1 Running Head: CLASSROOM DESIGN

Classroom Design Tracy Appleget Ivy Tech College

2 CLASSROOM DESIGN

I wanted to create a room that was non-threatening. I created a non-threatening atmosphere with the tables grouped up in groups of four. I have placed a reading center at the back of the room. I have also situated the room so that the door is at the back of the room so that anyone coming into the classroom is less likely to distract the class. I wanted to create a room that allowed for the students to interact with one another. I grouped the students desks in clusters so that the student could easily work together. I have seen the desks group in the way I have in several classrooms. I was able to easily place five groups of four in the classroom. This would allow for the room to hold twenty students.

There is a large table near the reading center that can allow for group work with the teacher, or for larger groups of students to work on projects. Flow of traffic would encompass the whole classroom. Doing so allows access all areas of the room. I also found that while doing so that the room between the four groups of desks may be a little tight. It is important to do this because it is nice to see visual how a classroom might work or might not work before getting the students in the room. While drawing the traffic lines I noticed that there was ample room at the back of the room. There is less room in the middle of the room. At the front of the classroom were the teacher desk is, I allowed extra space for students to come to her desk. I had also left room for the teacher to access the blackboard. I had not placed the teachers desk directly in front of the classroom to show that the teacher is at the front of the room, but she is not directly looking down on anyone. I thought that this would help make the room non-threatening.

Some pitfalls that may occur in my classroom. The groups of desks may be too close together. I can fix this by opening up the amount of room between the desks. Another way to fit the problem would be to select a different type of desk. By using larger rectangles throughout the room I can immize the

3 CLASSROOM DESIGN

amount of room that the desks take up. Although using a larger rectangle desk seems idea, it too make interfere with the amount of students that may be able to sit at each table. I noticed also that the large rectangle in the back of the room may interfere with the teachers ability to monitor the reading area. The large table at the back of the room is meant for larger group activities. Some students may be in the reading corner may be able to get away with non-school work. One way to fix this is too not allow students in the reading area when the larger table is being used.

4 CLASSROOM DESIGN