Londie Neely

2/09/2014
CI 466
Classroom Arrangement

The classroom I arranged is for a kindergarten classroom. When I designed my
classroom, I designed it with four learning theories in mind. The theories are Cognitive Learning
Theory, Behaviorist Learning Theory, Situated Learning Theory, and Social Learning Theory. As
I searched for resources to explain how these theory are shown in my classroom arrangement, I
came across two websites. The first website I found was created by Rebecca Stone McNeeley
who is a preschool teacher with a bachelors degree in Early Childhood Development and a
masters degree in Special Education for Pre-kindergarten through the first grade. On her website
she provides examples of how a teacher will create a learning environment from a Behaviorist
and Cognitive theorists perspective in a paper. The second website was titled Learning Theories.
On this website I found a long list of different learning theories. The two that supported the
reasons why I arranged my room the way I did was Albert Banduras Social Learning Theory and
Jean Lavas Situated Learning Theory.
All for theories support my reasoning for having an open classroom that children can
easily move around in, why I set the desks up to promote collaborative work, why all of my
centers have enough space for three to four students to be in at any given time, and why I have a
square rug for whole group lessons. The rug is squared because it allows me to easily see each
students face to make eye contact with them. A square rug requires the large class size of twenty-
seven students to sit in rows. By sitting in rows, each child can make eye contact with me and I
can make eye contact with each one of them. This allows me to help students focused which is
what McNeeley wrote about in her paper. McNeeley wrote about how a behaviorist theorist
environment helps students focus on what the teacher is doing when the teacher is right in front
of the students(2007). That is why I have my rocking chair in the front of the rug, why I left the
whiteboards that have the calendar and other academic materials I will use in the front, and why I
have the portable Smart Board in the front of the room by the children desk.
I know learning is social, interactive, collaborative, and that children naturally learn
things whether I intended them to or not. To support why I my classroom arrangement supports
group work, I will use the Cognitive, Social Learning and Situated Learning Theories. Jean
Lavas Situated Learning theory states learning can be embedded within an activity, it occurs in
authentic situations, and social interaction and collaboration are essential components of situated
learning (Learning Theories, n.d.). In my classroom the desks are set up so that all the
children are facing one another. At the appropriate times, conversation is welcomed and can
easily happen in my classroom. The Learning Theories website also discussed Albert
Banduras Social Learning Theory which stated how children learn from one another, via
observation, imitation, and modeling (Learning Theories , n.d). Once again the way the desks
are set up, students can easily observe what one another are doing and imitate. This does not
mean for them to cheat, but to get help from their peers. Lastly, with the amount of group work
my classroom allows at the computer table, students desk, and in centers my students are able to
grow together in intricate ways(McNeeley, 2007). McNeeley discussed how a Cognitive
Learning Theory environment helps students learn from their peers experiences which can be
infuse the classroom curriculum with meaningful interaction (2007). The arrangement I
created prompted conversations to so my students can learn from not only me but from their
peers. Since my classroom does promote conversations, I had to plan for a ways to mange the
classroom so it will not get out of hand.
One way I took classroom management into consideration was the placement of my desk.
My desk is placed in the back middle part of the room. Although I will not be seating a whole lot,
from my desk I can see every part of the room. That is also why the different storage units and
fish tank I chose to use are not too high were I cannot see over them. The second why I took
classroom management in to consideration was by spacing things out. The different centers, the
desk, and computer table are spaced out so that there will not be clusters of students forming and
so that I can move easily in and out. The next part of the classroom I want to talk about is the
reading center. The reading center is on the rug because it is the furthest place from the noisy
areas like the SmartBoard, science center, and art center. The reading center is also next to the
bookshelf that would be filled with a mixture of free choices books and reading level books the
students can choose from. The other bookshelf will be filled with books based on what unit the
class is currently investigating. I chose to make that bookshelf hold our theme based books
because it is closet to the students desk. Next, I added a portable SmartBoard so I can move it to
the rug when I want to and other parts of the rooms. I then chose to put the writing center by the
word wall so the students can look at it for help when need be. I then chose to put the art center
and science center by the sink because the potential for mess. By having these centers designated
to one corner, when there is a mess it will be less likely tracked a crossed the room. I also chose
to put a computer in the science center incase I want the children to watch a video about what
they will be doing or if something requires them to use technology. I chose to put the computer
table close by my desk incase I have to troubleshoot or if students are off task. I also will have a
taped line on the floor to serve as a reminder for the students to go to the rug once they enter the
classroom for morning group. I am aware that my students will have to walk pass interesting
things in the classroom and it will be hard for some to resist the urge to touch. The taped line will
serve as a helpful reminder. This taped line can also help children with disabilities in the
classroom. The taped line can serve as a visuals reminder for a child with autism. This visual
reminder can help the child with autism remember the classroom schedule. I chose to put the
cubbies in the hallway to maximize space in the classroom and to have less distractions in the
classroom if my students decided to bring something interesting to school that they need to leave
in their backpacks. Lastly, I chose to have a class pet because it will teach the students
responsibility. It is something that the whole class will have to take care of.
This was an interesting assignment. I have had to analyze my different cooperating
teachers classroom before, but never had to create my own and explain why I put things where I
did. This was good practice.




















References
McNeeley, R. (n.d.). Theories of Learning. Theories of Learning. Retrieved February 8,
2014, from http://web.utk.edu/~rmcneele/classroom/theories.html

Summaries of Learning Theories and Models. (n.d.). Learning Theories RSS. Retrieved February
8, 2014, from http://www.learning-theories.com/