Make your classroom inviting

Classrooms are very reflective of their teachers.

Some classrooms are so organised and clean that it is hard to believe children actually use the room.

Conversely, some classroms are so filthy and messy that it is hard to perceive how children are able to learn at all under such conditions.

1. Survey Your Classroom: Looking at the Basics

The first things to consider when organizing your classroom are cleanliness, light and temperature. Although you may not have complete control over some of these elements, try to make or suggest improvements as necessary.

2. The Floor Plan: Assessing Your Needs

Once you have checked the basic elements in your classroom, think about your floor plan. It should maximize classroom space and reflect your individual teaching style.

Your floor plan will also depend on the grade you are teaching. For the lower grades, your classroom setup may include many different learning areas, such as a reading area, an art center and a technology center. The placement of these areas will depend upon the layout of your classroom. However, when setting up these areas, you will want to keep the following points in mind:

• Room dividers should be low so that all areas are visible to you.
• Areas that invite group work should not be next to quiet areas where students read or study independently.
• Art or other messy areas are best located near a sink.
• You should always be able to make eye contact with all students.

3. Setting up your desks/tables:

It is typical for classrooms to be set up in rows, or lately, in groups of 3-4 tables (which allow for easier cooperative learning). However, there are fundamental problems for each:

• In rows, studies have shown that the further back you go, the more discipline problems there are. The visual, aural and physical stimulation from the teacher is increasingly diminished as you move further back. This allows boredom to set in, and as a result, potential disruption.
• In groups, the opposite is true. Students are over stimulated--by the peers that are now not only next to him/her, but across the table! There is now MORE to distract the student, leaving it harder for the teacher to keep the student focused on any frontal instruction.
• An alternative is to arrange the chairs/tables into a three-sided shape ( |_| ), (with an occasional second row if room demands). In this fashion, EVERY STUDENT IS IN THE FIRST ROW! The teacher can freely move around the room while talking, and therefore giving "personal" contact with each student. The result: greater attention and fewer discipline problems. Desks/tables can be moved into cooperative learning groups as needed usually within two-three minutes!

4. Classroom Décor: Facing the Blank Canvas

Encourage students to make the classroom space their own. Welcome their contributions to its decoration, and urge them to take responsibility for its maintenance. Here are some easy, low-cost ways to make your classroom into an inviting, effective space for all:

• Interesting and attractive visual aids, such as bulletin boards and posters, are key components of an effective classroom. Wall decorations should be colorful, appealing and relevant to current classwork. They should be rotated and refreshed frequently.
• Be sure to think about the cultural backgrounds of your students when dressing the walls. Try to represent your students' diversity on posters or bulletin boards.
• Set aside a section of the bulletin board to be your designated "Student Work Museum" and post children's drawings, written work and other projects there. Make sure that each student's work is displayed often.
• Post daily schedules in a place where students can read them easily. This accessibility of the classroom schedule can help students grow comfortable with class and school routines. For younger students, make a daily schedule that includes pictures or icons.

• Caring for live plants can give your classroom a warm, comforting feel. It can also help teach students responsibility – and science! Local nurseries or greenhouses may even be willing to donate the plants to your class.
• Entrust children, especially older children, to care for the class plants. They can make sure that the plants receive adequate water, light and air.

• The primary classroom should have as much storage space as possible, both for students' personal belongings and for shared tools and materials. Each child should have a personal space, such as a desk or a cubby and a coat hook, for his or her own things.
• General classroom storage should be easily available to older students, who should be more responsible for collective belongings. Storage areas for any materials that younger students may access, such as crayons or books, should be clearly labeled (with words and pictures) so that children can clean up without your help. Rehearse the Classroom

When you've finished setting up your classroom, give it a practice run or two. Walk through a typical school day, making sure that both you and the students have enough space to work and move around, that everyone in the classroom can see and hear and that every part of the room is as pleasant as possible. For example, write on the blackboard, and then take a walk around the room. Check sight lines from every spot where students might be working.

Your classroom will continue to change and evolve as the school year progresses. These suggestions can help you create a classroom environment that is welcoming, comfortable, clean and secure.

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