While
reading the assigned pages of Spaces and
Places by Debbie Diller I was struck with more than a few ideas for my own
classroom, most of which involved the classroom library and the writing
stations.
As a
secondary English teacher I find students too often get prescribed reading in
school. By which I mean we as educators
too often tell kids what they can or can’t read. We eliminate their input and
then we wonder why they don’t love to
read! Well if someone told me everything I had to read all the time…I’d hate it
too. Now practically there are times when we must assign certain texts or
certain articles but one thing I’ve used as a compromise is SSR. This is the practice of allowing kids to
select their own book and read independently in class. I usually allow the
first ten to fifteen of class for this activity. Once we are in the routine I allow students
to move around the room and get comfortable. This is why the classroom library
caught my attention. When you implement SSR into your curriculum you need to
help the students by giving them access to books, and a wide variety of books.
The
first thing that jumped out at me on these pages was the genre baskets. I think
this is great for three reasons. One it
is neat and saves space (a huge need in a classroom) two it helps students find
books quicker (this would eliminate the student who just can’t find a book) and
finally it allows students to see all the different kinds of books that are
available, and make goals. They may really like fantasy books, and make a goal
for themselves that they will read the basket this year.
The
second thing I liked in these pages was the comfortable reading corners. I am
moving rooms this year because our building is under construction and I can’t
wait to set up my reading corners. I have an old chair and an old ottoman that
I can’t wait to bring in and set up. I think once kids are comfortable they
will forget they are in class and be more inclined to “get into the book”.
Because of the size of my students this idea is impractical but I thought the
idea of the kids blow up pool was really neat. I like that because it could
come out on special occasions. My only concern is how to eliminate fighting
over the seats or areas.
In my
class we focus a lot of time on writing. In my opinion writing is an essential
tool for life, if you can’t put your thoughts onto paper you will struggle. So
I spend a lot of time working on writing skills. So I was very interested in
the writing areas. The one thing that I saw that was really cool was the peg
board that had different writing tips on it. I think that this would be an
extremely adaptable idea to any grade level. In the pictures they use sight
words; I could use vocabulary words, or editing reminders. Students struggle
with citations. This could be a way to help them.
When it
comes to desk arraignments I think the idea of groups is wonderful. It allows
for easy interaction and allows students to “discover” the content together,
which will make the content “stick” for the students. The setup that I like the most is the four
desks together in a large square, I like this setup because I think it is
really important that as teacher I can easily get beside every desk if I need
to help a student. It eliminates distractions. This way I am not reaching over
other students or asking them to move.
The
final thing that I really liked in the room placement was the idea that nothing
is permanent. Even though the bare bones
stay the same there are slight changes in the classroom as the year goes on.
For example the back to school books, get replaced by fall books, or winter
books. This keeps things fresh for students. I like that I think these little
things in a class room go noticed by students, it shows you care, and that is
so helpful in a classroom.
Before I became a teacher I was a substitute
for two years. I subbed in four districts, and for every subject area. At the
time I hated it…I mean really hated it. But now that I am employed I loved that
experience. I learned a lot. When you
get to see many rooms, in many buildings you really can get a good idea of what
you like and what you don’t like. I got to the point where I could walk in a
room and even before kids got there I could tell if this was a “good” teacher
or a “bad” teacher. Just from the way
the room was set up. Some of the things
I’ve seen that I really liked were a clothes line and an editing bank. Let me explain.
The clothes line was hung near the class room
library and the teacher used clothes pins to hang up books that were “highly
recommended” to read. The students all went for those books first. It was like
when you go into a book store and the new books are all in the front and center
of the store and you gravitate towards those first. I thought it was a neat way
to get kids reading books, which they may never have picked up.
The
editing bank was interesting. It was a place where a student could “deposit”
his or her first draft only to have it “withdrawn” by someone else for editing,
this way students who were ahead could help edit other students work. Sometimes
they would conference with the person too.
I thought this was an interesting idea because it motivated students to
want to edit and read each other’s work without feeling like they were
forced.
All in
all I think these ideas seemed pretty simple to implement, and above all cheap.
This book was helpful because these ideas are all affordable and easy. No one
wants to spend hundreds of dollars on their classroom. But a few bucks here and
there for an efficient classroom. Sign
me up!
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