Module 16: Effective Classroom Organization (pgs. 199-209)
Please discuss your thoughts on the recommendations for classroom practice in using the following strategies:
- Ensuring student access to learning centers, technology, and equipment
- Decorating the room to reinforce learning
- Preparing and organizing materials
- Arranging students' desks and chairs and the teacher's work area
Procedures, procedures, procedures. If we have the materials accessible but we don't teach them how to access them they won't do it the way we are thinking and then we will be upset. Okay, that is something I learned about myself. I found I can't fault a child for not putting something away the right way if I didn't teach them to do so. It is interesting how decorating a room has changed over times. So much space now is needed for anchor charts and learning activities that are student generated. I agree with Marzano when he states that the way our room looks communicates a powerful message to students. Organizing materials is key to helping our students learn to organize themselves. Many of our students live in chaos in their homes. We need to help them learn how to organize themselves to be successful. Once again a great AVID trait!!! My poor custodian when I was in the classroom. I was constantly rearranging desks and tables. I had to have the best fit for a student and if it didn't work I rearranged. Thank goodness I learned from Kagan that I needed to give them 4 weeks to be in their spot so they could learn to work with others. I am sure my custodian appreciated it. Student seating arrangements are tied to their ability to see things you need them to see, hear things you need them to hear and communicate with those who they need to communicate with.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 6-Module 16
ReplyDeleteI am a creature of habit. I like organization....a place for everything and everything in it's place. I expect the same from my students. When setting up the organization of my classroom, I plan out the physical space and the traffic flow. Can I see all students if I happen to be sitting at my desk? Can students easily access the area to submit assignments without forming a traffic jam in the morning? I remember when I taught kindergarten, I set up the room with bookshelves to serve as barricades so students didn't have a large area to get a running start to anywhere. I also want to be able to easily move from student to student while I am teaching and be able to talk at the same time.
My wall space is set up so students can see CHAMPS procedures and other instructional priorities. I use a laser light to teach from these posters because some of them are posted at high levels in the room. I do need to do a better job of posting anchor charts. If I don't have room, I make it a point to post them in the hall and actually take students to that location to reflect on the content. Plus, students see the work passing by it in the hall at various times. The visual displays I have posted on the walls have been thought out carefully with content in mind. To an outsider it might seem like some items are "decorations." I do have a purpose in mind for all of them. I'm not climbing the ladder with a hot glue gun for fun.
As far as preparing and organizing materials, fortunately I have help to do that. My dad runs off papers for me saving me lots of time. I have all the next week's work in order in a stack before I leave on Friday. When I leave every night, the next day's papers are all ready to go, with the schedule of the day written on the whiteboard. Students really get use to coming in to see what we will be doing that day. I also use the whiteboard to help them write their daily goal. If something happens to me over the weekend, the teacher has the whole week of papers and plans ready to go.
I just finished setting up the majority of my classroom this week. My first priority was my student desks. I've always been set with cooperative groups of 4, but this year I'm trying something new so they have access with more than the same 3 people everyday. I keep in mind if they can see my "teaching spot" and as I'm walking the room (I'm a roamer) can they track me from every seat. I even use my friends and if any seat is questionable, they sit in the chair and we "test run" the position of the desks.
ReplyDeleteMy walls look almost bare. I put up the essentials that we need right away but my room gets decorated by the students learning. My walls will fill up with their brain power not mine. Anchor charts will be up as we learn and change as needed. My vocabulary board will be set once we introduce them. I'm a firm believer that if it hasn't been taught it doesn't go up. Students need that ownership of what goes on the walls for them to actually use them as anchors in their learning. My goal is to make my room as functional for me as it is for my students.
I try to have my materials organized and ran in advance, but what I've learned from my students is that what I've planned in advance is RARELY what they have in mind for us to accomplish. They may not be quite ready for that piece of homework I've picked out or activity for the lesson, so we have to be flexible to change. They are constantly teaching me how they want the room and climate to be. Now don't get me wrong, they don't run the class. I'm still very much a control freak and procedure them out until they know how the class will be ran by procedures and rules, but I make sure they have a voice and that I listen to them.
I've come to realize that what may be a classroom for some is a stable home for others and that's the climate I work hard to achieve every year. Some years with more success than others and I'm still learning as I go.
My brother is getting ready for his first year of teaching. He'll be teaching 4th grade. I've helped him 2 days this past week with setting up his classroom. It IS a hard job to think through everything-and I've told him more than once the things he's put on the walls might need to come down as he talks to his team. He loves history and since 4th grade teaches a lot of it, he's put up some cool posters. I think I'm going to pass on some of what Val and Amy have posted about setting up the room, getting organized, etc. This could be helpful to him.
ReplyDeleteI remember being a first year teacher and not having a clue about kindergarten, then eventually 1st grade. It takes a lot of thought as you prepare to organize things and I agree that it's a necessary part of getting the school year off to a great start!
Our classroom now is organized--we have lots of space and everything is just in the right place. I agree that materials need to be readily available to students so they can grab them quickly and not waste time finding what they need.