This may surprise you, but your classroom layout can have a major effect on how well students learn. In fact, by simply rearranging furniture in your classroom, you can improve things like mood, engagement, and even facilitate your preferred teaching style. What’s more, this is a chance for you to work creatively at improving your teaching environment. So it’s definitely a tactic you shouldn’t overlook, as you may actually enjoy it.
The Facts On Perfecting Your Classroom Layout
According to Science Direct, there can be a 16% impact on a student’s learning ability based on teaching environment. And this includes all factors, such as temperature, lighting, and things like color as well. But no need to get all bogged down by these elements. All you’ve got to do is pick a few that’ll have the most impact, or are the most accessible to your current teaching situation. And from there, you’ll be able to give your classroom an update that fosters better learning and atmosphere for the whole classroom.
So let’s look at 5 different ways you can make that happen.
5 Ways To Organize A Classroom Layout For Success
#1 Organize Around Your Teaching Style
The most efficient way to start things off is by organizing the way you teach already. For example, if your teaching emphasizes lots of group activities, it’d make sense to arrange desks so that students are able to communicate easily. Rather than linear rows of desks, you could group them into blocks or circles. On the other hand, if you have a more standard type of teaching, where students need to focus on you, the traditional style of desks in rows makes more sense. The key here is to keep your teaching style in mind as you consider your classroom layout. Just make sure everything works together in a strategic fashion for best results.
#2 Provide A Sense Of Ownership
Another neat thing you can do is let students feel as though they have control over their work area. An example would be if you switch between lecture and group activities. You can have students group up according to location, but let them determine how to do so. Just give them some parameters, such as group up in 3’s/4’s/5’s, and let them take over. This will also give the classroom layout a sense of dynamics and unpredictability, which may add some anticipation to your class as well.
#3 Choose Furniture Strategically
Obviously, your ability as a teacher is limited when it comes to choosing furniture for your classroom layout. But what you can do is suggest different types that’d make learning a bit easier. For example, make a point about furniture that’s comfortable to sit in and is pleasing to look at color-wise. Just these traits will do your students good. After all, if they’re distracted by uncomfortable furniture, your lessons will be pointless. A fun trick you can use is to hang colorful garments on top of furniture to get the benefits of color psychology. Tossing some soothing blue or green into the mix can be a great addition to improve the mood of any class.
#4 Encourage Participation
If one of your goals is to improve class participation with your lectures, you can use a semi-circle layout to make it happen. A study was conducted to see if there was any difference between standard rows and semi-circle seating arrangements (Marx, Fuhrer & Hartig, 1999). It was an 8-week study to see what difference in teaching and learning it would have. Turns out, the semi-circle layout produced more engagement. Why? Well, on the one hand, teachers could see the students better. And on the other, the students felt like they could see the teacher easier. So by simply improving the visuals, everybody felt more compelled to interact with each other. Give this classroom layout a shot if your goal is more communication and engagement with students.
#5 Allow For Active Learning
One of the key tenets of active learning is creating a lively environment. And you can create one by organizing desks to allow for flexibility and social learning. One example is breaking seats into groups of four. This group arrangement is not too small yet not too big. To get this going, you’ll want to encourage students to work together, but not feel obligated to stay seated. This way they can walk around and talk at each other’s desks. This is great for adding a sense of freedom while fostering communication about the lecture. Plus, a bit of regular social discussion will enhance the experience in a positive way.
Design Your Classroom Layout For Success
Next time you’re wondering what you can do to improve your teaching environment, consider the layout of your furniture as well! It’s a simple yet fun and creative way to foster better mood and learning. Additionally, if you want students to enjoy the classroom experience more, why not show them how to improve their typing skills as well? By using tools like KeyboardingOnline, you can make sure they’re competent at an important life skill. And this will give them confidence in both your and other classes as well.