Welcome TPTers! I am so excited to be a part of TPT’s blog this morning (4/27/14)! Thanks for stopping by! This is a post I did at the beginning of the school year, and it has worked well all year! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Here are some pictures of the final result, as well as my thoughts on why I decided to revamp my classroom so much. I observed last year how my students seemed to learn best with different tasks. And using strictly anecdotal observations, I found four general situations that seemed to work for various learning styles. So I decided to divide up my classroom into these “zones for learning” that my students can move to depending on what they are doing. The four situations are: the “do not disturb” zone, the play station, the imagination station, and the collaboration corner. (The kids helped me name them, as well as come up with the rules.)
Here are pictures of the “do not disturb” zone:
The transparent green fabric panels (Thanks Ikea!) hanging from the ceiling marks the area off, so as my kids walk through they are reminded that it is the silent zone. I have a couch, a computer corner, and a couple of tables (with only two chairs at each).
Of course, that is my favorite zone.
The next pictures are of the play station – a carpeted area for playing games. There are shelves for them to store games in progress. I want to add a coffee table. There is a table that they can use as well. Our pet tarantula is on the shelf. FYI – It’s a really easy classroom pet, but not at all cuddly.
Here is the collaboration corner. I removed my desk and put my stuff behind me on the shelves, as well as a rolling cart under the desk. This can also be called the Info desk. The idea is for kids to work with each other as well as to ask me questions. As you know some kids are reluctant to ask for help, so I have everyone rotate to this station so it just seems like a normal part of the day.
The last zone, the imagination station, which you can’t really see well from the picture below, is to the right. I have a large table, shelves and a bulletin board. This is generally for math centers, task cards, working with a team, hands-on activities, etc.
And there it is! Please comment and let me know if you have observed similar situations, or if there other situations I haven’t thought of.