Creating an Environment that Encourages Student Learning
Decorating. We all do it. We all want our classrooms to be warm and inviting. We spend HOURS and HOURS decorating our rooms, so that when the students and parents walk in they feel comfortable and warm and fuzzy in the pretty room. But Why? Why do we do this? Does it help the students learn? Does it aid in helping teachers close the achievement gap? Does it encourage engagement? Does it? Or is it because we like our rooms to be pretty? We spend so much time in these rooms, do we want pretty things to look at? I have been in classrooms that benefit the students and the teacher and I have been in classrooms that only benefit the teacher.
While you are resting and thinking about the theme of your classroom next year, contemplate the following:
- “What is the purpose of putting this on the wall?”
- “How will this help the students?”
- “Is this for me or for the kids?”
Don’t misunderstand what I am saying, I am not prompting a cold sterile learning environment. What I am doing is asking you to think about the amount of time and energy you are putting into your room and to think about where you get the biggest bang for your buck. Are you spending more time on decorating the “teacher” space or creating a space to display student work? Are you creating spaces for anchor charts or are you going to have to take things down to hang up your anchor charts.
It is important to create a positive learning environment and we want you to be comfortable in your space, but this year let’s look at how we are setting up our rooms.
What does your room say when someone walks in?
It starts with the eyes, a student makes their first opinions about you and your class based on what they see when they walk in. If they walk into a room that has nothing on the walls and desks in a row, they will get a negative impression of your class right away. Desks being in “traditional” rows tells the students they aren’t going to be working with others, and will be working independently. (Think STAAR testing days.) The empty walls have the students wondering what they will be learning, there is nothing up to give them any clue as to how you teach, what they will learn, or how the class will be in general.
If a student walks into a classroom and sees desks in groups or pods, they immediately know they will get to sit with peers, they will get to work with peers. People are naturally social, they will meet that need whether opportunities are given to them or not; it is a basic need they need met. It is an encouraging sight when entering a room, for most students.
When people enter a space they look around, they make opinions based on what they see. If there is space on the wall for student work they will notice, if there is a word wall it will be noticed, if the majority of the space is dedicated to students and learning it will be noticed. Students walk in looking for the reading area, looking to see if they will get to go to the “teacher table”, looking for affirmation that the things they love about school are included in the new classroom. Bottom line is how we set up our room is vital.
Classroom Organization: form vs function
One of the complaints we have as educators is that there is never enough time. We can’t make more time, the district and campus gives us requirements when it comes to content minutes; but what we can control is how we maximize our time. Organization is one way to save those precious minutes. “Be prepared” is a norm we talk about every year; we expect our colleagues to come to meetings and PLCs ready to discuss the topic as well as bring anything that will be needed. We need to have the same expectations for ourselves when it comes to instruction. It is vital that we have our materials ready for each day. Another thing to consider when organizing materials is to look at materials used often and set routines to allow students to be able to access them independently. Allowing students to manage materials for us has multiple benefits: the students gain ownership by being a part of the process, having a job in all parts of the lesson (helping classroom management) and giving the teacher time during transition to address other needs. Setting up these routines at the start of the year makes for an easier transition.
For the last two years we have been discussing how to maximize our flex-spaces. We have many teachers using them in creative ways, from reading nooks to technology “alcoves”, we need to use these spaces to add space to our classrooms and to encourage the idea of flexible learning environments. When thinking about your flex-space, it is very important to talk with your flexmate about expectations and needs before you change the use of the flex-space. Be creative… I cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with!
Small Group Instruction Space
This space is a non-negotiable. Each classroom needs to have a space that the teacher can pull small groups of students to work with. Small group instruction is not just reteaching who did not “get” the lesson, but it is intentional time planned by the teacher to target students’ learning- based on data. (I am starting to get on a tangent…) The important thing to keep in mind is to make sure that this space is planned with student and teacher needs in mind: placed in a space where the teacher can monitor the rest of the class, easily accessible by the students, and easy to reach materials during instruction.
Storage
We have several storage closets in the building; we have cabinets full of materials in the STEAM lab, and our library holds a plethora of supplies. We should not be using our flex-spaces as storage spaces and we should keep our classrooms clutter free.
Be You!
When setting up your room this year; show your students a glimpse of what to expect this year. Show them what is important to you as a teacher, as a learner, and as a Schluter Spur. Make your learning environment flexible, purposeful, and amazing. This year is going to be incredible and it is because of the teachers!
