My classroom floor plan
After I graduate, I will be be teaching either German or Spanish in a high school. The main reason why I chose this set up was because in my German classes here at North Central, this is the way our classroom was set up and I honestly believe that it had a great affect on my learning. One thing that I really like about this set up is that I, as the teacher, will be able to see all students; none of them will be hiding behind another person and I will be able to see their expressions. This allows me to see who is daydreaming, who understands it, and who is completely confused, all of which I believe is extremely important. Another important aspect of my classroom is that all of the students will be able to see my desk, the chalkboard, which would be right behind my desk, and also the projector screen which would be right beside the chalk board. This is extremely important because I know that I will be using the chalkboard and possibly the projector quite often. With this set up, I am able to go around to all students and see how they are working. All I would need to do is walk around the semi-circle and listen to the students talking, in German or Spanish of course. No student would be out of my path.
For students with hearing or seeing problems, the desks closest to my desk and the chalkboard would be reserved for them. For those with wheel chairs, we can remove one of the desks and replace with a table for them to sit at. With students with ADHD, I would most likely want them to sit right in front of my desk in the semi-circle. I feel that if they were to sit on the sides, they might pay attention more to other students than they would to what I was teaching. I feel that if they sit directly in front of me, they might pay attention a little more because if they sit straight forward, they would be looking directly at me.
I chose this set up because to me it makes the most sense for a language class. In my German class, I felt like this set up greatly helped my learning of the material. My teacher would have us work with the people next to us or he would call on people to ask a question and then call on someone else to answer it. I feel that being able to see the person helped me listen, hear, and actually understand what they were asking. This set up would also be ideal for me to walk around a lot instead of just standing in one place or sitting. I prefer walking to sitting or standing in place, so this set up allows me to have my preference. I also feel that I would be able to connect with the students more by being able to walk around and help them. I know in other classes that I have had the teacher often had to squeeze through rows in order to get to certain students, but that is not the case in this set up which I really like. The reason why I put the storage and shelves behind the students is because I would not want too many things in the front of the classroom that could possibly distract the students. Because it is behind them, the storage and shelves should not be distracting. This is my ideal classroom set up because I honestly believe that it greatly helps with learning a foreign language and allows a lot of opportunity for teacher-student interaction.
*Note* The desks would all be facing into the semi-circle. It looked a little confusing when the desks had been rotated on the classroom design website.
Image URL:
http://allthingslearning.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/classroom-culture.jpg?
For students with hearing or seeing problems, the desks closest to my desk and the chalkboard would be reserved for them. For those with wheel chairs, we can remove one of the desks and replace with a table for them to sit at. With students with ADHD, I would most likely want them to sit right in front of my desk in the semi-circle. I feel that if they were to sit on the sides, they might pay attention more to other students than they would to what I was teaching. I feel that if they sit directly in front of me, they might pay attention a little more because if they sit straight forward, they would be looking directly at me.
I chose this set up because to me it makes the most sense for a language class. In my German class, I felt like this set up greatly helped my learning of the material. My teacher would have us work with the people next to us or he would call on people to ask a question and then call on someone else to answer it. I feel that being able to see the person helped me listen, hear, and actually understand what they were asking. This set up would also be ideal for me to walk around a lot instead of just standing in one place or sitting. I prefer walking to sitting or standing in place, so this set up allows me to have my preference. I also feel that I would be able to connect with the students more by being able to walk around and help them. I know in other classes that I have had the teacher often had to squeeze through rows in order to get to certain students, but that is not the case in this set up which I really like. The reason why I put the storage and shelves behind the students is because I would not want too many things in the front of the classroom that could possibly distract the students. Because it is behind them, the storage and shelves should not be distracting. This is my ideal classroom set up because I honestly believe that it greatly helps with learning a foreign language and allows a lot of opportunity for teacher-student interaction.
*Note* The desks would all be facing into the semi-circle. It looked a little confusing when the desks had been rotated on the classroom design website.
Image URL:
http://allthingslearning.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/classroom-culture.jpg?