Ms. Kenesha Allen's Georgia State University Graduation Portfolio

In order to make my classroom feel like more of a learning community instead of traditional prison-style school, I have chosen to align the student’s desk auditorium style. The desks will also be in rows of three as an attempt to encourage cooperative learning (as depicted in the attached diagram). The student desks will be facing the Dry Erase/Promethean Board because this is where the majority of instruction will be given. Above the Dry Erase/ Promethean Board, there will be a display of rules and class expectations. Putting such information facing the direction that the students will be facing will be a constant reminder of how they are expected to act during class time. The teacher computer will be on the wall right wall in close vicinity of the Promethean Board so that I can project presentations and examples onto the board. The teacher desk will be placed behind the student “auditorium”. I believe in active teaching so I will rarely be seated at my desk. However, if I am seated, the reasoning for placing the desk behind the student auditorium is so that I may have an adequate view of the entire class from one location no matter the student’s positions. The tall bookshelf, storage closet, and file cabinet will be placed on the back wall behind the students so that as I am accessing supplies and resources, I am not distracting the student’s view or focus on their work. The walls will be filled with math posters such as: the order of operations, equivalent measurements, multiplication facts, integer rules, math tools, and math notations. These types of posters will be displayed because information will be the founding principals in which we build our mathematical knowledge and awareness. To the right of the teacher desk, the paper manager will utilize a table in which he will receive and return assignments to pass out to the class. This table will be behind the student auditorium so that the only persons that should be near or around the table are the teacher and the paper manager. This will minimized stolen or missing assignments. There will be a student assistance center for students who may need extra assistance with concepts. The student assistance center may be teacher led or peer led.