My practicum classroom is incredibly well planned and pleasant to be in. My SA started the year with the theme of “zen”. She wanted to declutter, simplify, and bring calm into the classroom environment. As the year has progressed the room has grown more and more beautiful. When I returned a few weeks ago the room had a tree! Now there is water fountain an. A particular shade of light green highlights the room and there is alternative, soft lighting throughout.

One feature that I love is the reading cubbies. Last year my SA had several students who would never read during silent reading. So she asked herself “When do I read?” The answer was when she was curled up on the couch, or on the beach, or laying in bed. One thing all of these locations had in common was her feet were up. So she went about creating spaces that allowed her students to read with their feet up. The students love the cubbies. There is a very fair system that involves drawing names and ticking them off a list. This allows each student to be in a cubby at least once a week.

I really believe that the love and attention my SA has put into her room improves the learning environment as well. We know children learn better in a clean, organized space. So the zen theme makes sense to me. I think of the bare, uniform, institutional classrooms of high schools and universities and wonder how learning can be “fun” in these environments?

Here are some photos of this amazing classroom.