As a high school student, I never considered just how much time and planning a teacher spends on his or her room design. In many of my classes, I was seated in rows usually with my desk isolated from others; however, in some classes I may have been seated at a table with one or two other students or even a grouping of four desks together. I can remember for the most part, I was seated in a group in more elementary or middle level classrooms with high school having much more individualized seating arrangements. This year though in my classroom, the students’ desks are arranged in tables of four, with each table angled in a way that all students can easily view all boards in the front of the classroom (see attached floor plan). Initially, I was worried that this arrangement might be detrimental to student learning because of the ease in which students can communicate with each other. I definitely believe that peer collaboration is excellent for student learning, but this setup could also open the door for distraction and side conversation during class time. During my first two weeks of observation and beginning to become more involved in the classroom, I have made sure to pay particular attention to how the physical setup of the room effects student learning and participation in the class in both positive and negative ways. Setting up the classroom in the days leading up to the first day of school, I was considering both sides of our room’s layout. The groups of tables promoted student collaboration on both assignments and group projects, and they would allow for discussion and help amongst peers. The spacing between groups of tables also allowed for the teaching team to move easily amongst the tables to listen in on conversation, provide help to students, and simply walk between groups. These aspects, in my opinion, are crucial for a positive classroom environment. On the other hand, this setup can give students the ability to collaborate and talk with each other when it may not be appropriate. Students sitting this close together can be a distraction even when the basis of an activity is group work (like one group member being off task). After two weeks in the classroom, I have seen both the positive and negative aspects of this seating arrangement occur. My classroom mentor really pushed the students to learn from each other, and she has established a very strong collaborative environment. So I think the way she wanted the classroom laid out is perfect for this purpose. Unfortunately, I have also noted instances of student learning being disrupted due to students interacting with each other when they should not have been talking. Whether this is due to the physical layout of the desks or the personality of the students, I am not entirely sure, but I would infer that the setup does make it a bit easier. The spacing between groups did make it easy for any of the teaching team members to address the students involved and get them back on task. Because my classroom mentor emphasizes student collaboration, I believe that this layout is very valuable for students despite the potential negatives. Although it has only been two weeks of school, the positives from this physical space seem to already far outweigh the negatives that could arise. The students in the room have easy access to each other as well as the teaching staff when they need help with individual and group work, and they are able to direct their attention to the boards at the front of the room when they need to. Along with the arrangement of seating, our classroom is full of displays of student work around the walls and bulletin boards. I think these displays are great for showing students examples of expectations and also providing guidance for various tasks. There is a round table as well as a couch in the back of the room that allow for different workspaces other than student desks. I think the addition of these seating areas is great for the times we split the students into differentiated group work, and I definitely think this type of room design is something I will incorporate into my future classrooms. Now that I have seen the teacher side of what goes into the physical space of the classroom, I am interested to continue to observe other classrooms and see how their layouts help or potentially hinder student learning. ![]()
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Author20 something year old. Pittsburgh native. Pennsylvania explorer. Graduate student. Aspiring teacher. Archives
March 2016
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