My classroom philosophy is that students need inspiration and the chance to be engaged on some level. When I set about decorating my room, I wanted the room itself to reflect my personality, my interests, the focus of the classes I teach, and create a surrounding which appears sophisticated and could generate conversations- all of these things at the same time!
I try to keep the room from looking cluttered, but I also want to show off all of the literary topics, personal interests, and overall philosophies that I believe in. My love of cars and BMX bikes, books and poems, and belief that people should set goals and work hard to achieve them, are all reflected in some way on the walls of my room.
My seating arrangements change, but not on too regular of a basis. If I had more room, I would move between pods of 4 seats together, to individual seating, to a circle or horseshoe shape; depending upon what task we were working on at the time. Unfortunately, in our world of almost 30 students per class, there is not always the room to move or arrange the way I would like to.
Both my English 10 and English 12 classes have the same expectations. I want the students to be engaged, be proactive and responsible for/with their learning. Whether we are watching video clips for journal prompt inspiration, creating Common Craft videos to show understanding of research, or reading and writing to show mastery of Common Core State Standards, I expect them to be active learners and stay respectful of themselves and the environment and those around them.
I try to keep the room from looking cluttered, but I also want to show off all of the literary topics, personal interests, and overall philosophies that I believe in. My love of cars and BMX bikes, books and poems, and belief that people should set goals and work hard to achieve them, are all reflected in some way on the walls of my room.
My seating arrangements change, but not on too regular of a basis. If I had more room, I would move between pods of 4 seats together, to individual seating, to a circle or horseshoe shape; depending upon what task we were working on at the time. Unfortunately, in our world of almost 30 students per class, there is not always the room to move or arrange the way I would like to.
Both my English 10 and English 12 classes have the same expectations. I want the students to be engaged, be proactive and responsible for/with their learning. Whether we are watching video clips for journal prompt inspiration, creating Common Craft videos to show understanding of research, or reading and writing to show mastery of Common Core State Standards, I expect them to be active learners and stay respectful of themselves and the environment and those around them.
No matter where my students sit they are surrounded by a rich environment of learning.
Below you can see a simple way for me to show off student work...in this case the explanation, in artistic form, of hyperbole and exaggeration hanging from the ceiling from clothespins.