be taken into consideration when designing my
layout. I cannot expect that I would be able to arrange my classroom in a way that
student levels are not taken into account – depending on student ability and behavior,
as well as needs such as teaching aids or IEP’s, different arrangements will work
differently depending on the unique makeup of my individualized classroom. While
this is one example of a classroom layout that may be effective, I do not think that
there is one specific classroom design that would work in all rooms and with all
students.
One of my main inspirations for my classroom layout is my current
cooperating classroom placement. The way my teacher has set up my room to be
extremely effective despite the vast array of ability levels depending on each student
is pretty extraordinary. I can only assume that this type of technique in classroom
arrangement and theory will be perfected with experience, and a lot of trial and error.
In the front of the classroom is a fairly large walkway in order for students to
line up and file in when they first arrive or during transitory periods. As stated in the
research study done by Buffalo State University, “Well-designed traffic pathways can
help students to move around the classroom safely, easily, and
responsibly…improving transitions, helping children establish self control, and
generally support and productive and cooperative learning environment.” Having
this well-defined pathway as well as a bin on the teacher’s desk for work to be turned
in will establish expectations right when the students walk through the door, enabling
them to be independent learners. The students know what is expected of them from
the start and this sets up the entire day off on the right hand.
I think that proximity to the teacher is one of the most important things when
considering a classroom layout and where individual students should be placed
throughout. My layout would consist of five different “groups” that would consist of
mixed level students in my classroom. In the article entitled “How to Create an
Effective Classroom Layout,” groups or ‘clusters,’ albeit may be distracting for
students completing individual work, “benefit group work and discussion,” something
I think will be crucial and a main part of my future classroom. Ideally, I would have
each group mixed evenly between males and females. Each cluster will consist of
four to five students of mixed genders and abilities, and my group in the front of the
classroom would consist of those students who may have an IEP or attention issues.
They would be the closest to the board in order for the teacher to practice the zone of
proximity technique, in which the students who may be easily distracted or may
require more help will be the most easily accessible when I (as the teacher) am
walking around the classroom. They will also be facing forward, different than the
other groups, so that they are not able to easily distract their neighbors or turn
around and distract those behind them. I would put my more gifted students toward
the back of the room, as they would be most able to stay on task despite being the
farthest away from the board.
As it said in the McCroskey study on student’s abilities and placements within a
classroom, “decisions on classroom arrangement should take into account the
attractiveness of the course to the student,” meaning that depending on how invested
a student is to the material presented in the class, their placement around the room
should be taken into consideration, and those students who are not as focused on
school and the material should have seats closer to the teacher for high likelihood of
interaction and participation, while students who are more invested and care more
about their curriculum in general can be placed in lower participation areas, as they
will still want to participate. I think that placing students of higher level thinking
abilities and maybe gifted or advanced students should be placed in the back groups
for this reason, perhaps even facing south or north, due to the fact that I feel confident
that they will still participate and succeed regardless of their seating placement. My
average level students can be intermixed within these groups of higher-level thinkers,
as they will likely perform higher when being placed with higher-level thinkers.
Finally, as briefly stated previously my lowest level thinkers or those who do not
participate as much will need to be placed towards the front so that they will be more
likely to stay on task and participate due to their close proximity to the teacher and
the board. To summarize, within their individualized clusters and groups I would
place students of varying levels – those students who might learn from the ones able
to focus easily will likely follow their lead by example.
I think groups will work especially effectively, and this arrangement is also one
that is conducive to the entire classroom as a whole. The circular design and the
feeling of one big “group” as a class is one that I feel will allow the students to feel as
though they are part of the classroom as one big community, rather than 5 different
“islands” within the room. Also, while there are just seven students that are directly
facing the board and the teacher’s desk, most every group has an example of a student
that is looking east towards the board, and the students in each quad will be able to
watch and see their peers looking in the correct direction.
There are also various places around the room for each differing activity – in
the northwest corner is a table and chairs set up for students to complete individual
or group work in a place separate from the rest of the classroom, as well as a place for
the teacher to work one on one with a student or group of student. The bookshelves
around the room will be utilized for various tasks, such as a place for work to be
turned in, a place for classroom library books to be stored, as well as mailboxes for
the students to pick up completed work and items to be taken home from school for
their parents. Towards the back of the room in the bookshelf will be games or other
distracting items that will not be used every day so they don’t distract students from
instruction.
All in all, the most important aspect of a classroom’s individualized layout is
that each student feels that they are not only a valuable, integral part of the classroom
community, but they are challenged with a curriculum that enriches their learning
along the way. By mixing abilities, keeping organization central, and having differing
achievement levels scattered throughout the room yet methodically placed in terms of
most effective instruction, I feel that this classroom layout is one of many examples I
feel would be extremely effective, so that the “students are more likely to enjoy their
work and persevere when they encounter challenges in their learning,” allowing
students from vastly different abilities to all learn at their own paces ( Multiple
Intelligences in the Classroom, 2000).
Sources:
Hurt, Scott and McCroskey. Communication in the Classroom. (Reading, Mass.:
Addison-Wesley Pub. Co). 1978.
Komendat, S. Creative Classroom Designs, 2010. Buffalo State College, State
University of New York. 2010.
Wiebusch, M. “How to Create an Effective Classroom Layout.” Community Channel
101, 2009.
Armstrong, T. Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. The State University of New
York, 2000.