Classroom Arrangement
Lillian Blizzard
Department of Elementary Education, Salisbury University
ELED 340-350: Building Classroom Community
Dr. Elaine O’Neal
April 13, 2020
Classroom Arrangement
The Iris Center defines effective classroom arrangement as the “thoughtful composition
of a classroom’s many physical elements to establish a learning environment that facilitates
effective instruction and student growth” (2020, p. iv). Four strategies for effective classroom
arrangement are facilitating efficient traffic patterns, supporting frequent interaction, matching
room arrangement, and minimizing distractions and disruptive events.
Facilitating efficient traffic patterns means the physical objects in the classroom are
arranged so that everyone in the classroom can access materials and maneuver through the room
without difficulty. This increases classroom safety by creating sufficient walkways so people in
the classroom are not colliding with others or objects. Making sure resources and materials are
easily accessible is important to help students establish their independence.
Supporting frequent interaction means the physical objects in the room are arranged to
allow the teacher to easily move throughout the environment. When the teacher is able to move
easily and quickly throughout the environment, the teacher can engage and monitor student
behavior and learning.
Matching room arrangement with instructional format “involves promoting students’
academic and social-emotional learning by arranging the classroom to facilitate both the lesson
and its supporting activity” (p. 6). This means the layout of the classroom needs to match the
learning activities that are going on in the classroom.
Minimizing distractions and disruptive events means the physical objects in the
classroom should be arranged to reduce the occurrence of behaviors and distractions that may
interfere with learning. Students who are in crowded rooms have an increase in challenging
behaviors.
This article helped inform my classroom arrangement because I used the four strategies.
Facilitating efficient traffic patterns means the classroom is arranged so everyone in the
classroom can access materials and maneuver through the room without difficulty. This can be
seen in the physical arrangement of my classroom because I did not arrange any furniture in front
of the iPad cart, the paper boxes, pencil sharpener, mailboxes, and lockers. All of these areas are
high traffic areas, so I made them easily accessible by not putting anything in front of them.
Supporting frequent interaction means the physical objects in the room are arranged to
allow the teacher to easily move throughout the environment. This can be seen in my classroom
arrangement because I left wide walkways in between and all around the desks. I made sure there
were large walkways between the podium and the rug, so I can easily walk around to point at the
board and help students. There are also large walkways around the rolling easel for me to write
or hang charts on there for the students to see.
Matching room arrangement with instructional format means the layout of the classroom
needs to match the learning activities that are going on in the classroom. This can be seen in my
classroom arrangement because the desks are arranged in groups. Collaborative learning will be
taking place in my classroom, which is why the desks are in group. The students are also able to
work individually at their desks in groups and in whole groups. The students will sit on the rug in
the front of the room for whole group instruction.
Minimizing distractions and disruptive events means the physical objects in the
classroom should be arranged to reduce the occurrence of behaviors and distractions that may
interfere with learning. This can be seen in my classroom because I placed the disruptive
elements out of the way, which is the reading nook. The reading nook is in the corner by itself
because it can be a distraction for other students, but the teacher can see inside from all angles.
Reference
Iris Center. (2020, February 12). Effective room arrangement: Elementary.
https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/wp-
content/uploads/pdf_case_studies/ics_effrmarr_elementary.pdf
