This is my presentation of my observation classroom and what I would change about it. I am going to start by showing images of my actually classroom, then show images of some changes. I believe he classroom environment a teacher creates greatly affects students’ learning and development.
There are two sinks, with a well kept counters around them. The students sit at these tables about 4 or 5 per table. The storage room on the far right has a kiln inside. She would not let me see it, let alone take a picture of it. It is locked with a key. She even said, the fire marshall might not approve of her storage room.
Here, there are drying racks, one table that students sit at, and the shelves where she stores the students from each group. There are also some extra carts, tables and a single desk. She also has posters above that show principles and elements of design.
I wasn’t quite sure where the front of the class was, and it was a little confusing where certain things were. Some of the shelves were unorganized, but maybe that’s because I am a freak about organization. She has student work on the chalkboard, and popular artist work displayed on the easel. Lots of resources for students to use for their projects.
The teacher is literally in a corner, with her desk against the wall, It’s a little tight to get into, and her back is to the students when she sits down. And is far from the students tables. She has a computer she uses to print images for students and she is in the process of getting a projector to show lesson plans and other images from the internet in the classroom.
These posters are in the classroom, they are very useful for this school, not only to teach Spanish, but to help those who don’t speak English. This school has a high majority of Hispanics. I like that it’s the same image to make it easy to understand either way. Its important to recognize the cultures represented in the classroom and help the growth of the students.
Throughout the school, there were painted tiles in the ceiling that students had painted. Some said things about different subjects. This one says “Art Rocks”! Motivation throughout the school. This is a great way to inspire students everyday, even if they are not in class all day.
Here, the students art work is displayed. They just had an open house night, where she displayed one work from every student, so everyone was represented. Every student had something different and unique.
On her chalkboard, she would post the projects for each grade, and examples next to the written instructions. She told me these were actual student examples. These are good for students to see what is going on, and reminder of what they are supposed to do.
She had a table where some supplies were placed that were used for all the classes. The students were allowed to get anything that they needed. Some things were organized by table or group to share. This is good management of time.
I want there to be comfort in the classroom, I want my students to feel relaxed and feel welcome. I would like a colorful rug and a big comfy chair that we can all sit around or a student can feel welcome to get away from their stress. This safe zone would keep the students motivated and enjoy coming to class.
I want the student to have a more organized desk space. Some of the tables she has are uneven next to each other. And I feel the students may feel a little cramped. This organization makes it easier to understand where the front of the room is…which is on the side. And there are more spaces for the the teacher and students to get around the classroom.
I would like to change how the desk is positioned. It needs to be turning away from the wall. The teacher needs to be able to see her students. If I need to work at my desk, that I can get in and out easily and students can come up to me. Although I do not plan on spending a lot of time at my desk, I may need to access it during class time, I do not want to look away and something happened because my back was turned, especially with the younger students.
There are too many unused carts and table, my ideal room would be more spacious when possible. I don’t want to have extra furniture that is not helping me or my students. I would also like to have an accessible storage room and always kept neat for safety reasons and easy to find what I need. I want to used what space I have to its best advantage. Especially with all the storage in the classroom, above and below the sinks, the shelves for supplies, and shelves for student work, with so many places to store, its important to know where everything is.
I would like to keep her clean sink area. No clutter, easy access to students, height is great for smaller children, and away from electricity and paper work. I would like to keep most counters clutter free to avoid accidents like spilling paint, or messing someone else’s work. Its important to also be able to find what you need without wasting valuable time. If needed, students can even find supplies without always asking.
Displayed on one shelf are these clay pieces. She does have her own kiln in the storage closet, and so they do a lot of clay projects. Here is a pinch pot, and some other pieces that express visual culture. I would love to have examples like these displayed in my classroom, I think its important to always be looking at different types of art, not just paintings or photographs, but 3-d objects and also being able to pass around examples for the students so they can better visualize what they are doing.
Here is another image from the hallway, and I really loved the massive collage along the halls, the students loved searching for their work while walking from class to class. Displayed is also a collaborative sculpture that is hanging right outside the art room from the 5th graders. I love having work displayed not only in the classroom but outside in the hallways. I believe its important for them to see what their peers are doing too. To better understand similarities and differences between each other, building community.
For the best use of time and to stay organized, I would like to keep a container of supplies for each table that has supplies used for all classes. Basic supplies like scissors, pencils, crayons, a ruler, and eraser. I would also like to take the students outside of the classroom. She said they sometimes use the outdoors, but not often, maybe once a year. I think it would be easy to relocate class with a organized classroom.
I would like my classroom to show more of my personality. Outside her classroom she has this painting with her name, so students see it coming into the classroom. I would like to display my own work in the classroom, and help the students see me as an artist and a person just like them. I would also like to have plants and a small aquarium to add some comfort and brighten up the classroom.
Like these ceiling pieces, I want my students to see art outside of the classroom, I want them to see their work not only in the hallways but when they look up. I want them to see not only my work, but other teachers work. In front of the office is a glass display case, where teachers made their own sculpture for open house night. How exciting would students be to go to art class with so much fun things to make and show off!