How will I set up my classroom space, create inviting small group spaces and effective traffic patterns that encourage exploration on the part of my students? This is a question that surfaces each year as I prepare for the school year. As a kindergarten teacher I believe in using the physical space as a partner (though quite silent) in the learning process. In addition to well-placed environmental print of any kind, where shelves, tables, desks, investigation centers, the meeting area, etc. are placed affects how the students use the room.
This year I am starting out with 19 students in my AM class (13 in my PM). I am now asking myself where I want to begin investigating math. At the same time I also want to build an effective pathway for my students to develop self-management tools to allow me to move between small groupings of children in the midst investigating. These are not new questions but I find that the number of students changes our inquiry process.
Here is what I have come up with thus far. As teachers, we all encounter them these questions. What struck me during our week long academy adventure was how easily teaching patterns can develop into status quo and how important it is for teachers to be challenged to rethink how and what we do, and most importantly why we do what we do. For me it is vital to look at the environment because it is my habit to use the space as a "partner" in teaching. What worked for me last year may or may not work this year.
Ironically, when I have taught at the college level I have also experimented with the space as part of an enhancement to learning. I found that we were more excited about what we were doing when I was very intentional in how the space was set up and used. Call it Fung Shua, but I am now rethinking how the room environment can enhance the climate for investigating and learning.
So does it matter how you set up and use your classroom space? How do you use your classroom? How can you use the environment to its best advantage for creating a math climate or a learning climate in general?
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1 comment:
Deb,
I beleive in your Fuung Shua for classroom investiation in any subject, esp. math.
I just spent the day helping another teacher explore how her room could be set up differently and keep the element of movement between and around furniture, known as, "classroon traffic flow". We also were mindful of needs for small group and center work areas. The least restrictive environment for learning to take place.
An important consideration was that some students need more table space and students need to be facing the focal point of instruction.
Supplies and tools are next, along with how the learning space appears, visually. As you enter the room you need to be invited by what you see, an open and ready workplace for learning. Students need to be able to access what they need. Simple organizing routines, like where cubbies will house their tools at the end of the day and how attendance is taken by an easy placement of a clothespin in hot lunch or home lunch on their way into the room each morning. Teachers have to be masters of how the learning space works and be ready to make changes according to the class needs.
Always remember that students are aware of the environment around them and it can positively or negatively effect their performance and, or attitude in the classroom. I know that I like to change the configuration of furniture at least 3-4 times a year. It's renewing and cleansing. At the same time, I keep the management routines in place because they are learned and hold the structure of the day. Students need scaffolding here as much as they do when learning new concepts or skills.
Every year is different with a new roster of unique individuals. We must adapt our environment and teaching to fit them in order to achieve our learning goals.
Maddy Rowell
4/5 EECS
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