Blog Post 2

The first classroom I was in this week was a grade 5/6 classroom and the teacher had a very unique setup. She had tables with four chairs spread out and angled differently all over the classroom. No two tables faced the same direction. In addition to the placement of these tables, she had smaller whiteboards stuck up on all the walls inside her classroom. When we asked about the set-up, she talked about how there is no front to her classroom. She didn’t want the children to be sitting in rows staring up at her, this way everyone in the classroom has a voice and although she is the teacher she is not placed as superior to the class. She has to ability to move around and be in different spaces and each student will have a unique view of her and her lessons. This was unique to me and I thought it was a great idea. It allows some of the stereotypes of desk placements to be disturbed and lets each kid be at the “front” depending on where she is teaching. I also think it is a good idea because it gives the students more connected to each other and allows them to work in their table groups and help each other learn instead of always listening to the teacher.

This same teacher also had her classroom decorated as Harry Potter-themed. At the beginning of the year, she placed all the kids into the four houses based on persuasive paragraphs they wrote to her on which house they wanted to be in. Going along with the Harry Potter theme there were inspirational and magical posters throughout the classroom which makes each kid feel special and gives them something to connect with. Growing up as someone who loved Harry Potter being in a classroom that followed some of the same activities and factors that were included in the Harry Potter movies would have been very encouraging for me. There were house points that she would add for doing things correctly or good and bad behviour which would have pushed me to be on task more often as I was often easily distracted. I think it is important that in classrooms there is more than just school work and that children are able to connect to something and find the class enjoyable and entertaining.