My 21st Century Classroom

http://classroom.4teachers.org/

Environment

My classroom's colors will be two sorts of colors. The front of my room will be filled with brighter colors, for warm colors are proven to bring students excitement and increase their brain activity. The reason the front would be yellow is because I would be teaching in the front and would like my students to be participating and receiving all the knowledge I pass to them. Also group activities would be happening in the front of the room, where the warmer color will help with collaboration. The back will be a lighter, cold color like blue because cool colors are proven to keep students calm and relaxed. The back of my room will be a quiet, comfortable area for reading. Keeping the back of the room a cool color with help my students focus on the book in their hands instead of the colors around them.


The way my classroom is arranged is to increase the learning environment. I will have my students pick their seats in the front of the classroom. The chairs will be comfortable so that my students can focus on my instructions instead of fidgeting around. The reason why my students will be sitting 3 per table is because I believe in having collaborative lessons. Also, the front of the room will be great for group activities. It also keeps children from having to learn from the back of the room, which can sometimes be difficult.When it is time for my students to work alone or read they have the choice to sit in a bean bag chair or a couch in the back of the room. I imagine the back of the room to be a great and quiet place for reading and studying.
I don't believe in keeping a routine in my classroom. My classroom will be well organized but I believe students get bored with a routine. I would like to change atmospheres with my students. For example, if it's nice out I would like to get permission to teach my students outside some days. Also I believe it's a good idea to switch classrooms once in a while. I hope this strategy of organization will keep students from being bored. They will always have different learning environments which can increase their attention span.




The technology in my classroom will include an Interactive Whiteboard which will be used in endless ways. As in interactive games, educational movies, slideshows, and many more. I will also use it to help my students better understand my current lesson. I hope to have a laptop for each student to rent out for the year. They can take this laptop home to do homework and research on. This will promote digital citizenship. I would like for each student to have skype on their laptops. With this I plan on contacting classrooms from across the world. Each student will have to skype students they are assigned from the other classrooms once a week. With this I hope it will promote differentiation and show students other cultures. They will also be able to use the laptops in school. This may be a stretch, but being able to draw and write on the walls and tables would be really cool. This video shows how innovative teachers can really be.


If I have any students with any exceptionalities. I will support them to fully participate in any classroom activities. I would like for all of my students to feel important. I will make instructions clear by writing them down as well as verbally saying them. Studies show that communication plays a huge role in teaching students with exceptionalities. Studies also show that when everyone is working toward the same goals, the child experience more success and less stress, which is always good.  I will try to reduce visual
and auditory clutter. I will also like to have decently sized windows to reduce artificial lighting which can cause visual strains. In my classroom, my students will always hear more postive statements then negative ones.

PLN

I hope to continue to grow as a learner and professional by staying involved in current events. I would like to surround myself other successful people. Also I would grow by putting myself in situations to succeed. I hope to never pass down an opportunity to learn. I also would like to think that I will learn everyday from my students.

Community of practice

I plan on having my students stay connected to other students, community members, and experts by having them interact in various online communities. Such as blogs, twitter, facebook, tumblr, and other social networking. As I stated before I would like my students to skype other students from around the world once a week. I will like my classroom to participate in local community events. Offering bonus points for attending. These events could be anywhere from the local library theater to park clean-ups. My classroom will also attend field trips to colleges and other institutions such as museums.I plan on keeping parents connected by collecting every parents emails where I will send information about what their students will be taught that week. With this, I hope that they will send me feedback and keep me updated on how their children are doing at home. I will also send permission slips home for every event that my class participates in. I will also have parent-teacher conferences held once a month so I can further discuss anything needed. I really believe in keeping parents informed with what their students are learning and giving them tips on how they can help their children with homework and other such things. I plan on keeping a journal that travels between the students, parents and other professionals. This journal will include information on the lessons for the day, where the student performed well, and what points in the lesson the student needed redirection.