Planning a Classroom for Preschool Children

Brandy McCauley
 
Plan and Grade levels addressed
Preschool: The purpose of this early education program is to promote an environment and atmosphere appropriate for a child’s development.
Preschool/General Subject
18-22 Students
I have a wide varied of students. English speaker, Spanish Speakers, new your children and southern children,,
My approach to classroom management is to have a fun, safe, and healthy learning environment for my children. I have found that when you include your children in decisions, it teaches them to make the better choice than to misbehave and be disciplined. Classroom rules should be created by the educator and the students in the classroom on the first day of school. Some teachers set their own rules for the kids to follow, but it is good if the children are involved in making the rules. If the rules were agreed upon by everybody in the class, each of them will feel the responsibility of their own actions. Carrying out the rules daily is necessary for them to be reminded and their obedience to the rules to be established. It is important that the rules be set in their hearts and minds and this will be achieved by applying it daily until it becomes a part of their daily routine in the classroom.

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Create and follow a daily classroom schedule. When children get use to a schedule they know what is coming next and can prepare themselves for the next step. When I can organize my classroom and make my material easily accessible for myself and the children in class, I am able to prepare and gather my materials for that day in a timely manner. Expecting preschoolers to sit diligently and wait for me to cut out patterns and collect supplies for an art activity is not going to happen. I have learned from previous experiences and I will have an emergency activity planned and ready. That way if something comes up I am ready to handle it. Having all of your materials prepped and ready to go will prevent the kids in my class from getting bored and acting up. This will allow transition time to run smoothly. Providing simple activities such as games, stories, songs, and coloring sheets will reduce mayhem.
Rules and Expectations
In my classroom, my children and I sit down at the beginning of the year and brainstorm to create a set of rules that we agree upon and expectations that we all can accomplish.

Hands are for helping-we use loving touches.
Keeping hands to your self is always nice.
Cleaning up our toys is fun to do.
Washing our hands- keeps germs away.
Stop, Look, and Listen to your teacher.

(Keeping rules positive encourage children to be positive)
Roles students have in the classroom
I have a bulletin board in my classroom that has daily responsibilities. Line leader, helper for paper towels, crayons, and activity books. The children take their colored Velcro butterfly and put them under the one that they want to take their turn at. Each week every child gets to do at least one responsibility, this also helps with taking turns. This is good for all children because it helps them to develop responsibilities and helps them develop self-esteem and awareness of themselves and others. The idea for a print rich environment is for children to be engaged in significant learning, either alone or with their peers. When children work in centers they learn and develop new skills such as, the ability to share with peers and engaging with each other by developing better knowledge of the spoken and written language. “Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources” (ISTE, 2.C).
Roles you play in the classroom
The teacher must be hands-on in her approach to efficient instruction, classroom supervision, and positive performance. As the teacher, I will be actively moving around the room, helping, correcting, answering, encouraging, smiling, correcting, caring, and showing children steps, procedures, and lessons.
Implementation plan: My classroom arrangement and order
Effective management of classrooms should use these procedures so that the children can function in class properly. “Learning occurs only when students are actively engaged and in control of their own learning.” (Wong, 2009, p167). “If a classroom is not properly organized to support the type of schedule and activities a teacher has planned, it can impede the functioning of the day as well as limit what and how students learn. However, a well-arranged classroom environment is one way to more effectively manage instruction because it triggers fewer behavior problems and establishes a climate conducive to learning.”(Weinstein, 1992). The materials and equipment available for young children’s use should reflect their ethnic backgrounds, cultural families, and communities. Recordings, books, posters, recipes, signs, and dress-up clothes and props reflect these diverse children backgrounds and home languages. These materials match the individual, group association and developmental skills and interests of the children.
Creative room arrangement promotes a child’s positive self-image and encourages a wide variety of age appropriate activities. Organized centers help children develop a sense of play, responsibility, and cleanup procedures. Children want sufficient indoor space so that they can play and learn in a safe loving environment. Appropriate furnishings need to meet the demands of their daily schedules. It is important to keep children’s arts, crafts, stories, and doodles at their eye level so that they can see it on display everyday and this can create and promote positive feelings and self esteem. This work being on display for everyone to see can promote good valued and appreciated greater esteem in them self..All of the needs described above provides an environment that supports developmentally appropriate practices. My children are able to choose their centers with their butterflies. Each child has color coded butterflies that match their cubbyholes, jacket rack, table and chair and a Velcro butterfly that they can attach to the center or activity they have chosen for that time frame. This is how my children choose between their centers and learn to make decisions from a variety of choices. It’s important that I choose names for the interest areas that make sense to children and are easy for them to identify. All of my areas are appropriate for my two, three, and four year olds. “Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness”. (ISTE,1.A).
This area is specifically designed to support language development because children can communicate their ideas to others vocally, or visually on the paper or board. The activity or experience that the children can specifically be engaged in block construction of different types while developing language skills by communicating with teachers and peers. While discovering this area they can also use the poster cues and print rich environment to enhance vocabulary. The role of the teacher will be to assist in providing and developing conversation while building. The effectiveness of this area on language development will be assessed on the amount of interactions between children. The art/easel area is set up with three easels in a circle with posters on the surrounding walls. The area supports language development by encouraging the children to show their work and discuss what their drawings. The posters and wall art provide inspiration to the children and their imaginations. The children can specifically be engaged in activities designed to encourage language and communication while in the middle of creative and imaginative artwork. The role of the teacher will be to encourage children to take in their surroundings to develop emotional ties to their artwork and in return communication to others will be enhanced. The effectiveness of this area on language development is determined by an explanation of their work. The learning area is set up with a few different components, including an alphabet tree, a kidney table with label rich environment, a learning wall that has daily routines, rules, calendar, weather, and white board, along with carpet squares so that each child has their own space to sit. This area supports language development because as a class, the information on the wall is provided and reviewed along with adding letters to the tree as they are discovered. The experience that the children can specifically be engaged in considers the educational learning activities that allow children knowledge of letters, months, weather, etc. When discovering all of the previously mentioned lessons, children can communicate with each other. The role of the teacher will be to facilitate the discovering process. The effectiveness of this area on language development will be accessed by listening to the children teach each other and communicate what they have been reviewing.
My classroom walking paths allow children and adults to move comfortably throughout the room. The pathways are defined with the layout equipment. In my classroom I have 6 centers set up and during the morning play, the children can choose from 3. During the evening play they have a choice of the other 3. I have designed several different play centers. The kitchen center has a wooden, three piece set that is durable and safe for children to lean on and play with. The block center has both foam and wooden blocks. It also has large legos so that the children are given the opportunity to learn to put all types of blocks together or build things with. The next center is family living, where I have a child size church jacket, a dress, an apron, and career sets, such as medical kit, vet supplies, teaching clip board, a construction hat, and an army hat. Also in that area is baby dolls and stuffed animals. I have a center for matchbox cars, which includes many cars, a race track, wooden traffic signs, a garage, and a neighborhood rug to play on. I have a center designed for science that includes dinosaurs, plastic animals, classroom board books, large magnets, and oil and water bottles. My last center is my lounge area. I have a child-sized plastic pool with pillows that include a shelf with puppets, books, and stuffies. All of my areas are appropriate for my two, three, and four year olds.
The materials that I have placed in my early childhood program have been chosen carefully to ensure that they are developmentally appropriate and that they support young children’s interests, cultural backgrounds, and their developmental stages and abilities. By creating and implementing a learning environment means careful planning for the start of the school year. The learning environment must be envisioned in both a physical space and a cognitive space. My program is designed to provide a positive experience to all children and their families, where their economic, cultural, and educational diversity is valued.
Classroom Layout
References
Decker, C., Decker, J., Freeman, N., and Knorpf, H. (2009). Planning and administering early childhood programs (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE Standards Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-T_PDF.pdf
Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Puckett, K (2013). Differentiating Instruction: A Practical Guide. Bridgepoint Education: San Diego, CA.
Read, M. A., Sugawara, A. I., & Brandt, J. A. (1999). Impact of space and color in the physical environment on preschool children’s cooperative behavior. Environment & Behavior, 31(3), 413-428. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00139169921972173
Weinstein, C. S. (1992). Designing the instructional environment: Focus on seating. Retrieved from: http://education.odu.edu/esse/docs/classroomenvironments.pdf
Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2009). The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Mountainview, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.