About My Classroom
MY STUDENTS
THE LAYOUT
CLASSROOM WEBSITE
Image Attributions: The images above are all my own.
My own classroom is something that I've looked forward to having for a long time. While I did create my first classroom in the basement of my childhood home, I longed to have my own, real classroom someday. After completing my yearlong student teaching internship, I was lucky enough to be hired that same year as a fourth grade teacher at Briarwood Elementary School in Warren Woods Public Schools, where I currently teach today. As a fourth grade teacher, I teach all subject areas to my students, which include reading, writing, math, science and social studies.
As a teacher in a public school, my classroom and group of students constantly changes each year, including the number of students present in my classroom. During my first two years of teaching, my class list reached a maximum of 32 students. However, the last two years, my class list only included around 23 students. Regardless of the number of students present in my classroom, the instruction and rapport I develop with my students remains the same. Each year, my goal is to develop positive relationships with all of my students so that I can meet the very different needs that each one of them brings to school, whether that is supporting them academically or creating a safe and welcoming environment in the classroom.
Upon entering my classroom, you will find that desks are arranged in groups of four. Collaborative learning is an important aspect in my classroom, so this arrangement allows work in groups and pairs to occur easily and often throughout the school day. In addition, each desk is labeled with a number and letter, such as IA, 2B, 3A and 4C, so that students can easily participate with partners and roles can be assigned quickly. This strategy is based on Kagan, a program that increases engagement and encourages collaboration. There is an open carpet area near the Smart Board where students sit for reading and writing workshop with a partner. The blue, kidney shape table is used frequently throughout the day for small group work, as well as math instruction, which is completed in centers. Students learn the math lesson in small groups by coming to the blue table. At each table, you will find a small stool that allows students more mobility than a standard chair. Because only a small number of stools are available, students rotate them daily around their table so everyone has a chance to use them. While my classroom layout does not currently support flexible seating, I hope to implement that into my classroom in the future.
After my first year of teaching, I decided to create a classroom website where I could easily share information to both my students and parents. I spent time researching other teachers' classroom websites and used that as inspiration to develop my own website. Over the past few years, I have maintained and updated my classroom website with information and resources. Students and parents can find links to notes that have been sent home, learn about the procedures in our classroom and view weekly assignments, such as word study words.