Physical Environment of the Classroom

Classroom often reflects the personality of the teacher. The physical environment of the classroom is a main factor that any teacher should pay attention for. So we could say thatclassroom is "home away from home" for both teacher and students. Teachers should make it attractive and functional. They also have to consider grade, age and level which is appropriate to the type of classroom activities. For example, teacher should consider the various areas of the classroom and design those areas for use in a variety of activities. The physical aspects of classroom include room arrangement, seating, bulletin boards and black/white board displays and physical climate. Each of these should be carefully considered with both "individual students' needs and instructional goals in mind."   The design of the classroom allows for some activities to take place.  It is important that teachers take into consideration the influence their classroom arrangement can make on their students.

              In addition to what was mentioned before, "the classroom should be organized so as to further the program of instruction and activity." This organization should be suitable for both teacher and the classroom. Therefore, there are six facets of the physical environment that make a pleasant atmosphere inside the classroom. First, the teacher should pay attention to the seating in his classroom.  The seating arrangement should be designed in a systematic way so that the organization of the seats helps the students to feel more organized. Sometimes, this sense of organization is helped if students have assigned seats. Teacher should make sure that the room has only "the amount of furniture that is functional and does not contain useless or non-essential furnishings." Furthermore, floor space is another aspect of the classroom environment. It means that the teacher should position students for the various activities that involve individuals and group work. The third factor is the wall space. It means the chalk board and the whiteboard which are used to post advertisement, daily information and vocabulary words. Wall space is very important in the classroom. Each student could read at their free time. Fourth, countertop space is another factor of physical environment which is suitable for living planets. It is suited for science activities. There are two facets of PE which are self space and closet space. The first one is used for text books and class libraries while the second one is useful places for keeping student supplies and worksheets.    

The physical arrangement of the classroom can serve as a powerful setting for providing students effective instruction and facilitate positive teaching/learning interactions.