Appropriate Classroom Environment - Essay Example

room set-up has very important impact on children’s attitude and habits of learning. It is really important to consider this environment on where the children will acquire knowledge for them to learn effectively. The environment must be structured, interesting, and comfortable so that the students will never get bored of learning. There must be a really good layout and available materials. It is very important to set-up the classroom appropriately for the development of the students. Crosser (n.d.) quoted Kostelnik (1992), ".

developmentally appropriate classrooms are active ones in which both teachers and students learn from one another." The classroom environment is very vital that it must be able to cater to the interest of the children because this is going to be their community on which they learn (Crosser, n.d.). The children are the highlight and not the teacher, thus it is important to set-up a classroom that facilitates development of skills, interests and independence (Crosser, n.d.). In a developmentally appropriate classroom, children are said to lead rather follow the teacher and speak than to just listen to what the teacher says (“Developmentally”).

They solve their problems than solve the teacher’s problems, the children move than wait, and the children most often ask questions than answer the teacher’s questions (“Developmentally”). The floor plan depends on the grade of the students. This should be maximized and must reflect the teaching style of the school. There must be different learning areas which include a reading area, play center, art center and technology center (“Creating”, n.d.). Though there are different areas, the following should be taken into consideration: a) the room dividers are low to make it visible for the teacher, b) the quiet areas where students read and study should not be next to play area, and c) art or messy areas must be near the sink (“Creating”, n.d.).

The physical environment of the classroom must cater to involvement of children into group as well as individually (Crosser, n.d.). There should be a presence of interest centers which invite the children to explore such as play areas which contain the seeds of learning (Crosser, n.d.). According to Crosser (n.d.), play areas must have blocks, books, puzzles, table games, woodworking, puppets and large muscle activities to provide for the diverse needs and temperaments of the children. It is very important that the children are provided with appropriate supplies and materials which they can use to try their own creative ideas.

The classroom must therefore have a library area where students can quietly read a variety of books including fiction, nonfiction, poetry and magazines individually or in group (Crosser, n.d.), This area must be cozy with a good and appropriate lighting. There should also be area for music and movement where the students can dance and sing. A good clean-up area must also be included in this classroom environment. This is where students are taught to be responsible and independent by letting them fix and clean their mess.

This will create a good sense of cooperative teamwork (Crosser, n.d.) The classroom decor is also very important. It is encouraged that the students make contributions to the decorations of the classroom walls that makes it inviting for them and give them responsibility for its maintenance (“Creating”, n.d.). The wall must have interesting visual aids such as bulletin boards containing birthday celebrants, top performers and updates. The wall decorations must also be relevant to the current class work because this is effective in encouraging them to study and learn(“Creating”, n.d.).

The wall decoration must represent all the diversity of the study as to prevent gender and race issues (“Creating”, n.d.). The updates and posts must be readable and inviting to the students. This type of classroom environment caters to the vision, mission and philosophy of the school. The classroom caters to the diversity of the students and their own needs. It is very effective to have several learning areas for the students to develop their interests. The students are our focus and providing them the classroom with complete facilities and tools for learning is the best way a school can offer for their effective learning.

References: Creating an Effective Physical Classroom Environment (n.d.). TeacherVision. Retrieved 3 May 2012 from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-management/decorative-arts/6506.html?page=2 Crosser, S. (n.d.). The Butterfly Garden: Developmentally Appropriate Practice Defined. Earlychildhood News. Retrieved 2 May 2012 from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=115 Developmentally Appropriate Classroom Environment (n.d.). Earlychildhood. Retrieved 2 May 2012 from http://earlychildhood.pccs.k12.mi.us/sites/earlychildhood.pccs.k12.mi.us/files/shared/2010-2011/DAPpresentation.pdf