Setting Up Classrooms and First Day Activities

Ideas in Education: Setting Up Your Classroom

Earlier in the week, I was reflecting on how I set up my classroom to ensure it was a student-centered space. And honestly, I fell short. Here are 4 things I did well and 4 ways I’d change.

Four Things I Did Well In Setting Up My Classroom

1. My classroom was neat and organized with a student station. The student station was where students could get supplies, check their grades, pick up missing work, and turn in work.   Students who were absent the day before knew exactly where to go to get missed work. A cluttered classroom is distracting to students, especially those with processing or attention difficulties.
2. Seating was dynamic. Most often students sat in quads, but seats were constantly moved around based on the learning activity. Horseshoes and circles were used for discussions, seats were moved to the side for games and act-outs, and students could move seats or make use of some tables when doing individual work.
3. I rotated posters based on the unit of study. For example, when we were studying Greece, I put up posters of the Parthenon, the Athenian Acropolis, and previous student work from that unit. Those then came down at the end of the unit and were replaced by Roman posters and the like.
4. I was strategic about my own space. I’m not a big fan of when the teacher desk is front and center or when it occupies prime classroom real estate. I tried to have as small a desk as possible and tucked it away in the corner.

Four Things I’d Change About Setting Up My Classroom

1. I would have liked to encourage students to co-create and co-own the space. This would have given students immediate ownership of the class.
2. Although, there was some flexibility in seating arrangements, I would have liked more student options for students to work individually.
3. My classroom lacked vibrancy and creativity. I would have loved to have a themed classroom that perhaps would rotate based on the season or unit being studied. For example, I love baseball. So I could’ve used a baseball theme. Instead of listing the agenda, for example, I could have a baseball field diagram with the first activity on first base and the second activity on second base, etc. Learning criteria/rubrics could be baseball themed as well (haven’t tried=strikeout, work in progress=contact made, proficient=base hit, advanced=homerun). In addition, I could have baseballs and softballs hanging from the ceiling and make use of them for various activities, stations, etc. Heck, I could even add popcorn since it’s cheap as a reward for students. I’m now thinking about themes that I could’ve easily (and frugally) incorporated into my classroom: a day at the beach, a kitchen, and a basketball court are just some of the ideas I’d like to run with.
4. Nowhere were my passions and interests evident to the students. I’m passionate about my family, sports, cooking, and teaching. Having a small section of the classroom dedicated to passions makes sense. Let students see your passions and use them in your lessons. For example, if I posted my educational belief statement in the classroom, that could definitely empower my students and propel my own growth and keep me focused. So while I wouldn’t want to make the whole classroom about me, dedicating some space allows you to share who you are with your students and build relationships with them.

As a teacher, I overlooked how the classroom design can feed student and teacher passion. We should strive to create an environment that feeds our own passions and the passions for our students.

Of note, I am a believer in seating charts and I’ve blogged about this before. For some classes, I stayed with seating charts for the entire year; for others I canned them pretty soon. Also one of the things I’ve noticed about flexible seating and such is that the comfortable spots (couches, bean bag chairs, etc.) often go to the students who arrive first (have the closest class the period before) and they often become a management nightmare. I’d encourage anyone with this type of set-up to have students discuss and create procedures about these choices.

As you setup your classroom, ask yourself, “How can I set up my room to ensure that it empowers student learning?”

Ideas in Education: 6 Keys to a Great First Day

Our new teachers were challenged to work collaboratively to answer this question, “What will we do on Day 1 that EXCITE our students to come back for Day 2?” Here are some of their answers:

1. Greet students at the door with a handshake and an introduction. Require them to introduce themselves to you so that you will be able to say their names correctly. 

2. Don’t overwhelm them with rules and procedures on Day 1. These can be spread out over the first couple of days. 

  

3. Avoid being in front of the students all period or even for most of the period

4. Avoid icebreakers or connectors that:

• Require students to take social risks. Many students are not ready to share personal stories or how they’re different. This results in embarrassment, generic answers, and uncomfortableness.  
• Ask about past experiences or their summer. Some students may have had a crappy summer and they’re looking forward to coming back to school, don’t ruin it by asking them to think about something bad. Not all of our students have the same opportunities either, so it’s important that we frame our questions and activities with that in mind too. For example, some students may have travelled the world, while others never left Albemarle County.
• Require students to share out our speak in front of the whole class.

5. Engage and excite students about your content. I was thrilled to hear this from 2 teams. In my opinion, far too often we ignore the content during the first few days. We should be finding a way to excite students about our content and demonstrate the importance of students engaging with it and one another.
 
6. Set the tone for high expectations, respect and togetherness.

• Maximize learning time; don’t finish class early.
• Create opportunities for collaborative activities like station work, interdependent tasks, etc.

Important Dates and Information 

Teacher Work Week Schedule

Southwood Back to School: Aug 14, 5-7

Open House: Aug 15, 6:30-8

Shout Outs  

We had over 220 new students attend Fresh Start. What a great start to these students high school experience!

Thanks to all the teachers who helped out and in particular to Mike Schafer and Thomas Warren for their leadership.

Birthdays

Coming soon!

Useful Information

Bell Schedules http://bit.ly/MustangBells Please review to ensure everything is good. Please let me know of any errors, omissions, etc.

Morning Announcement Stream: http://streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/links.htm

Announcement Request

Athletic team schedules, rosters, etc.

Teacher Handbook 

Want something included on the Monticello Outlook Calendar, the Monticello website, in the PowerSchool Daily Bulletin, or the student newsletter (viewed by parents, students and staff)? Please use this link https://goo.gl/forms/bIjfJLKokWPcEHx33 

Worth Your Time

If it’s easy, then it probably isn’t learning