Audrey Ingersoll

Professor Lovitt

16 November 2019

SED464
Classroom Layout and Rationale

The classroom I designed is for a freshman/sophomore biology class. I choose to not

include lab tables in my classroom because my biology class in high school did not have them

and lab stations are not necessary in a biology classroom as most activities can be conducted at

regular tables. My classroom layout consists of five staggered desks that can each seat 6 students

with no students facing their back towards the teacher. There are also five individual seats for

students who prefer to sit or work alone. I decided to place the individual desks towards the back

of the classroom because I figured the students who usually like to work on their own won’t

easily be distracted and won’t be talking to their peers as often as those at the group tables. For

the students who are hard of hearing or can’t see well I will place them in the front tables of the

classroom. For students who like to fidget and move a lot I will allow them to sit in a form of

alternate seating or in the back of the classroom where they can move around without distracting

the rest of the class. For a child with a wheelchair I will pull out a chair and allow him to sit in a

more open part of the classroom.

I decided to also include a section of my classroom with some different seating options.

This can be used when my students are working on classwork and don’t want to be sitting at a

traditional style desk. I will have couches, lounge chairs, and beanbag chairs there for the

students to sit in. “I’ve found that some of the immediate benefits of flexible seating include
burning more calories, using up excess energy, improving metabolism, increased motivation and

engagement, creating a better oxygen flow to the brain, and improving core strength and overall

posture. (Delzer, 2016)” I decided to place this section right in front of my desk because

knowing how social freshman and sophomores are, I will be able to make sure they are on task

and not using my class as a free hour.

There are multiple storage components through my classroom to store materials for my

students projects, and extra items needed throughout the school year. I decided to put those in the

back right section of the classroom behind the individual seating. I placed it there because I

would use it prior to class starting to gather all the materials needed then I wouldn’t have to go to

the back of the classroom often. The storage I decided to place behind my desk is a large cubby

storage where I will place my students completed work. I will have labels dividing up the

different periods and whether or not the home work has been graded. The last bit of storage is in

the front of the classroom near the two white boards and projectors. This is going to be a hanging

shoe rack which will contain all the cell phones of my students. “Kuznekoff and Titsworth found

that students who did not use smartphones while participating in a lecture wrote 62 per cent more

information in their notes and were able to recall more information than their phone-using

counterparts. (Allen 2017)” I will label each compartment with a letter and number

corresponding to where the child sits. I will check the shoe rack before class starts to take

attendance and make sure my students turned in their phone.

There are four trash cans throughout my classroom two in the front of the classroom, one

in the back, and one beside my desk. This will hopefully prevent unnecessary traffic jams. I also

have two portable sinks in my classroom. Since my classroom doesn’t have lab stations I choose
to have portable sinks for my students when they are completing labs at their desks. These will

have the ability to be wheeled to wherever I want in the classroom. My particular classroom

doesn’t contain computers because my students will each have their own individual chrome

books which they will take to and from class. There will be outlets on each of the group desks

stations where the students can plug in their laptops if they are dead. There will also be outlets on

the individual desks as well.

 References

Allen, K. (2018, April 22). Mobile phones in the classroom: A helpful or harmful hindrance?

Retrieved from https://psychlopaedia.org/learning-and-development/mobile-phones-in-

the-classroom-a-helpful-or-harmful-hindrance/.

Delzer, K. (2016, April 22). Flexible Seating and Student-Centered Classroom Redesign.

Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/flexible-seating-student-centered-

classroom-kayla-delzer .

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.kaplanco.com/secure/myKaplan/fproomlist.asp.