Classroom Layout & Rationale

I created my classroom layout for an elementary general music class on the library store website, and I will explain this layout through the view of a person walking through the door at the bottom left-hand corner.

Right when a person walks through the door, there is small shelving to the right that stores bathroom passes, tissues, and any miscellaneous items a child may bring to class that he or she needs to leave alone until the end of class. I have left the floor clear of any obstruction in the forward walking path until one reaches my desk in the top left corner of the layout. When walking to my desk, one will notice the bulletin boards on the left wall displaying music knowledge such as solfege and the composer of the month, as well as birthdays occurring each month so the class can sing to each child on their day.

On my desk, sits my laptop as well as a lamp. I chose a desk lamp to keep the floor clear as much as possible. To the left of my desk in the shape of a square is a locking storage container that I can keep files as well as personal belongings in. Next to the storage container is a shelving unit where I can store all of my music and reference books to plan for each class.

Following the back wall, there are two circular cushions for children who need to cool down during a lesson, or for those who may want to sit in my class before or after school if they need a safe space. To the right of the cushions are two large storage cabinets where I will keep all of the smaller instruments like recorders, small un-pitched percussion instruments, and other miscellaneous instruments. The rectangles near the right wall in various sizes are the large pitched Orff instruments that will not fit easily into the cabinets. I will keep these close to the wall on the days they are not being used so they do not become an obstruction and bring them to the front of the classroom on the days we utilize them in the lesson. The large rectangle angled in the bottom right corner of my layout is where I will position my piano or keyboard so I can be face-to-face with my students while I am warming them up or accompanying them, but it is still out of the way so that the children can move freely during activities.

On the front wall is a white board or smart board where I will be able to show my students different notations we are learning about in class. The focal point of my class is a large oval rug in the center of my room. I will design my seating arrangement to follow the oval shape so that each student feels like they have the experience of being in the front row. In order to maintain a well-organized seating arrangement, I will make sure I buy a rug that has various shapes for the children to sit on. I indicated this with circle, square, and octagon shapes lining the rug. I hope to have at least three different shapes on my rug so that I can separate the class into multiple smaller groups in activities when we utilize different instruments to maintain order.

I have placed many windows on the two outer walls of my classroom. Two are on the right wall near the Orff instruments and piano, one is on the back wall by the circular cushions, and my wishful thinking placed a bay winder near my desk. If I have the choice, I would love to paint my walls light blue because I believe it will create a comforting sense of peace for my students as well as for myself. I had a lot of fun creating this layout, and I look forward to the day I get to create a space in real life.