As I entered the room, I felt immediately drawn by the literacy rich environment. Students were exposed to various printed materials. For instance, hanging from the ceiling were the children's individual self-portraits with their names printed on it. Reading and writing strategies were posted in designated areas assisting students with their literary experiences. All learning centers were neatly labeled as well as many objects in the room. Children's books encompassed the room. Books were attractively displayed on a self in the reading rug area, on the shelf were bins with categorized books, a special bin was used specifically for library books. In each learning center, books were displayed relating to the center. For example, books with the topic of plants were displayed in the science center where the children are presently studying about plants. The student's attendance chart, a community map, and an estimation math chart were examples of the many charts displayed throughout the classroom.
A daily schedule was written on the blackboard so children were prepared for smooth transitions. Besides smooth transitions, another key to classroom management is for students to contribute to the class rules. According to an article in Education World titled, "Do Seating Arrangement and Assignments = Classroom Management?" (Dunne) "research and experience show that students who have voice in establishing the rules are much more llikely to internalize and truly support/follow those rules." The students in the room I observed collaborated on a list of class rules as well as a list of corresponding consequences for each rule.
The article emphasized the importance of classroom arrangement in managing an effective classroom. The classroom I observed had students' desks clustered in four groups of four desks each. In the center of each group of desks was a caddy which contained markers, scissors, glue, etc. This made it easily accessible for the students rather than disrupting the class to get up every time they needed these materials. All center dividers and shelves were low in order for the teacher to see her students at all times. Children's materials such as books, paper supplies, and writing folders were on low tables and shelves that were well defined and easily accessible for students. A horseshoe shaped table for the reading center was ideal for guided reading. Also, posters, charts, and reading strategies were mostly posted at eye level for the students to see. All these features allow children to be more in control of their learning experiences and enabled the teacher to be an affective facilitator. It is also important to realize that the classroom arrangement of furnishings such as the grouping of desks creates wider walkways making it easier for the teacher and students to move about the room with greater ease and little chaos.
Stated in Vacca's text, "Reading and Learning to Read," "The social nature of reading and writing and the importance of contextual factors in literacy instruction call for teachers to organize their classrooms into nurturing and supportive communities of learners" (Vacca, 499). In my three visits to the second grade, I found it evident that the teacher organized the classroom to foster the individual students' needs. She created a sense of community in the classroom where students freely participated in cooperative learning and collaborative learning. For instance, during one of my visits, students were collaborating in groups through a learning activity referred to as "literature circle." During literature circle, the students each take turns being discussion director, real world connector, part picker, and word finder while reviewing a story. Examples like literature circle actively engage students' learning while encouraging them to be risk takers in order to move in the process of scaffold learning.
References
Dunne, D.W. Do Seating Arrangements and Assignments = Classroom Management?
Education World. Retrieved Sept. 25, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http:www.education-world.coma/a_curr/curr330.shtml.
Vacca, Jo Anne, (2002), Reading and learning to read. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
White, C. Stephen, (200), Early childhood education. NJ: Merill.