If you are a teacher, what is better than standing in your classroom alone on an August day and envisioning the year ahead? You’ve looked at your class list and thought about your curriculum and schedule. Soon you’ll take time to look at academic records and last year’s teacher’s reports, but today is the delicious day you’ll set up your classroom just the way you want it to begin the school year. There’s a good deal of interior designer and decorator in every classroom teacher. It’s a core ingredient in the profession; an external manifestation to our students every first day of school of how much we care about them … down to the details: name tags, welcome messages, a few new books displayed, a covered-up shelf with a sign “Coming Attractions,” something beautiful growing somewhere in the room.
We arrange and rearrange desks. Where should I put my desk this year? Do I want my kids’ desks in pairs? Threes? Fours? What combinations? Assigned seats to start? Choice of desks to start? How many of these kids know each other? Where should the meeting rug go? Take-a-break spaces?
The first pass at all of this might not feel quite right. Try again. Need some expert advice? Turn to Marlynn Clayton’s masterpiece, Classroom Spaces That Work. Marlynn is one of the master interior designers of elementary classrooms. She understands classroom spaces from a career in her own classrooms and from helping hundreds of teachers move their furniture, literally and figuratively, in scores of schools.
Take a minute to review your class list again and rearrange it by the kids’ birthdays. Why? Well, where your “birthday cluster” is this year will give you a rough idea of how the children’s developmental stages are going to affect their behavior, how the room arrangement can respond to that behavior, and when you’ll need to rearrange during the year. (See Appendix A in Yardsticks.)
So, you’ve rearranged for the fourth time? It’s time to say, “Good enough!” Go finish that summer novel, take a leisurely walk with a best friend or spend some precious time with your family getting them prepared to send you off to school as they do every year.
Oh, and have you made that New Year’s Resolution? (Yes, this is every teacher’s real New Year beginning, right?)
OK … here are a few choices:
- Don’t bring so much work home each night (hint – get a smaller bag).
- Find a quiet half hour for yourself every day (yeah, right). Seriously.
- Before you enter your classroom each morning, visualize one kid from your room having breakfast at home or visualize one of your own children getting on the bus, or walking to class at college.
- Hold tight to time for reflection in your classroom.
- Make sure the jobs you assign to your kids, not just your own efforts, keep the room beautiful.
- Invite your principal to your morning meeting sometime in the first two weeks of school.
- Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re a great teacher!
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Several people have wanted more details about the “Birthday Cluster” exercise which is Appendix A in Yardsticks. Here are some excerpts that may be helpful.
Once you have your birthday list created, the next thing you’ll want to establish is the mode of the class–the place where most birthdays cluster, on any given date you pick –say on September 1st. You can count the birthdays (in Appendix A it is a fifth grade class) and find that the greatest number of children are at 10 years, 4 months, on September 1st (6 out of 21) with another 5 at 10 years, 5 months, on the same date. This means the birthday “cluster” in this classroom–which represents about half the children– is the mode and is somewhat older to start the year..
What do you do now?
Plan for a fifth grade class beginning the year with mostly 10-year-old developmental characteristics. Look back at the classroom implications for ten-year-olds. Think about your room arrangement and about the curriculum activities that will most engage this class as a whole. Think about potential problem areas, especially socially, for the much younger children in the classroom as well as the older.
Think about how the class will be different in the second half of the year when most (nearly three-fourths by March) will be exhibiting eleven-year-old developmental characteristics. You’ll need to adjust approaches to classroom organization, instruction, classroom responsibilities, homework, and many other areas by paying attention to shifting development. Teachers who do not pay attention to the developmental shifts within a given year often wonder why they have more trouble with a class in the second half of the year or may comment about how pleased they are with how much the children have grown under their tutelage. But more attention to changing their own practices according to developmental needs (based on the changing needs of the birthday cluster) can help any teacher make a little more progress with the class as a whole.
Consider the potential needs of the children on the younger and older ends of the spectrum and how you will accommodate them as you see how they fit in the mix of the classroom. Creating a histogram, or vertical bar graph, on September 1 and March, as shown in Figure 2 in Appendix A, can be a useful way to help you keep in mind the developmental needs of the class before you.
Hi, Chip.
I think it’s great that you reminded teachers–dedicated people working in one of the most stressful professions–to take good care of themselves and also offered some great practical suggestions. On that note, did you know that Mike Anderson, an RC consulting teacher, has just published a book on helping teachers keep their personal and professional lives balanced and healthy? It’s called The Well Balanced Teacher: How to Work Smarter and Stay Sane Inside the Classroom and Out.
Mike’s been researching this topic for a long time, and he’s got lots of great, practical ideas. His key point: To take good care of their students, teachers must take good care of themselves. Self-care, he points out, is not selfish—it’s sensible.
ASCD, the publisher, is taking pre-orders now (there’s a link you can click at Mike’s website, http://www.mikeandersonsite.com). And the book will be available in the Responsive Classroom online bookstore around mid-September (people can just click the link you’ve got over on the right side of your blog–the one with the sun!).
Would love to hear more from you on this topic–for example, what are some of your suggestions to help brand-new teachers make it through their first year?
Thanks–Elizabeth
Julie and Barb
First you need to find the mean of your ages; that is the chronological cluster, so to speak. You need to be able to estimate with this cluster if you have an older or younger class starting this year. Then use the grade level characteristics to arrnage the room for spaces that match the ages. So…. if you have a class of second graders that are still mostly six, for instance, you would want to arrnage the room with clusters of desks in fours or sixes so there is plenty of chatter and group think that can go on because that’s what sixes do. But in January or Feb when they hit seven you’ll want to change the room arrangement so there are more two-desk arrnagements and several private, quiet spots in the room, which they love.
I wouldn’t worry so much about older and younger in terms of helping each other because if you are thinking age and academic skill always match well, we know they don’t. So first you need to assess where skill levels are if you want to group that way, and then, yes, more able helping less able for some tasks is always helpful. But everyone has some skill to help someone else with in the classroom if we become more transparent with kids about their strengths and challenges as we get to know them. Have a wonderful opening, Chip
Lisa – I can tell you are going to have a great year and I’ll bet your kids do every year. Chip
I had a similar question as Julie pop in my noodle. Do I arrange similar ages together or do I place slightly older and younger students together? My thought is the ‘older’ might help the ‘younger’ with directions, etc…the ‘younger’ has much to bring to the table as well.
Perfect timing! Today I started the process, which is sure to be long and arduous since we rapidly moved classroom and grades last June. I do love the lingering in the room and arranging and re-arranging. I almost hear Marlyn asking, “does that piece of furniture serve 2 or more purposes?” LOL! I find that I really need to have the physical space organized before I can begin the hard work of planning and getting to know each child. I also love your tips – I’ve somehow managed to find more balance this summer than I have had in my entire teaching career and I am determined not to completely lose that balance. Smaller bag was purchased. Half hour to myself, scheduled. Resolutions are being drafted. The rest will fall into place as the next few weeks unfold.
Thanks for the reminders that it will all be okay, no rich and wonderous!
Hi Chip,
I have just leveled my 2nd grade students by age. The range is from 6 years 9 months to 8 years and 2 months.
What is best seating arrangement? How should I group them?
Thanks for your help.
Julie