#1 Ideal Classroom

Let's put this blog post's setting as 'in a perfect world', then I won't have to say it every time I make a ridiculous statement about having the perfect class, with tons of money, parents that are involved and district that listens to teachers.

So in a perfect world I would be teaching 6th grade. I remember having such a fun time in 6th grade myself and I suppose it was because I was still young enough to enjoy the simple things life has to offer, but old enough to care about learning and growing. And I loved what we learned about that year. No, I couldn't tell you what was covered in math, but I know we did ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and of course Rome. We read some fun books and did a fun unit on ships.

My Mom teaches 7th grade and use to have the little theater as her classroom, for a long time I thought that would be a great place to teach, but the more I thought about it, it only worked for her because she was teaching one subject. In 6th grade you can't do that so I typical classroom would probably be best.

I would like individual desks because I love to re-arrange! I hate having the same-old, same-old. I like to mix it up and I think it's good for students to move around, meet new people and just view class from a new perspective.

As for the technology aspect, would it be nice to have it all? But of course that can't be. So I would like to have a projector and drop-down screen. Also I would love to have a desktop computer and a laptop, but a laptop will do. This way I can have my lesson plans, outlines and whatnot online and display for all to see. This will help to keep me organized and I can make changes as I need to without wasting paper. Everything can live online or on my computer-I really like that!

I like to have the class feel like a conversation, every one contributes everyone hears. I want the students to feel like there is open communication between each other and with me. This will be hard to achieve without the students keeping a respect for me and their classmates. However, if it ca be achieved it wil be one of the best things learned.

I want the students to walk away with a better understanding of the core curriculum of course, but also with a stronger sense of who they are. I want them to be ready for 7th grade academically as well as emotionally. I know it is a crutial growing time for students and life gets crazy. I want them to leave my class with a good taste in their mouths. I want school to be a positive experience because it is such an important thing in their futures. At the least, my class will be a good thing in their lives and hopefully they will remember that.