My 21st Century Classroom

This I believe ...

I believe that I do not want my classroom of students to look like this while I am teaching ...

I believe that I do want them to be excited about what they are learning and should look more like this after a good lesson ...

Perhaps it may be too much to ask for that every student I encounter be excited about learning and looking forward to the time they spend with me.  However, that being said, my personal belief statement is that, "I believe a teacher's responsibility is to create a learning environment that is exciting, interactive and encouraging to all students who enter." 

My Classroom

I have designed my classroom in a circular formation, including the teacher's desk, in order to reflect the fact that I want to encourage my students to interact with one another and feel like part of a group ... with everyone being equal.  Research shows that seating arrangements in the classroom can positively effect students academic and social behaviors (Wannaker 1).  It was found that "a student's location in the classroom is related to the number of questions received from the teacher; this may influence the student's opportunity to respond and thus to learn" (Wannaker 1).  "Not surprisingly, [researchers] found that students at the back of the classroom tend to interact more frequently with each other than those seated at the front, potentially adversely impacting their attention to the task at hand" (Wannaker 2). 

I have placed several bookshelves with seating areas in the rear of the classroom in order to encourage students to come together and work individually or in small groups.  I have also designated a computer area to assist students with research or completing written assignments.  The beanbag chairs were placed in the same area to give students another option to work independently and feel comfortable. 

I used Classroom Architect to design my classroom.  As there were several different options in classroom layout, this program did not allow for a Smart Board or whiteboards to be added.  Ideally, I would like to have each of these teaching tools integrated into my classroom as well. 

Rituals/Routines

As you can see by my classroom design and from a previous blog post, I am a proponent of teaching in a "circle" environment.  There are two specific routines from the Sunday Night Circle that I host every week in my home for my teenagers and their friends that I would like to implement with my future students.  First is "open discussion" wherein I would like to take a few minutes of each class to open the floor to my students to respond to a proposed on-task topic ... whether it be related to a particular writing assignment, grammar lesson or literature selection we are covering.  I would also like to take one day per week in which a student picks the topic and leads the discussion.  I believe this particular activity enforces listening and public speaking skills and teaches students to learn to respect and be open to opinions that may differ from their own.  Second, I would like to implement a creative writing exercise I practice with my Sunday Night Circle wherein I hand a blank sheet of paper to one member of the group and they begin writing a story with 3-5 sentences (depending on the size of the group).  When they have finished their portion they pass to the left or right of them to the next student to continue the story with his/her 3-5 sentences and so on and so forth until it reaches the final student who will complete the story and read the finished product aloud.  This exercise is a great lesson in creative thinking and construction of a proper story with an introduction, body and conclusion. 

One of the rituals I plan to implement into the classroom comes from Sedu 183's own Mr. Smith who diligently outlines the day's lesson plan and work due for the next class session on his website.  As not all students have access to a computer in the home, I plan on using the whiteboard or Smart Board to outline the same so that my students have a clear understanding of what is expected of them and when work is due.  I also plan on maintaining either a classroom website, blog or facebook page with the same information available to students who are absent or need to double-check a deadline. 

As I will be teaching English, keeping journals will be part of my classroom's daily routine.  Handwritten journals will be encouraged at the beginning of the school year and then, depending on the particular school district's funding for computers, online journaling through the use of blogging will be required.  I will expect my students' journals to be neat, easy to read and grammatically correct.  Journals will be collected at random for my review and will be graded. 

Due to the nature of how the desks will be arranged in my classroom, students will be in close proximity of one another which may prove to be challenging when testing.  To avoid cheating, I plan on making 3 different versions of the same test and distributing them in a manner which ensures that no student has the same test as the person to his/her left or right.  These tests will be printed on different colored paper to make collection and grading an easier task. 

While open discussion, collaboration and interaction will be strongly encouraged, respect for the teacher and fellow classmates will be strongly enforced. 

Instructional Glimpse

As noted above in the previous section, at the beginning of each class I will open by greeting my students and opening the floor to them for their opinions and thoughts on a topic I or another student has chosen.  After that discussion has closed, I will move on to collecting assignments that are due, outlining the lesson plan of the day and reviewing work due in the future.  I will again open the floor for questions in regard to the current day's lesson plans and future assignments. 

Secondary English covers a wide variety of topics so an average lesson plan could include anything from creative writing, research writing or works of literature.  For a previous Sedu 183 assignment, I created an interactive PowerPoint presentation intended for a group of students working together to produce a final persuasive writing piece.  This presentation will give you a glimpse of what a typical lesson may include and can be viewed by clicking the link above. 

Working individually and learning to manage one's time is a skill I will attempt to implement daily by giving specific deadlines for assignments.  I also believe that collaboration is important for students to learn how to work together as a group in order to achieve a particular task and exploring leadership and supporting roles within their groups. 

Technology Integration

The amount of technology used in my classroom will greatly depend on how much is available to me through the district I am teaching in.  Ideally, computers would be available for every student's use so that daily journaling can be done through a blogging site such as blogger.  Blogging is a useful tool for students to share thoughts and ideas and receive immediate feedback from not only me, the teacher, but their peers as well.  Blogging is also a way for my classroom to reach beyond it's four walls by inviting teachers and students from other classrooms and schools to read and give feedback.  With  having over 845 million monthly users, it is a safe assumption that most of my students will be familiar with facebook before they enter my classroom door (Fachs).  Therefore, I would like to use this social networking site as a tool for students to create facebook pages for characters that we may be studying in classic pieces of literature or for characters of their own design through creative writing projects.  A classroom facebook page might be beneficial as well for communication between teacher and students in regard to announcements, assignments, questions and feedback. 

YouTube and Google Docs are tools that I used in the interactive PowerPoint lesson that I mentioned earlier.  YouTube has a variety of educational videos and with the proper technology in the classroom, students can create their own instructional videos and presentations.  GoogleDocs is an invaluable tool for an English teacher, like me, who would like students to collaborate on projects.  GoogleDocs allows the group to share and edit documents outside of the classroom.  Another collaboration tool that I have personally implemented that I found to be useful is TeamBox.  TeamBox allows a group to sign in and post time lines and documents in order to communicate and complete a given task. 

There is an endless list of tools available for use in the classroom and these are just a sample of a few that I have been introduced to through my Sedu 183 class that I have found to be useful and plan on implementing in the future. 

PLNs

 

I am just now becoming familiar with the benefits of having a Personal Learning Network.  Through this class, I have learned that information is available at the click of a mouse through following educational blogs and fellow educators on social networking sites such as Twitter.  I will continue to use the PLN I have begun and continue to build upon it in the future.  Being able to access ideas from other educators will prove to be a valuable tool in my future career as a successful teacher.