Context: During my practicum 2 that I completed at Cleveland high school spring term of 2017, I

really focused on how the arrangement of the education setting dictates academic instruction
as well as behavioral conduct of students. I also noticed these commonalties during my first
Practicum, which I also completed at Cleveland. In this journal entry I wrote about two
different classrooms and educators. The first educator really focused on his lesson plan and
how his students will most effectively understand the content when he was arranging the
desks. I noticed that the double horse shoe really worked with his debate unit as well as
student presentations in his English class. In the highlighted part of the journal the entry I took
note on how desk groupings as well as having the students switch focus between certain areas
of the room can generate inappropriate behavior such as side talk. However in the science class
in which I shadowed a Para and students from the life skills classroom, I noticed that the
teacher effective used the grouping of the desks to boost positive student interaction during
activities that required teamwork.

Connection: I learned from these educators how to develop and consistently use systems and
methods to support the work of the classroom. I am not sure how often the history teacher
used that seat formation, but on the day that I observed I noticed that the seating arrangement
generated lots of side talk and phone use. On the other hand I have seen the other educator
use the double horseshoe before several times and I think that it is really effective to his
students and to the subjects that he teaches. So it was interesting to note that he
communicates what work level and behaviors he expects from his students through how he
arranges their seats. I found that when working with the students from the life skills classroom
the grouping arrangement of the tables was extremely helpful in working with them in a group
and as individuals.

Contemplation: As I stated in my journal entry, if I was teaching a history class or any class in
which I wanted the students to take notes or work independently for the first half of the class I
would have them sit in rows. I think that this effectively communicates that I want them to
work independently. Then before the students discussed I think I would have had the students
transition to either the groupings or to the double horseshoe. This class needed some more
boundaries so I think I would have chosen double horseshoe to communicate the fact that
side talk and phone use is discouraged. If everyone can see everyone else its harder to
demonstrate inappropriate behavior. That being said the grouping of the desks works really
well in a science class that has more interactive teamwork activities such as labs.