Ideal+Classroom

My K-12 experience in school was normal in a way. I do not have any bad memories, outside of some childish bullying, of school. I did, however, experience a big change right before high school. From first to eighth grade I went to school with the same people. I grew up in a mixed raced suburb in New Jersey until the age of 14, when my family moved to a predominantly white, mostly rural, part of New Jersey. It was hard getting used to the move with not only the change in scenery but also the change in schools. It was really tough trying to make friends, which is an important part of the learning process. Even though rationally I knew that each student was new to the school, I still felt overwhelmed by the idea that many of them had been attending school together since kindergarten. Slowly but surely I gained some friends which helped me gain confidence to participate in class and reinforce what I was learning.

Throughout my schooling years I had many different teachers. The ones that stand out the most are the ones that took the time to get to know the students. They seemed to really enjoy what they were teaching and really cared about their students. I feel that teachers being passionate about the subjects they teach is one of the most important aspects of the educational system; for example, a teacher trained in teaching mathematics will more than likely not be a suitable English teacher. If the teacher is excited about the subject the students will have a greater chance of being excited to learn.

Taking education classes has given me a chance to compare the education I received to the type of education I would like to provide to my future students. Not only would I change certain delivery aspects of the material but also make changes to the basic setup of instruction, especially in the area of classroom design. Looking at the classroom I have designed, you can see that it is different from the traditional rows facing straight ahead. By angling the tables I have tried to make students feel more inclusive rather than separated; students should be encouraged to work together, when appropriate, rather than being forced to absorb material quietly and independently. The traditional row seating was something I did not like when I was going through the school system; I felt that it hampered cooperative learning. By changing the setup of the classroom I aim to deinstitutionalize the feeling of the classroom to foster a better learning environment.

I also found it important to incorporate different technological aspects into the classroom. I utilized a hanging projector as well as a Smartboard and whiteboard. Students can learn more mathematics more deeply with the appropriate use of technology (NCTM, 2000, p. 24).The Smartboard will help make the classroom interactive. The students will be able to come up to the board and work problems out and their work will be saved. This would also allow me to not only save the work done but I would be able to post it on a wiki page. The students would then be able to access the lesson and sample problems from a computer when they are having difficulties with the homework. The individual laptops would facilitate discovery learning. Discovery learning or constructivism states that “learning is an active, contextualized process of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it”(Learning). The laptops would also provide the students with a break from the everyday pencil and notebook problems.

References
Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2010, May). Constructivism at Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved May 6th, 2010 from http://www.learning-theories.com/constructivism.html

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM.