Nikkisha Tokarczyk

EDU220- Educational Psychology

November 21, 2020
Dr. Thomason

Question:

As a teacher, what can you do in your planning and setting up of your class environment to
assist students in their learning?

The educational system today is constantly evolving and an integral part of educational

planning is the setting up of the classrooms and how it allows for students to adapt and learn

within their environment. Education’s role, which is to prepare students to become active,

successful, and contributing members of society, has not changed but the planning and setting up

of classrooms changes every day. As educators we must be prepared to allow students in our

classroom to play an active role in their learning. The following paragraphs highlight several

ways or options for setting up the class environment to assist students in their learning.

Classroom spaces can be arranged based on grade level, subjects taught, size and

furniture or based on the teacher’s philosophy. The arrangement should minimize distractions

and at the same time help students to focus on learning tasks (Seifert, K., & Sutton, R., 2009).

For instance, with a student-centered learning strategy the focus is shared between students and

instructors so group work is encouraged and students learn how to collaborate on tasks together.

Furniture can be arranged to mimic small groups to encourage ideas like presentations and

jigsaw. These are prime examples that allow students to break into groups for different task then

come back together to share and learn about various topics.

 Additionally, there is the option of computers in the classroom. Computers will normally

be arranged depending on outlets available within a classroom or computer lab; however, this

arrangement planning must prevent congestion and distractions (Seifert, K., & Sutton, R., 2009).

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as of 2009, 97% of teachers have one

or more computers in their classroom and 93% of the computers located in these classrooms

have access to the Internet. Technology continues to transform the modern classroom today and

the classroom is now modern because of technology. The increased technology use provides an

easy yet effective way for teachers to conduct teaching. The teaching benefits are many, teachers

say technology (a) enables them to reinforce and expand on content, (b) motivates students to

learn, (c) enables them to respond to a variety of learning styles, and (d) allows them to

demonstrate something they cannot show in any other way.

The last planning idea that’s up for discussion has to do with the walls and display space.

How teachers plan for decorating their classroom space oftentimes affect the mood and learning

interest levels. Whatever choice a teacher makes for the walls and display space within a

classroom will come with advantages and disadvantages. For example, wall charts can be used to

display a drawing on a chart that’s mounted on the wall. The drawing can be a state map or a

human body outline where students must label the different characteristics/ attributes of a Native

American tribe for a Social Study lesson lets say. A very visual way for students to interact and

stay engaged.

Pros: easy to make/use, wall charts require little materials and are easy to produce; fairly

cheap. They can be fixed in one place permanently or removed if needed.

 No required supervision, students have access to the visual aid and can use it at any time

without the need for supervision.

Cons: easily destroyed, wall charts are hard to store in good condition over long periods

and can be easily destroyed after many use.

Not effective for large class size, they are not practical for a very large class and so they

may not be useful in getting all students involved in an activity if a teacher has a

significant number of students.

As educators how we plan for our classroom set up can help to determine how our

students learn and their engagement levels. Also, it provides for a positive learning environment

where everyone works as part of a team to achieve educational goals. Planning for the classroom

environment is in fact one of the most important steps at the beginning of each school year and

should not be taken lightly.

 References

Seifert, K., & Sutton, R. (2009). Educational Psychology. University of Manitoba.

https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/153

The National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/

Wall Charts and Wall Posters. Retrieved from

http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jgtz016e/8.3.6.html