How your classroom is laid out, the colour scheme and how pupils are seated has a big effect on teaching and learning.
Be careful where you site your desk. My golden rule is to put it opposite, rather than undernext to the blackboard. This discourages pupils from differentiating between the “front” and “back” of the room and modifies their behaviour accordingly. The lesson plan can then be put on the board without you obscuring it when you rise from your chair. How to seat your pupils is down to personal choice and school policy.
Encourage pupils to present work as displays and use them positively in your teaching. For example, mix Year 7 and Year 11 work to give it equal status. Set tasks that force pupils to read the displays as this will encourage interaction with the classroom and increase pupils’ feelings of security.
If you register your form in your room, get pupils to personalise it by giving them an A4 piece of card on which they can put a montage of their interests. Put these up around the room, just below ceiling level, as it will encourage a sense of ownership and counter territorial problems such as who should tidy up.
Invest in plants as they make a big difference. Don’t forget to use the ceiling as a display space; post positive messages around the room. Use your classroom environment creatively to give status to your teaching.
Roy Watson-Davis is an advanced skills teacher in the London borough of Bexley. Have you any useful tips to pass on? We pay pound;50 for all tips published. Send yours to: susan.young@newsint.co.uk
