Karen Klass CI 401 T November 7, 2012 Spatial Analysis My field placement is in a seventh and eighth grade History and

Government classroom at Mahomet Seymour Junior High School. The classroom is spacious and set up in a way that fosters student engagement while allowing students to concentrate as well. The class is structured with a Smart Board projector at the front of the room with an arched shaped desk in the center of the room. This desk is utilized as a place for student handouts, resources, assignment drop offs, and more. The desks are situated in a sort of horseshoe in which students are able to see one another, fostering better means of student to student communication, yet the desks are all facing the front of the room and the Smart Board, allowing for clear vision of the screen for note-taking and presentations. The teachers desk is located in the front corner of the room, and allows the teacher to have full vision of all students from his desk, so during tests he is able to oversee everything that is happening in his classroom. The setup of Mr. Halfars classroom is really positive in encouraging an interactive yet controlled environment. In social studies, a great deal of learning is fostered by student communication and collaboration. The layout of the desks allows students to communicate in small groups as well as engage in a class-wide discussion with all students feeling engaged and incorporated. The rows do not extend back more than three desks, so no student is really marginalized in the back of the room. Likewise, the horseshoe shape turns students to face one another, rather than merely facing directly toward the front of the room. Such a set up provides for a classroom community where students understand that their role is not simply based on individual work, but their involvement within such a classroom community. Such a collaborative set up fosters a positive attitude within students, allowing them to feel more at ease and communicative rather than restricted to individual tasks. Finally, the spatial setup of Mr. Halfars classroom is one that is

Karen Klass CI 401 T November 7, 2012 really conducive to teacher involvement. With the desks distributed around the room and all students being visible to the teacher, he is able to be aware of which students are engaged, which students understand the material, and how students are responding to his teaching mechanisms. The set up of his classroom was carefully thought out and very effective for an engaging middle school social studies class.