References
Clayton, M., & Forton, M. (2001). Classroom spaces that work. Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.
EDE 4941-002 Portfolio |
Within the pages of Clayton and Forton, there is a phrase that hits home to me as a teacher starting out in the classroom. The phrase goes, "A classroom that is not centered on educational beliefs is a room of disconnected details, a room of convenience rather than purpose." (Clayton&Forton, pg. 8) To me, this means that instructors often times will have designated areas in their room to fulfill a specific task, yet remain unaware to how the children may interact with it further down the road. Theories of why children behave in certain ways can be attributed to the success of some teachers who just "know how to get it done." These teachers, I feel, will prance around their room when no one's looking, acting like a student and manipulating the environment as such to get a feel for how the classroom will run. Connecting the idea of efficient use of space in the classroom to building positive relationships, one can easily see how these two are related. If the teacher is telling students not to do things over and over again because of poor use of space, then it is the educators fault, not the child. A child who simply wishes to do anything else than draw and write should not be punished for touching a chart or playing with a stuffed animal on the side of the room. Simple distractions can be the difference between time on task, and ten 1st graders screaming "I want to play with Squiddy now!" During open house, show parents all of the wonderful arrangements you have made in the classroom for their students, and hold back no reserve when discussing future implications of homework and classroom procedures. I remember in internship how using an ELMO projector really grabbed the kids attention, and kept it. This is because the projector is facing towards the wall, with only room for people to gather on the carpet in between. I notice that sometimes students will get off task more easily if they are facing the center of the room as they are instructed on the white board. The use of technology and strategical placement underlies the educational purpose of my collaborating teacher, and is also why she is so successful. (#FEAP2i) The video projector is more useful for third-party instruction, while the mobile whiteboard is more useful for looking at individual words or groups of words and performing phonics lessons. When doing these phonics lessons, my CT will always model best practice and reinforce behavior which shows positive communication. For example, my CT says "Oh, Edmund (pseudonym), I love how you raised your hand to tell me."(#FEAP2e) One thing that I could work on next time is setting a goal with one of our students for their behavior. I know that Jeremy seems to have a difficult time paying attention or continuously working. (Classroom Management)
References Clayton, M., & Forton, M. (2001). Classroom spaces that work. Greenfield, MA: Northeast Foundation for Children.
1 Comment
C.Banks
9/23/2015 06:37:42 pm
Such a great point at the beginning of your blog!!! We used to set our classrooms up based on the content we had to teach. With the data we have now, we know that the students' developmental age plays a HUGE role in how those areas should be set up in order for the students to get the maximum benefit.
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