My 21st Century Classroom

My 21st Century Classroom is focusing on a Kindergarten class. Mainly anything in the classroom can be utilized by my students, but the IWB will need my assistance and guidance to make sure it is not ruined or broken. My classroom will be fun and enjoyable because I think students learn the best when they are actually interested in the material. Keeping the attention of Kindergarteners is going to be a challenge because they can easily become bored with what they are doing, so material will have to move at a steady pace. We can accomplish many assignments and switch subjects 4-5 times a day between math, reading, writing, etc..

I think that I would want my walls to be painted light green because studies show it is calming, relaxing, and helps with concentration. Also painting the front wall a darker hue of green for concentration  is recommended.

  

About my classroom: The teacher's desk faces the students desks at all time so I can make sure my students are always on task and being fair. I want my students to come up with ideas and create their own work, not look off their neighbor and do the exact same thing they are doing. Student tables have four chairs around each, so four students will share a table together. I have a storage unit, a fridge, and a sink in my classroom. The sink is very important to me because kids that are 5 and 6 years old are going to get their hands very messy. Hand washing is the number one way to prevent the spread of germs and diseases. I will have my students wash up before they go to lunch. As you can see I have many shelves in my classroom. On these shelves are going to be games, books, blocks, toys, anything that can keep the students occupied while they have free time. Putting an easel in my classroom was an easy decision because I used to love painting on our easel back in Kindergarten and so did a lot of my classmates. My projector and T.V. face the students desks and my desks that way I can stand in front and do many different types of lessons with them. Two example I can think of off the top of my head are writing activities and matching activities. I'm not going to be the teacher that tells my students, "No you can not touch the IWB." Instead I will help guide them along to help them learn, and keep the expensive equipment safe.

My IWB will be set up so it is facing the student's desks at all time. I will run the IWB off my laptop and during lessons have students come up and assist me. They can also demonstrate how to do the activity for the class if they understand what we are doing by the directions that I give. Studies go back and forth on whether IWB's are helpful to student learning or not. Personally I believe they are at younger age levels because kids have never seen this type of equipment before and are excited to assist their teacher in any way they can, because in Elementary school, it's all about the attention.

This video that I have inserted talks about teaching the 21st learner and how teaching practices have become outdated. Students today are different and so teacher's teaching practices need to be different in order to fill the needs of their students.



I enjoyed my time in SEDU 183 this year. This class has taught me the importance of technology and how to correctly use it in a classroom someday to teach future students. I can take a couple ideas from this class. One idea I can take is to use a blog to keep parents informed about what is going on in my classroom.

Here I can write posts everyday on what we did in class, any assignments the students are to do for homework, and if I need any paperwork signed and returned to me. I think it is important to have parents involved and in the loop of what is going on in my classroom, that way they can also help their child succeed to the best of their ability.