Portrait of a Classroom

I thought we were uploading this to Dropbox.. oops!

These past few weeks I have been observing teachers and students at The Center School, a 5^th through 8^th grade middle school on the Upper West Side. This school is very different than most other middle schools in that most of the classes—except math, Latin, and literature—are ungraded, meaning there is a mixture of 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders in all classes. According to the school’s administration this is an effective means of learning because it creates a true community of learners and does not alienate any students. Although the Center School is a public school, students must apply and be selected in order to attend; therefore, only the best students are enrolled (of course, it doesn’t hurt if a sibling went there too). The school is an even split between boys and girls and predominately white, however, African American and Latino populations are well represented. Students travel from all over the city to attend the Center School; one girl commutes all the way from New Jersey to go to school every day! I have not encountered any special education students, and very few are considered struggling learners. I believe in many other schools these students would be considered ‘normal learners,’ but the Center School does their best to identify a student in need of help in any subject and offers one-on-one enrichment sessions with a teacher built into the student’s schedule.

Located on the third floor of PS 9, the Center School occupies half of the floor and has about 20 classrooms, which two teachers occupy. This makes it a little difficult for a teacher to make their classroom uniquely theirs, but most “roommates” work together to create a suitable learning environment. My cooperating teacher’s room is fun—most of the tables are put together to create one big table for students to sit at, which I think, at times, can lead to a lot of disruptions. The room is bright and decorated with student work. I think this classroom is a good learning environment for the students.

My ideal classroom is fun and welcoming. I would probably arrange desks in small groups and have big colorful maps on the walls. I would also like to have a lot of bookshelves because and as much natural light as possible. I also think a clean and well-organized classroom is essential in a good learning environment. Lastly, I think an ideal classroom should have a running list of rules and a regularly updated agenda clearly displayed.