Furnishing A Classroom--The Basics
The type of furniture I can use within a classroom can promote choice while also cater to different learning styles, such as visual and auditory learners. Besides creating a fun environment, the choices I have to make as a teacher when furnishing a room can have a great effect on the type of learning students become engaged in. There are many key points to keep in mind when choosing furniture for a classroom, but perhaps two of the most important are size and functionality. In doing so, I have to ask myself several questions: Does the furniture fit the students? Does it help achieve a higher learning standard? And if so, what features are included that make it do so? How does the furniture address specific learning needs of the student?
The button to the right to an NBC news article about how a group of eighth grade students are rethinking classroom furniture, and using this new perspective to create innovative and practical prototypes they hope to someday be in all classrooms. I can use this article to answer a few of the key questions I had about furniture.
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It is often easy to overlook the exact importance and function of classroom furniture when so much time is spent developing and teaching a specified curriculum. To become familiar with the basics of furnishing a classroom, and to gain some helpful tips and furniture criteria to keep in mind, I used this picture:
Using this as a guide for my future classroom is something I plan on doing, because it provides clear instructions that I can easily follow and understand.
Here is another helpful article detailing the general importance of classroom furniture on the learning of the students. Again, this article helps me with my key questions because it highlights how furniture can have an impact on the students.
Sample Furniture
During my PLN searches, I came across many different types of classroom furniture that I would want in my classroom someday. All of these pieces invidivually create an engaging environment, but when are added together in the space of one classroom, can create a choice-rich and student-centered environment students will look forward to entering every day.
Displaying Student Work |
In my classroom, I plan on using this sort of divider as a method of displaying students' artwork. It does not take up much space, and it is colorful as well as organized. Students will enjoy having their work being shown in this way because they have the freedom to choose what goes in their individual panel.
Follow the link below for some more fun ways to display student work in the classroom
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Students spend most of their lessons seated at their desks, so it is important to have furniture that carries some movement.
Furniture that can be made to stand taller or smaller allows students who work better either seated or standing to have the option of completing work in a way they find most comfortable. Students who prefer to stand when doing assignments can now do so without bending over to reach their desks and thus hurting their backs. Likewise, students who prefer to be seated can have their desks situated to their exact specific height so they will not be struggling to reach their materials. |
Adjustable FurnitureThese adjustable desks are one piece of furniture I will use in my classroom if possible because desks are not catered to individual students. By having these, each student can be comfortable according to their height, and thus be ready to learn.
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Classroom ThemesI plan on having classroom themes for each month, and even allowing students to choose a theme for the last month of school. I want them to take an active role in creating their environment so they can enjoy coming to class every day.
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Having a classroom-wide decorative theme promotes choice by having the students choose the theme of the month. This may be centered around a certain unit of study, and the students can choose how to decorate the class using different themes they are learning about. They can also actively create certain elements to add to their classroom.
I love this idea of classroom themes because this is a colorful and educational way for students to be learning about a certain subject. While promoting classroom unity, by doing this, students who learn through kinesthetic learning are actively engaged and thus they can make the most of their learning in their units. Below is a great theme I want to use for presidents' day. |
This is perhaps one of my favorite ways to incorporate classroom furniture into the learning of students. Creating desks that also function as white or black boards allows the students to engage in group activities while also giving them the choice and freedom to write wherever they want.
Some students like being creative and are not able to write clearly on sheets of paper. Other students are not always adequately prepared for class, and take up learning time gathering their materials. By providing students with just chalk, they can write and complete activities on their desks, and can feel excited to come to school everyday knowing they have the flexibility to choose their writing space. I would love to have this in my classroom someday! It is easy to make, and the students will enjoy being creative and learning at the same time. |
Chalkboard Desks |
Gutter BookshelvesThere is more freedom in choice when students are able to pick books based on titles as well as cover illustrations.
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Using gutters as bookshelves within my future classroom is a fantastic idea because not only does this craft help the organization of the classroom, but it addresses the needs of visual learners.
With this gutter method, students have the freedom of choosing a wider variety of books because they are able to see the illustrations on the front. Therefore, the needs of students who learn through visual cues are addressed in a way that the entire class can enjoy. I can't wait to incorporate this into my classroom. It makes for easy storage and organization, and allows student motivation by having all the books facing the same direction. |
Medicine Balls are not just for exercise use anymore. Replacing hard-backed chairs with medicine balls allow students who fidget and have trouble concentrating during lessons some freedom of movement they would not have otherwise had.
While allowing students in hard-backed chairs to move around the classroom for small periods of time to stretch their legs may be a possible solution, this takes away from instructional time. Having ball chairs gives students the opportunity to move around while they are working, which caters to students who may not necessarily be able to concentrate in regular stationary chairs. From my perspective, I am not able to work when seated for a long period of time in an uncomfortable chair. This ball chair idea is something I wish I would have been given the option to use during my elementary school years, so if possible I will try to implement it in my own classroom, even if for a short amount of time each day. |
Medicine Ball Chairs |
Multi-Use Furniture |
Having one type of furniture that can double as something else is a handy tool to have in a classroom. The chairs pictured at left are hard-backed chairs but during reading time, student have the option of converting the chairs into make-shift pillows.
Having the freedom to choose where to conduct reading in class is a concept that teachers everywhere must be implementing in their classrooms. Students who enjoy reading a certain way should be given the means to do so, and by having these chairs that students can convert into head rests is a great way to accomplish this. I want all of my furniture to be multi-use because not only does it save floor space, but the students will enjoy having desks or chairs that have other functions as well. |