Madison Barrett 

EDUC 252 

DAP Classroom Environment Project 

In my ideal classroom, I have set up an environment that is open and welcoming for

students. It is important to me that my classroom be a creative space for children to explore their

interests and feel comfortable learning. My ideal classroom is spacious, with an open concept

and lots of windows for natural sunlight and promotes learning in an interesting and non-

intimidating way.

In my floor plan you will see there are three tables located in the center of the room. I

choose to put the tables in the center of the room because they are easily accessible and easier to

rearrange if the lesson I was teaching or the activity the kids were doing required a different table

set-up. The reason I included tables is because this seating arrangement will help foster the

development of DAP #6; “Development proceeds toward greater complexity, self-regulation, and

symbolic or representational capacities” (DAP #6, 2009). The tables help foster DAP #6

because they allow me to set up different stations for children to develop different skills. Another

way these tables will be helpful is because while I am sitting at one table helping the students

there, the rest of the students will be responsible for self-regulating and working on their class

work by themselves.

These tables also apply to DAP #3, “Development and learning proceed at varying rates

from child to child, as well as at uneven rates across different areas of a child’s individual

functioning”, because it allows me to group children developmentally so each child

is learning things that are in the Zone of Proximal Development (DAP #3, 2009). Children

will spend less time being bored with the assignment or overwhelmed by the task at hand
because it is too hard for them because the table will allow for me to put kids in groups that are

developmentally appropriate.

The reason I have blocked out such a large portion of my classroom space to a reading

area and a game station is because I want to promote physical, social, emotional, and cognitive

health in my classroom. These two stations demonstrate DAP #1, “All domains of development

and learning—physical, social, emotional, and cognitive—are important, and they are closely

interrelated. Children’s development and learning in one domain influence and are influenced by

what takes place in other domains” (DAP #1, 2009). These two stations

will encourage children to develop a sense of community by having them sit together while in

the reading area or play together in the game station. The skills they will develop here are a part

of their social and emotional development, maybe ever their physical development depending on

what the game is, and the development in these areas will help students develop cognitively too

because all these domains are connected.  

The large spaces dedicated to reading and games are also great spaces for children to

play. Play is an important factor in DAP #10; “Play is an important vehicle for developing self-

regulation as well as for promoting language, cognition, and social competence” (DAP #10,

2009). Nearly one-third of my classroom has been dedicated to fun, playful areas because I want

my students to learn that school can be a place for play as well as serious learning. I think a room

that does not convey this message to young children can be an intimidating, uninviting, and most

of the time a scary room for kids which is the exact opposite of what I want my room to be.

The filing cabinets in the corner by the teacher’s desk are representative of DAP #2

which states “Many aspects of children’s learning and development follow well

documented sequences, with later abilities, skill, and knowledge building on those already
acquired” (DAP #2, 2009). The filing cabinets are a way for me to keep track of student’s

progress on the skills the students are building throughout the year. There is also open wall space

throughout the classroom for students’ artwork and or classwork to be hung up and displayed

around the classroom.

In my floor plan, you will also see many different work centers, including a writing

center, an arts/ science center, a computer center, a games center, and a reading center. These

centers are important to my classroom because they are in line with DAP #4; “Development and

learning result from a dynamic and continuous interaction of biological maturation and

experience” (DAP #4, 2009). Students will grow during school, and while doing so they will

gain experience in different subject areas (such as math and science) while rotating through

the different learning stations set up in my classroom.

The work centers located all around my classroom, along with the tables that are set-up in

the middle and the desks arranged at the back of the room, are all designed to create an

environment that is easy for me to move about and interact with the students. My ideal vision of

teaching is one where I do not spend the majority of the time standing in front of the class,

lecturing my students, but instead spend most of the time walking around the class interacting

with the students. This desk and table set-up allows me to move freely through the class and

work more personally with each student. Creating a consistent and trusting relationship with my

students relates closely to DAP #7; “Children develop best when they have secure, consistent

relationships with responsive adults and opportunities for positive relationships with peers”

(DAP #7, 2009). Students will be able to interact easier with their classmates when they are

sitting next to them both at their desks and while sitting at tables.
 This open layout concept with lots of flexible seating arrangements and a classroom filled

with different stations full of items for the kids to explore will help inspire kids to be curious and

want to learn. This demonstrates DAP #9; “Always mentally active in seeking to understand the

world around them, children learn in a variety of ways; a wide range of teaching strategies and

interactions are effective in supporting all these kinds of learning” (DAP #9, 2009). This

classroom set-up will help support students in all the different types of learning that will take

place within this classroom.

The intent of this floorplan was to engage students in a fun and productive work

environment, and to create a space they would not only be comfortable working in, but would

also look forward to spending the majority of their 1st grade days in. This paper outlines a few of

the ways I intend to use my classroom space, but these ideas will most likely grow and change as

I became more educated in the field of child development and gain more experience working

with kids.
References

NAEYC (2009). Developmentally appropriate practices. Retrieved from

http://www.naeyc.org