Physical Classroom enviornment

Questions about the physical layout:
How are students’ workspaces organized? Are students at individual desks or tables? How are these desks or table organized? 
The student desks are organized into 8 tables where three to four students can sit and work in groups.

Is there a teacher desk? Where is this located? 
The teacher's desk is in the back corner of the room.

Describe what is on the walls (e.g., whiteboards (interactive or not), chalk boards, posters, pictures, etc.) 
There are whiteboards, posters relating to math, reference posters, student art, calculators, and pictures of my CT's family next to his desk.

What kind of technology is present in the classroom (e.g., computer, interactive white board, tablets, document cameras, etc.)? 
Calculators are available for student use, each student is provided with a Chromebook which are used instead of textbooks. There is also a document camera and projector so students can look at notes.

Interview:
How and why did you decide to organize your classroom the way you have (e.g., organization of student and teacher workspaces)? 
The desks are arranged this way to encourage students to work together. Research says students do best when working in groups of three so having the class set up this way makes the class naturally more collaborative.

Are there particular things that you are required to have on your walls? 
The school has several posters which are required to be put on the walls:
*The school mission statement
*A list of class expectations
*Chromebook expectations
*Cellphone policy

How do you decide what items to put on your wall? 
I wanted to put student art on the wall so that all students felt like they had contributed something to the class and thus create a bond between the class. Reference posters are there as an anchor point. Hopefully students who look up at them will be able to recall them in the future even without the poster available. Some personal pictures/posters are good because they allow the students to see the teacher as a real person.

Do you find the available technology adequate? Have you noticed the technology having an impact on your teaching or your students learning? Are there additional items you wish that you had?  
The technology is certainly adequate. The new Chromebooks allow students to carry a lot of information with them without the burden of carrying five textbooks. Although it definitely has had an effect on student learning as students will often be off task with their Chromebooks so some kinks definitely still need to be worked out. As far as additional items go, an additional projector would be nice as it'd allow me to show notes on one side and the textbook problem on another. It'd also be really neat if we had floor to ceiling whiteboards on all walls. This would open up many possibilities for teaching!


Question to reflect on:
Based on your observation and interview, how are you thinking about the physical layout of your own classroom and how might you set it up so that it will help you achieve your goals?

I believe the most important part of the classroom is the orientation of the desks. This quickly sends a message about what the teacher's expectations are for how the class will be run. As I went through high school, all of my classrooms had the desks oriented in a traditional grid facing the front. This set the expectation that the class would be presented in a traditional lecture oriented style. In my CT's classroom, the desks are arranged so students can sit in groups of three or four, facing each other. This sets the precedent that students are expected to work together in groups. In my interview, my CT told me that the research he had found stated students learn best when they can work together in groups of three. I've seen similar research in my own studies so I will likely go for this approach as a teacher. However, the way my CT has his classroom setup requires that most tables have at least one student facing the back. This means a third of the students have to constantly be looking over their shoulder to see the board. I think that given the choice, I'd rather go with individual desks than have my students sit facing backwards.

We spent quite a bit of time discussing what goes on the walls of the classroom. There were only a few posters relating to school policy that were required to be put up so the teacher gets a lot of free reign. I asked if there were any rules concerning what weren't allowed to be put on the walls. He told me that as long as it was school appropriate, teachers are allowed to decorate their classroom however they wish. With this in mind, I plan on decorating my classroom with several band and movie posters. This is so that students hopefully don't see me as some kind of math robot who exists to talk about them but as a person who lives a real life with passions and hobbies. Hopefully, this can help break down the barrier between students and teachers and allow me to connect a little bit easier.

We also discussed more "practical" decorations. For example, posters of the unit circle or important equations. Students are able to look up at these during class and use them as reference. I've always believed math is about problem solving and not memorization. I don't mind giving my students access to common equations as long as they can use them correctly.