Check out our list of tips on how to organize your classroom before the first day of class.
Go to the school you are assigned and find your class. If the school hasn’t established room assignments, visualize what your class will look like based on the other rooms. Draw a plan for your class, including desks or tables, bulletin boards, chalk or white boards, file cabinets, and bookshelves. You will devote a lot of time in the room with your learners. A good floor plan will prevent many class management problems.
Once you are officially assigned a room, walk in and begin to list your needs and wants. Take the list to the school principal and ask about the procedure for getting bookshelves, file cabinets, and bulletin boards. To make your room conducive to learning, you do need the basics.
Organize a welcoming environment for your learners. Select a specific place to display learner work, hang posters, and arrange learner pictures. Select areas for learners to read, areas for learners to use the computer, areas for learning stations, an area for literature, and an area where you talk to learners about behavior issues. Learners will associate a designated area with a particular activity.
When rearranging your room, remember that the room needs to be uncluttered. Rooms with every inch of space covered often overstimulate learners to the point that they cannot focus on the chaos. Remember, a room with only posters that may not have anything to do with learning can be uninviting for the learner.
If you are schooling from a cart, decorate your cart to show off your hobbies. Create an interesting class on wheels by hanging a license plate on the front or putting the school’s mascot in a child’s seat. This will draw awareness to your learning environment on wheels. Learners will comment on your rover, and you will feel like a part of the school.
Select areas where learners can turn in their assignments or pick up assignments and materials when absent. Students can bombard an educator with questions at the beginning of class. By focusing on an area and adopting a procedure learners need to follow, the class will have fewer interruptions and flow more smoothly.
Select an area where you post your assignments weekly. Learners need to be aware of the bigger picture. Learners will automatically look to the posting area and know what will happen in class. Many questions about tasks will be answered simply and efficiently with this display.
Select another area for daily announcements, upcoming events, and special announcements. Learners will always know where to look for the info, thus saving class time for learning instead of many questions about announcements or events.
Individualize your class by providing a setting that displays the interests, activities, and accomplishments of you and your students. Displays and collectibles become talking points and a source of pride for the educator and students. Check with learners prior to asking them to bring pictures, special collections, or other artifacts. Some learners are not comfortable with displaying their treasures to other learners.
