The Possibilities of Classroom Design
It seems to be that time of year. July is here. On July 1, I began to see posts and ads showing school supplies displayed at stores around the city. Not long after that, I got a series of emails, texts and calls from friends who were starting to think about setting up their classrooms. I received pictures like these along with some overwhelmed emojis.
There is still a lot of summer left, but the upcoming school year is starting to be on the minds of many teachers we know. Some are waiting a while to go in to set up their rooms while others feel better if they get started early. For me, I was the teacher who would be in school midsummer setting up my classroom. Some years, I’d wait until the week or two before school started to go in, but if I am being honest (and I am not proud of it!), I was usually this teacher.
There is no right time to start thinking about next school year and designing your classroom for the students you’ll be welcoming. No matter when we get started, setting up in a way that creates an environment that welcomes every child is a goal for all of us. Not many people realize the time, energy and love elementary teachers put into creating an inviting classroom environment for a group of children they have yet to meet.
As we set up our rooms for a new year, we have the gift of thinking of what’s possible for this new group of students. We all have different furniture, school guidelines, spaces, books, wall space, etc. But, we find it’s always best to start by imagining the possibilities. Summer is a good time to look at a kidney table and think about using it for something other than small group instruction. Or to look at a space we’ve always used to store recess games and think about what else it can become. After a bit of a break, we can reimagine those spaces and to see our room with new eyes. We know we want to set up an environment that supports learning and we also know that whatever we set up will change in response to the children, once the school year begins.
I was lucky to help a friend set up her fifth grade classroom this week. I so appreciated the invitation to help think through the classroom design for the upcoming school year. There were three of us working, so thinking together was key. We entered the space and looked at the furniture pushed against the wall, wondering where to start. We pulled out the furniture and then set up the whole class meeting area. Setting that important space up first was a priority!
We then organized the rest of the furniture, thinking about creating a variety of spaces for learning. Then we moved onto the books.
Tyra wanted comfortable spaces for students to work individually or in small groups. She was able to create this space that also houses much of the nonfiction section of her classroom library.
Organizing and designing the classroom library always takes a good chunk of time and thoughtful decision making. At first, Tyra was worried she didn’t have enough books. So we started sorting to see what she had. We made some obvious piles–piles of series books, piles of books by the same author, piles of books that were about a specific topic–like space. We looked at the shelves we had placed around the room and then figured out which sections of the library would go where. It didn’t take long for Tyra to realize she had plenty of books and that there were so many ways they could be organized.
We created some author bins and a shelf of fantasy and science fiction. We put poetry in one section. We found several books that were “sports stories” so we put those in a basket. We had stacks of books that didn’t easily fit in any category and we knew that 5th graders would want a section to just browse individual titles. Those ended up on a shelf in no particular order.
Tyra had several books that were part of a series–but she only had one book in the series. So we created a basket called “Try a New Series”. What a great invitation for readers! There is no right way to organize books and some baskets (like this one) come up naturally once we start to sort what we have.
We left still considering this section. We decided to put the graphic novels and hybrid/ illustrated novels (think Diary of a Wimpy Kid) together. But as we sorted, the section got a bit crowded. We added a basket on top to expand but then realized this section might expand around to the shelf behind as this part of the library grows. We liked that this area of the classroom library was in a prominent place to give the message that graphic novels are valued.
This area was one Tyra had a vision for early on in our set up. She thought it would make a great space for small groups to gather or for individual students to find a quiet space for learning. As we continued sorting books and ran out of shelf space, we wondered if there was another place for the games.
Tyra didn’t waste a minute and created a recess game cabinet by rearranging her cabinet area! This freed up space for books in that new cozy area–an area that we all know the kids will love.
There is something magical about looking ahead to a new year and getting ready to welcome a new group of children to a classroom. I left appreciative of the opportunity to be part of this classroom design and also feeling excited for the children who will spend a year learning in this classroom.
Questions We Ask Ourselves When Setting Up a New Space: (from Classroom Design for Student Agency, page 94)
No matter when you start to think about your classroom space and envision the possibilities, here are some questions that always help us get started. We hope they might help you too!
What are the opportunities that I see here?
What are the positives about this space?
What are the biggest challenges in this space?
How can I look at this space with fresh eyes?
How can I design the space to create a variety of opportunities for learning?
How can I use the furniture in creative ways?