Dream Classroom Design

Every teacher has thought at some point has came up with a wish list for his or her classroom.

I wish the school would pay for___________.  The children would learn so much.

So what does your Dream Classroom look like?

Does it matter what you use to help
your students learn?

Honestly, no.

I am going to give you some

valuable information.

The children/adults you teach will only learn if it is meaningful to them.

How am I supposed to know what is meaningful to my students!!!

Believe me, you will know when it isn't meaningful to them.

Some students find the grade system all the
incentive they need.

Some students are very visual,
so all of the gadgets and cool electronics appeal to them. 

Another secret, if the student can apply what they are learning to their life, they will retain it.

As a student, I walked into classrooms and felt relieved.  The teacher was 'cool' the room made me feel comfortable and it was uncomplicated.

How do I recreate the feeling of

comfort for my students?

The first thing that needs to be done

is my attitude.

There are people in your life that

you want to be around.

And there are those other people....

Ever have an OCD teacher?

You know the one I am talking about.

Some smart kid in the class switches their stapler and tape dispenser on purpose. 

The teacher walks in and

is practically itching,

because something is out of place

They go fix it immediately.

Everyone laughs, the teacher
tries to ignore it and
tomorrow the process is repeated.

Then you go to Art and it is
an entirely different experience.

My High School Art teacher

was simply amazing.

It was messy, fun, and he always

had music playing.

I felt comfortable in that classroom.

How do I recreate that feeling of comfort?

So what does your

Dream Classroom look like?

My Dream Classroom is very open.  I like to see everything and everyone in the classroom at once.  If my classroom is too crowded, I feel like I have to watch my every step.  If there are too many places for kids too hide, they do.

In this classroom setup, I would use the projector area as a center.  I would utilize the tables as a center or centers.  One table might have magnets.  One table might have plastic money to count.  One table might be used as a coloring table.  The Beanbag area could be used for books, puppets, or Leapfrog DVD.

In our classroom, we switch out the toys periodically to prevent over stimulus.  

When you are working with mildly autistic students, energetic students, or lazy students over stimuli tends to be a problem.

Sometimes less really is more.

You may be asking yourself, does she work with special needs children?

The answer is no.

Most children are not diagnosed with things like autism until they are in Kindergarten or first Grade.  A Preschool Teacher's job isn't to diagnose the issue, it is looking for ways to have the classroom to function somewhat normally despite disruptive behavior and to curve that behavior so every student has a healthy environment.    

Personally, I need a lot of desk space.  I can easily take up one or two tables all by myself.

Design My Own Classroom

So why put bean bags in my classroom?  It doesn't matter whether your students are 5 or 18, a bean bag chair is fun to sit in.  The student who gets the chair is the envy of all of the other students.

Why have Circle Tables?

When I went to school, I remember sitting in English Class sitting at round tables

and I really enjoyed it.

In my classroom, you don't see Computer desks.

The reason for this is,

that in my dream classroom every student would have their own laptop or tablet.

That's ridiculous!

K-12, a Free Public Online School,
provides each child a computer.
There is no reason each child
at a Public School shouldn't have one.

I think touch screen computers would be best.
If you are teaching
a younger group like I am,
tablets or iPads might be a better option.
There are so many videos, apps,
and online games for all ages.

My class has been enjoying QR codes.

They laugh and dance at the videos.

Projectors can easily be hooked up to laptops.  Presentations can be presented or viewed.

A lot of the education I do is on YouTube.
It's visual and auditory
which is two out of three different learning styles.

There is also an area for a TV.

That makes it easier for viewing DVD's.  If you still need to hook your laptop up to it, the new TV's have HDMI cables that will allow you to do that.  Some DVD's go chapter by chapter and get monotonous on the computer.

I personally like sitting on the couch to work on my books and homework.

I feel relaxed and comfortable

when I am sitting on a couch doing a task,

that is one of the reasons why there are

several couches set up in the room.

When I take my 4 & 5 year old's for walks to the

'big kid hallway' they are excited to

sit on the couches or large comfy chairs.

We read books, practice our graduation songs, and work on sign language there.  They love it!

If your class is younger like mine you

might see things on the shelves like:

• Legos
• Books
• Magnets
• Tornado in a Bottle
• Sensory objects the kids can touch
• Glue
• Scissors
• Construction Paper
• Tape
• Colored Pencils
• Markers
• Pencils
• Crayons
• Puzzles
• Leap Pads
• Railroad Tracks

There are many things I would add that aren't on this Blueprint.

1. If this room was for Preschoolers, I would add a kitchen set behind the projector seating area. 
2. I would add a sink that was child size and adult sized when things get messy. 
3. I would add a door behind the Teacher Area leading to a storage area. 
4. I would have a separate napping room.
5. I would add a bathroom entrance between Preschool classrooms.  That way the children could go to the bathroom without taking the whole class in the middle of a project.
6. I would have another door leading straight to the playground outside.
7. I would have a sound control behind the desk that could turn up the projector/computers sound for the whole room.
8. I would have a White Board that the children could play on at eye level by the TV on one side and a Chalkboard at kid level on the other side.

This new picture shows

where the play kitchen would go as well as the working sinks for messy days.

The Red Rectangles on this

Classroom indicates where the doors to the storage room would be, the bathroom would be, and outside would be.

My room has a piano in it,

however if we had a

'Dream Classroom'

I would ask for a Music Room specifically

geared for Preschoolers.

It would be a mixture of

free art like the picture above,

and directed creativity like

the picture below.

I am sure once I had

my 'Dream Classroom'

I would think of something else

to improve the classroom.