Reading Response- Week 5 (Management)

cannfitzgerald
Sep 20, 2015
3 min read

Chapter Three in Classroom Spaces That Work by Marlynn K. Clayton and Mary Beth Forton discusses whole-group meeting areas and Chapter Four discusses setting up furniture, materials, and storage in your classroom (2001).

Chapter three begins by explaining that the goals of setting up this whole-classroom meeting area is to be inviting and spacious; it should allow for everyone to see each other and sit comfortably; and it should be free of distractions and clutter (Clayton & Forton, 2001, p. 66). Teachers should also choose a good site in the classroom and consider traffic patterns and openness. Many teachers have different views on how students and the teacher should sit during these times, so I liked how the authors created a "Seating Pros and Cons" list that included sitting on the floor, sitting in chairs, and sitting on box benches (Clayton & Forton, 2001, p. 74-75). Teachers should also create display areas that are visible in the meeting area. This can include guidelines, calendars, morning messages, and much more (Clayton & Forton, 2001) and these can be created during this whole-group time. Chapter three concluded with a Q&A of common questions teachers may have about this whole-group meeting area.

I think whole-group meeting areas are extremely important in every grade in elementary school. I participated in these meetings in first grade and before I started my time in fifth grade, I did not think these would be as important for the older students. However, I can see firsthand that my morning meetings are helping create a sense of community and friendship within the classroom. This chapter helped me see how important it is to create enough space for these meetings to occur. My classroom does not have a designated meeting area, so we have to do what we can to create a circle in between tables. This is not the best example of a comfortable and open meeting area, so I plan to use this chapter to make some changes. As a level III intern, I do not have as much say in this classroom space yet, but I will take this knowledge into my own classroom to create a whole-group meeting area that is comfortable for everyone.

Chapter four stresses the importance of setting up your classroom for the curriculum. The goals of preparing for curriculum is getting furniture that allows for flexibility, materials that are accessible and in good condition, and storage that accommodates many different types of work (Clayton & Forton, 2001, p. 86-87). Teachers should arrange the furniture for a variety of work places including private areas, work places that can encourage collaboration, and cozy spaces (Clayton & Forton, 2001). Materials are also an important part of planning for the curriculum. Teachers should make sure materials work before a lesson; they should choose materials that can be used in many ways; materials should reflect students' cultural backgrounds; and teachers need to consider children's ages and developmental levels when choosing materials (Clayton & Forton, 2001, p. 91-94). Lastly, storage is another aspect to consider when designing space for the curriculum. It is important to have places to store ongoing projects, have a variety of storage shelves for different types of materials, and it should be quick and easy to access (Clayton & Forton, 2001). Many teachers are busy looking at lessons when planning for the curriculum, but these authors help us understand that it is also important to consider classroom space that will help our students before we jump into a curriculum.

In my classroom, my teacher has excellent ideas for storage of materials and use of furniture. She organizes these math manipulatives into containers so students know to put the flats in the middle, and the ones and longs on the ends. This makes it quick and easy to sort when a math lesson begins. Our back cabinets are filled with these types of organization tools, and I have seen it save plenty of time in our lessons when my teacher is able to say, "____, please grab this material" and the student is able to quickly collect it. Before a lesson or unit begins, it is important to think about how to store these materials and how it can be time-efficient and beneficial to a lesson. I plan to use similar containers for these math manipulatives and this chapter has also helped me begin thinking about other organizational techniques I would like to use in my classroom.