A key element in effective classroom management is the physical environment of the classroom. This article will give you some great ideas for improving your classroom’s physical arrangement. The first step is to create a “center stage” in your classroom, where you are the star attraction! Posters, word walls, and bulletin boards can make a classroom come to life. However, research has shown that for lots of kids, these visual stimulants can be very distracting if overdone. Consider where you will be when you deliver your instruction most of the time. You’ll want to create a rather bland area there so that in your classroom universe, YOU are the bright star that captures students’ attention.
Maybe you have some cute and funny posters like Garfield struggling with a load of books, but don’t let them be a distraction to your “center stage.” It is important to have a place to list notices, events, homework and the like but find a location for these items so they do not interfere with your main teaching area. If the board near your center stage is blank, kids will stay more focused on you and what you are teaching. Then when you write on the board, be sure that everything relates to the current topic or lesson.
Arrange furniture to keep kids focused. Just because the custodians put your cabinets there and your desk here etc. doesn’t mean that’s where those items have to live! Carefully consider the physical elements in your classroom and how they can impact learning. Where are the windows, the doors, and the boards? Keep windows and doors to the students’ backs (or at least their sides) to cut down distractions.
Your teacher desk and such—your “operations center”—should be away from your center stage in a somewhat less visible location. When you confer with a student or group at your desk while other students are doing seat work or group work, a less visible desk area will minimize distractions. So carefully consider your furniture arrangement and the function of various areas in your classroom.
Arrange seating in your classroom purposefully. Above, I’ve talked about your center stage–but I’m not suggesting that you simply “stand and deliver” as they say. Research in best teaching practices shows that for many of today’s kids, the “sage on the stage” just doesn’t work. Actually the most effective style for most classrooms is some combination of the “sage” AND moving among the students while we’re teaching. Of course some people lecture and do a great job. But no matter how spellbinding we might be, there is a hidden dynamic that directly relates to the way students are seated. In the traditional classroom seating arrangement of rows of desks, those students in the front row or two are much more involved with your lesson due to your proximity. The middle rows are somewhat involved, but to a lesser extent. Those back rows, no matter how much you try to involve them, are too far away to have the same feeling of involvement as the front rows.
By rearranging your seating to include some aisles here and there you can change this dynamic. Walking among the students as you teach will give ALL students a feeling similar to those front row students since you are at some times near every student. Explain to the students why you are beginning a new arrangement. Tell them you want to be the most effective teacher possible and are trying strategies to help them learn as much as possible in your class.
As you read this you may have found some things that you are already doing in your classroom. Give yourself a pat on the back, because you are using strategies that research in “best practices” has found to be highly effective. Carefully analyze your classroom environment. You will be surprised at how a few simple changes can help keep students focused and reduce interruptions due to minor distractions. A well planned physical set-up of the learning environment is one of the most important elements in effective teaching!
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