Ideal Classroom Reflection #1

The following is how I picture my ideal classroom. I will be teaching in Utah County in an Elementary School teaching second grade. The school doesn't have a lot of money but we make do with what we have. I have twenty students. My classroom is pretty evenly divided with half the class Hispanic and half Caucasian. I have an advantage because I speak Spanish so I can communicate with the parents of my Hispanic students as well as with some of the students that are still learning English. This is very helpful because there is less confusion when it comes to homework and assignments. I have many parents who come into the class to help with reading and individual learning.

Our school is in an older building built about fifty years ago. It is brick and well kept with a large school yard which has two playgrounds, one for the younger grades (kindergarten through third grade) and one for the older grades. There is a large field where the students can play soccer and baseball as well as areas where they can play basketball and run. The children love the time that they spend outside for PE and recess.

My colleagues and I work well together. We work in teams by grade and we work in a collaborative environment to find ways to help the students learn the best ways possible. We use the core curriculum and find creative ways to teach it to the children. Our main focus is always on the students because that is why we are there.

My classroom is large with one wall of windows which faces the mountains and gives us a great view yet isn't terribly distracting. The windows also let in natural light which is better for your eyes. Rather than using desks I have tables set up with five students per table. I love this set up because it gives the students a larger area to work on. It is also perfect for hands on activities and group work. This set up also gives me more classroom space. I have learning centers around the room where the children can go during center time. Each center focuses on one of the theories of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner. He states that each of us has a different learning style. Some of us learn through body movement, music/hearing, touch (tactile),visual, and reading/writing to give a few examples.

I want to use hands on curriculum. I believe that it's easier for children to remember things if they physically do them. Again, it is my goal to use the learning styles so that each student is learning the way they do best. I plan on doing this by pre-assessing the students so that I can determine where each student is academically. I want to make sure that each student is being challenged according to their abilities. My goal is also to be able to spend a few minutes daily with each student to see how they are feeling and doing in the class. Hopefully, there will be time to do that.

The school doesn't have enough money for us to have computers in the classroom, however, there is a computer lab that we get to use once a week. I want to make sure that the students are confident using computers and are able to do the basic things in Word and Excel. I will have each student create their own blog (private so that only them, their parents and I can access it for safety). We will use the blog as a journal and for writing purposes. This will help us to get away from using traditional worksheets and it's also saving trees.

My goals for the class are the following: I want each student to gain a love for learning. I don't want them to feel that it's a chore but rather a joy. They will do so much better in the future if they have a love for learning. Another goal that I have is to offer the students choices in how they present ideas and projects. This won't work for everything that we do but it will help them to feel that they have a say in how things run in the classroom. The most important goal is to create a safe learning environment where the students love coming to school and enjoy learning and growing.

I will have a classroom of happy children who have a love of learning. They will be eager to come to school everyday and will feel safe and that each of them is important and matters. This would be my ideal class and classroom.