The Ideal Classroom 1

The Ideal Classroom

Ashlee Prudhomme
Alverno College

The Ideal Classroom 2

Introduction
The ideal classroom is something that every teacher dreams
about and thinks about for their entire career. All of the if only or if
the district had the money, or if I worked there or If I had the
resources or energy that teacher ponders every year seem to be
anything but close to reality. Although a teacher may never have their
perfect idea of a classroom every year, one can work to create the plan
and work as hard as they can to achieve it. Teachers work hard for the
months, weeks and days leading up to a new school year. They work
tirelessly to arrange their classroom in the perfect way, decorate the
bulletin boards just right and put up the door dcor to make the
warmest, inviting classroom possible. Apart from the layout, teachers
also have a plan in place for classroom management, procedures for
learning, schedule and environment. The environment sets the tone for
the entire school year from the first time the students step into the
room. Classrooms that encourage emotional well-being create an
atmosphere for both learning and emotional development. My ideal
classroom environment would be a co-taught classroom between
myself the special education teacher and a general education teacher
with 20-24 students from diverse backgrounds, with and without
disabilities. Our practices would be culturally responsive by honoring
all of my students backgrounds and we would incorporate the use of
assistive technology for all students such as a standing desk, wobbly

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seats, ball chairs or pencil grips. My ideal grade would be a 3rd grade
classroom because this developmental level lends itself to center
based learning. The room itself would be large and open and perfect
for us to create centers for small group, individualized learning.
My Philosophy
Myphilosophyoflearningandteachingrevolvesaroundstudentstheproper
environmentforexperientiallearning.Itistheideathateverystudentlearnsdifferently
andthatmypracticesandenvironmentallowsstudentstohavethemindsetthattheycan
achieveanything.Myclassroomandlessonswouldbefullofexperientiallearning
opportunitiesprovidedthroughwholegrouplessonandsmallgroupcenters.Mylesson
deliverywouldbevariedfromthevisualinteractivelessonontheSmartBoardonedayto
presentingtheinformationthroughareadaloudbook.Thesebeliefsaredrivenbythe
theoriesofHowardGardnerandCarolDweck.HowardGardnerbelievesstudents
possessdifferentkindsofmindsandthereforelearn,remember,perform,andunderstand
indifferentways,"Gardner(1991). At first glance, it may seem like a
daunting task to target all the different types of learners, but by
incorporating lots of visual print, an open floor plan, varying methods
of teaching and movement into my ideal classroom, I can hope to meet
the learning needs of all learners. Gardner drives my practice by
understanding that all students can learn but just in different ways.
Students with disabilities have the ability to learn, it is my job as a
teacher to find that students best learning style in order for them to
obtain the information. This may mean adapting worksheets and books

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with pictures or just having the student read to orally. More than just
for students with disabilities, every single student learns differently
and I would work to implement procedures and lessons that engage as
many of these learning styles as possible.
Carol Dweck describes that we all possess two types of mindsets,
either fixed or growth mindset. In a fixed mindset, people believe their
basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits.
They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead
of developing them (Dweck; 2006). In a growth mindset, people
believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through
dedication and hard workbrains and talent are just the starting point.
This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for
great accomplishment. Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation
to learn and be educated in the classroom. Preparing students with a
growth mindset will enhance their education experience by giving
them the power to learn and in turn teach them a life skill to always
think positively.
Co-Teaching
I also believe co-taught environments are very productive when
one teacher is general education licensed and the other is a special
education licensed teacher. Marilyn Friends approach of co-teaching
that she calls team teaching is the method I would base my classroom

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around. Both teachers are responsible for planning, and they share the
instruction of all students. The lessons in the classroom are taught by
both teachers, who actively engage in conversation, not lecture, to
encourage discussion by students (Friend; 1996). Both teachers are
actively involved in the management of the lesson and discipline. In
my ideal classroom, one teacher is General Education certified who is
stronger in the curriculum and the other teacher would be Special
Education certified so they are more versed in the differentiation and
strategies used to attend to all diverse learners that may be within a
classroom environment. When these strengths are used appropriately
and where each others strengths are utilized, magic can happen.
My Learners
In my short time teaching, I have encountered many learners. Of
all these learners, my work within the classroom with students with
disabilities has been the most rewarding. In my ideal 3rd grade
classroom, there would be 18-20 students in the classroom with coteachers. There would be students with and without disabilities, from
all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. My class would be 20%
Caucasian, 40% Hispanic, 3 students with disabilities and 5 English
Language Learners. My background is in Spanish, so working with
students with different cultural backgrounds in an urban district is what
I enjoy. Of the students with disabilities, one Caucasion male has an
Autism spectrum disorder but is higher academically, one Hispanic

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male with an Autism spectrum disorder who has echolalic speech and
one Hispanic female student with a significant developmental delay
and ADHD. The 5 English Language Learners in the room all come
from non-English speaking households, with 2 of the students having
just moved from Mexico to the United States and 1 whose parents are
migrant workers and they spend half the year in Wisconsin and the
other half in Texas. The Hispanic male with Autism who is echolalic,
uses a Picture Communication Exchange board to communicate his
needs, as well as using simple sign language to request his needs.
This student also requires a visual schedule and consistency for him to
be able to move from task to task throughout the day. There would be
a male Spanish speaking assistant in the room for a student with an
Autism spectrum disorder who displays echolalic speech and needs
close adult supervision due to safety concerns of wandering and not
being able to communicate his needs. The educational assistant would
also be there to provide cueing for another student with a
developmental delay. In my classroom, there would be plenty of
opportunity for all students learning styles and needs to be met.
The Center for Public Education states that with the success of
the Tennessee Project STAR program, smaller class size has been seen
to show higher achievement. The study also found that the ideal class
size for general education is 12-15 students per teacher in the primary
grades. This means that in the co-teaching situation of my ideal

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classroom, there would be 10-12 students per teacher. With this ratio
of students to teachers in the classroom, I believe there is plenty of
opportunity to bond with each student yet there are enough faces to
be able to make small groups that can be varied.
Room Organization and Decoration
Room Organization
One of the first things a teacher does at the beginning of the
school year is organize, arrange, and decorate the classroom. In their
article, Organizing the inclusive classroom for grades K-3, Scott, Leach,
& Bucholz (2008) describe that, The physical environment of a
classroom plays a part in the ownership students feel about their
school and more specifically their class. The classroom environment
should do as much to foster cooperation and acceptance as the
instructional method the teacher uses. Children are sensitive to the
atmosphere created in the classroom; it is what makes decorating and
setting it up just right so important. So when setting up this classroom,
I ask myself, is the classroom warm and inviting? Are all areas of the
classroom accessible to all children? Are the walls bleak and lacking in
color or do the decorations help to make the students feel
comfortable? Are areas well defined as to their design and purpose?
(Scott, Leach, & Bucholz, 2008).

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Figure 1

As seen above in Figure 1, my ideal classroom would start with a

large open space, with large windows all along the South wall and high
ceilings. There is a small closet space on the North wall that has been
converted into the break and sensory movement room. My sensory
movement room would have a swing, trampoline, bean bags, bouncy
chair and mats available for students to have their break time or
movement. The door would be located along the West wall, facing into
the room towards the East. Next to the Smart board the entire wall is
white boards for writing and displaying work. The rest of the walls are
either whiteboards or bulletin boards. By having so many different
ways to reach my students in my classroom, whether through utilizing

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the technology on the Smart Board, anchor charts on the bulletin
boards, interactive group discussions being shared on the white board,
I am able to target multiple intelligences through the variety of ways I
would be able to deliver instruction in my classroom. I would make sure
to have lots of chairs, desks, tables, and computers to arrange in the
room. The room would be divided up into areas for the students to
access throughout the day. The Smart Board would be set up on the
East wall, with the students tables set up in front of it. To the left of the
Smart Board area, are white boards with a u-shaped table in front of it
small group table time with the teacher. The teacher desks are on an
angle in the southeast and northeast corners of the room facing into
the room, so we are able to see a full view of the room if the teachers
are ever seated at their desks. Along the South wall under the windows
are comfy sack chairs for students to take a break in, or read. A library
area that is marked with a carpet, beanbags and bookshelves with
plenty of leveled books is in the northwest corner of the room. To the
left of the library area along the West wall is another U-shaped tabled
with white boards mounted on the wall behind, to be used for table
time, guided reading group or work with the teacher time. In the
middle of the room there are two circle tables to be used for center
time so the students can spread out and have plenty of space to work.
With having an open layout, children are able to get up and stretch,
move around and interact with their schoolwork through various

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exercises or tasks that I can design into my classroom; meeting the
needs of the kinesthetic learner.

Figure 2

Throughout the room there will be plenty of print and bulletin

boards to catch the childrens eyes. The use of visuals in the
decoration of the room and in the lessons targets Gardners visual
learners. Smart Board lessons and interactive activities, videos and
music would be shown with the projector and the smart board. By
being interactive, it encourages students to get out of their seats and
participate with their full body in the lesson. For the students who can
be over-stimulated with too much print, one of the walls will be left
open to display student work or just for a visual break. On one of the
bulletin boards, would be dedicated to changing our mindset. Carol
Dweck describes having a fixed or growth mindset as being a major

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part to how a child perceives learning, accepts learning and
participates in the learning. I want to incorporate teaching a growth
mindset into my classroom as often as possible so having the
appropriate phrases posted to set the tone is essential. As seen in
Figure 2, this is an example of what the board may look like. It takes
common phrases uttered by students that demonstrate a fixed mindset
and rewords them into a growth mindset stance. These words of
encouragement are there for quick reference when doing any task and
will encourage a student to try their best and never give up, change
their approach. In order to fully implement this, I will have to
demonstrate how to change my mindset through modeling and
implementation between myself and my co-teacher.

Classroom Procedures
The procedures in a classroom are almost as important or
possibly even more important than the physical layout and decorations
in the room. This is what sets the standards and tone for the rest of the
school year. The procedures are what make the class run smoothly as
well as create a warm environment for learning and fostering of social
and emotional relationships with peers and adults.
The school day would begin at 7:20 and end at 2:05. Students
would first come into the room and eat breakfast at their seats to get
them started for the day. Each student would next complete a morning

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work binder before morning meeting. In their morning work binder, the
students would have to copy down our schedule for the day and fill out
general information about the day of the week, the date, etc. These
binders could be differentiated to meet the specific needs of the
learners. For example, if my Hispanic male with Autism is working on
letter identification, I could add in different letter identification
worksheets or tasks into his binder as needed. The binder completion
could be used to help track information for IEP goals. After morning
binder, there would be morning meeting every day. The day would be
blocked out into 30-45 minutes sections for Reading, Writing, Math,
Science/Social Studies. Brain breaks incorporated into the daily
schedule to meet the sensory and movement needs of all students in
the room, especially the students with disabilities and students with
hyperactivity. Brain breaks would be any activity designated for
students to give their mind a rest from academics such as yoga, the
website Go Noodle videos, stretching and dance videos. For my
students who have a hard time sitting still in the room, the option for
standing desks or bouncy seats would be available within the room.
The Hispanic student with Autism would use a tablet to communicate
their needs with a text to speech feature. He would type in his
response to an answer then tap the screen to have the words be read
aloud.
Culturally Responsive Teaching

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My classroom is designed to meet the needs of all diverse
learners. My co-teacher and I work to incorporate the backgrounds and
beliefs of our learners into our classroom in a respectful and uplifting
manner. There are many distinct learners in my ideal classroom from
all backgrounds, Caucasian, Hispanic and African American so I would
want to be responsive to all of their needs. By incorporating culturally
relevant practices into my environment, I am meeting the needs of my
learners on a deeper level by including them. When the material is
relevant to the learners, they are able to grasp the concept and apply
it more easily in their lives. For example, to respect and honor my
students from Hispanic backgrounds, the class would do a project
discussing Cinco de Mayo. The class would be divided up into groups
and tasked with creating a presentation about an assigned topic
related to Cinco de Mayo that they would then present and teach to
the other 3rd grade classes in our school. Some of the topics taught
would be all about Mexico, why do we celebrate Cinco de Mayo,
traditions for celebrating Cinco de Mayo and teaching a few phrases in
Spanish. The classroom environment has been created to allow
students to learn and be successful in an environment that is
welcoming and accepting of each and everyone one of them. Every
students background and diversity will be treated with respect and
dignity. They will be given the opportunity to share with the class what

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about them makes them special and be shown how they contribute
positively to our environment.
Morning Meeting
The Responsive Classroom approach includes Morning Meeting
as one of the strategies that are at the heart of their program.
The Responsive Classroom is a general approach to teaching, rather
than a program designed to address a specific school issue. It is
based on the premise that children learn best when they have both
academic and social-emotional skills. Morning meeting is a classroom
environment building activity that would be performed every morning.
Students would all come to the designated meeting place of the carpet
and greet each other in the morning. Morning Meeting is a gathering as
a whole class each morning to greet one another, share news, and
warm up for the day ahead. Researchers at the University of
Virginia's Curry School of Education conducted The Responsive
Classroom Efficacy Study and involved 24 elementary schools in a
large district in a mid-Atlantic state. The study followed 350
teachers and over 2,900 students from the spring of the students'
second grade year to the spring of their fifth grade year. This study
found that the use Responsive Classroom approach and specifically
the use of morning meeting improved student-teacher interactions.
More over the Teachers' increased use of Responsive
Classroom practices was related to classrooms that are more

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emotionally supportive and organized and specifically, the teachers
use of Morning Meeting was related to improved emotional support
for students and improved classroom organization (Rimm-Kaufman,
et al; 2012). Morning meeting would also be a place where students
would review the rules of our classroom. By reviewing the rules of
our classroom, we are setting and keeping the standards for our
environment.
Motto and Classroom Traditions
I would want to create traditions and a motto in my room to
foster class identity and belonging. To me, a motto is a powerful way to
encapsulate the principles, values, and ideals which guide us as
teachers and from which we make decisions. So what is our motto in
our room? My motto is my philosophy and how it drives all the
decisions I make in regards to my learners, classroom and procedures.
Traditions can also help create positive feelings and bond students to
their class. I would start the morning with a beginning of the day
tradition and end the day with a tradition. Students could work
together to create a class motto that is recited every morning before
the day begins and a share one thing they learned that day to be done
before they leave. Since my ideal classroom would be co-taught, my
co-teacher and I would have to mutually agree on a motto that would
be the driving force in our classroom. I believe that it would be You
Belong. This would be clearly posted. We could also include the

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students in a project discussing mottos and in the end having students
create their own mottos for inside our classroom that we would live by.
It is like including the students in deciding on the rules of the
classroom so they have a stake in the classroom so they belong. Daily
traditions would also be incorporated into the room in order to foster a
positive classroom environment and create a cohesive welcoming
class. To begin the day, the class would always have a morning
meeting on the carpet to start. At first, the students would just say
their name and then shake the hands of three classmates and say
Good morning(students name) to create the community. As the
year progressed the greetings could change from a high five or any
other type of morning greeting. The end of the day would also be a
meeting on the carpet to discuss one thing that they learned that day
or their favorite part of the school day. These daily traditions would
create a sense of community and belonging.
Strategies
Self-Advocacy
One of the most important skills teachers can teach their
students, especially those with disabilities, is to empower them to
advocate for themselves. Students need to be able to make their
needs and wants known. For example, teaching students in the
classroom to signal when they need to use the bathroom. From a
young age, teachers should be teaching students with and without

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disabilities to self-advocate. As part of my classroom, I would make
sure to work into my daily routine to encourage students to be
independent and advocates for themselves. At the beginning of the
year, my co-teacher and I would role-play to demonstrate the correct
and incorrect ways to advocate. This also means teaching the students
strategies of being independent and trying their best always. Self
advocacy is immensely important and ties back into always having a
growth mindset. I would teach students that it is all about their
mindset in the way they approach tasks, that they could either have a
fixed mindset or growth mindset. In part of teaching these selfadvocacy theories ties into Carol Dwecks growth mindset. In our
environment, I am teaching them to keep a growth mindset where
intelligence can be developed, challenges are embraced and that the
students effort is seen as worthwhile. The classroom would be set up
so that the class has the attitude that getting things wrong and
receiving feedback is positive and how it guides their further
improvement. As a class we would practice keeping our growth
mindsets, and also refer to our bulletin board shown in Figure 2 when
hearing any fixed mindset utterances.
Positive Behavior Supports
Another very important part of setting up a classroom is the
classroom management system. There are many different types of
systems for this purpose. There are sticker charts where students get

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rewarded in the moment for doing their job and can turn in a full
sticker chart for a reward, I am working for charts, daily rewards, etc. In
order for the classroom management to be implemented properly, my
co-teacher and I would go over the classroom expectations in the
beginning of the year. We would ask the students what should our
classroom expectations be, give examples and brainstorm together. By
involving the students in the creation of the classroom expectations, I
am already creating my classroom community because they had
control in the creation of the expectations or rules in the classroom. I
would then type up the expectations and have each student sign their
name on our Expectations Contract. This would also mean
demonstrating what the expectation looks like and what it doesnt look
like, so students would not be able to say Well I didnt know I couldnt
do that... Students would be rewarded when they were found to be
doing the right thing, not punished for doing the wrong thing. Students
would be able to collect their points in order to trade them in for a
prize at the end of the day. The students would be asked what they
would like to be able to work for in the prize basket, where it is candy,
or a break on the computer, lunch with the teacher, etc. The students
will be more motivated when they have a say in the reward and it is
something that they actually want.
I also would look into implementing Class Dojo, which is an
online website that allows you to add and subtract points due to

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behavior. What I like about Class Dojo is that it tracks the time the
points are taken away and creates a report for each student at the end
of each day and week that can be shared with parents. Parents can
also sign up for a parent portal for their child on Class Dojo so they can
get real time updates about their childs behavior each day straight to
their smart phone. Class Dojo works by when the students receive a
point it dings happily and when the students lose a point it makes a
sad noise. There is total anonymity to who is gaining or losing points,
just the sound, so there is no chastising of the student. I want to keep
their mindsets positive.
I understand like how Gardner describes there are many different
types of learners, a teacher always needs multiple ways to manage
her classroom, and needs to have an alternate plan to your first plan. If
using Class Dojo was not working well for all my students, I would have
to find another solution so help those specific students. One method
would to have behavior charts for each section of the day. The child
would meet with the teacher after each section of the day and either
mark themselves a smiley face for doing their job, an okay face for
doing their job part of the time, or a sad face for not doing their job at
all. The smiley faces would be saved up for points for a reward that
was meaningful to that student. The visual representations and selfmonitoring of the behaviors would be beneficial for each specific

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student that would have the chart. It also would serve as a note home
to the parents to demonstrate their behaviors at school.
Conclusion
The ideal classroom is different for every teacher. Some may
have gardens, others are technology centered for student involvement
no classroom will be the same. My ideal classroom environment may
look totally different than that of my classmate, or co-worker. My ideal
grade would be a 3rd grade classroom because this grade level can
have center based learning incorporated into each core subject. The
room itself would be large and open and perfect for us to create
centers for small group, individualized learning. With my culturally
responsive practices and use of assistive technology and
differentiation, all students needs are met within my classroom.

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Reference

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: the new psychology of success. New

York: Random House.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: the theory of multiple
intelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Friend, M. & Cook, L. (1996a). Interactions: Collaboration skills for

school professionals. White Plains: Longman. Friend, M. & Cook, L.
(1996b). The Power of 2: Making a difference through co-teaching
[Videotape]. (Available from the Forum on Education, Smith Research
Center, Suite 103, Indiana University/On-site, Bloomington, IN 474051006)

Responsive Classroom. Retrieved November 20, 2015, from

http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/principles-and-practicesresponsive-classroom

Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Larsen, R., Curby, T., Baroody, A., Merritt, E.,
Abry, T., Ko, M. & Thomas, J. (2012, September). Efficacy of the
Responsive Classroom Approach: Results from a three year,

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longitudinal randomized controlled trial. Society for Research in
Educational Effectiveness, Washington, D.C.
Scott, J., Leach, D., & Bucholz, J. L. (2008). Organizing the inclusive
classroom for grades K-3. In M. LaRocque & S. M. Darling (Eds.),
Blended curriculum in the inclusive K-3 classroom: Teaching all young
children (pp. 91-127). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixedability classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
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http://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-ways-to-planjohn-mccarthy