Classroom Ideas Archive - September, 2006

Setting Up Your Classroom with an Electronic Floor-Planning Tool

The physical environment affects not only individual children but the whole group and also the teacher. There is no one way to arrange a classroom but the environment needs to be created to allow each child to explore, experiment, manipulate, feel safe, and accommodate individual, small group and large group activities.

The problem often comes in wanting to rearrange a classroom but not knowing where to place some objects. 4Teachers.org, a website offering free-online tools and resources to help you integrate technology into your classroom, can assist you with this problem through the Classroom Architect. With this floor-planning tool, you can design a floor plan for your classroom. It allows you to experiment with the furniture and layout in your classroom without having to physically move these objects around! You can then print out the floor plan you like the best.

Check it out. Not only will it help with your floor plan, it’s fun to explore and manipulate various classroom arrangements to see which one will work the best for you and the children in your classroom.

Classroom Ideas is your place to shine, so send in your success stories. How have you integrated technology into your center? How did you design your literacy-enriched classroom? How have you involved parents in the classroom? Share your classroom ideas and pick up some new ones with each visit. Email your stories to jvass@csc.csiu.org.

 

[Posted on September 7, 2006]