Classroom Observation: Consider The Walls By Patricia Tarr

What do you think about when you walk into a classroom? I usually look at the signs on the wall, because I feel that they allow anyone that walks in the classroom to see what resources the teacher gives the children to learn. During our class discussions, the classroom environment was explained as the third teacher to the child. After most of my first week of observation, I can fully agree that the statement is true, because everything in the classroom was there to help the child learn and be creative. The first day I walked into the classroom I was impressed with the teacher’s layout of the classroom, because everything was labeled and arranged so that the children can quickly access them. This is beneficial in this classroom, because there
Tarr explains, “The environment should be attractive, colorful, and have children’s work and other pictures displayed at children’s eye level” (NAEYC 1998, 49). Every sign in the classroom is at the children’s eye level, and there were no signs with too many words for young children. The classroom is clearly used as an example how the teacher runs a structured but fun classroom. “arrangement of space including desks, tables, materials available, and what is displayed on walls, conveys messages about the relationship between teaching and learning, the image of the child held by the teacher…” (Tarr 2004, 2). The classroom shows that the teacher considered what children of her students’ age group need and placed them where they would be most beneficial to the students. The teacher has signs and materials in the classroom that will help the child to use assimilation to learn more. The child will absorb new information or have a new experience and use the information they already know to learn the new information. The materials and academic centers in this classroom allow children to build on information they already know, because each center has materials for the children to use to improve their skills in the
When someone first walks into the door they will see the please read board that contains the lunch menu and other important information for parents, the letters are bright red so that they will catch everyone’s attention. The home and school signs are the children’s eye level, so that they will move the clothespin with their name on it when they come to class. The next area is circle or meeting time area on the front carpet. The class meets in this area every morning to discuss the alphabet, the date, numbers, and an area used to play with toys. The signs for numbers, calendar, word of the week, and animal of the day are in this area. The signs for the word of the week states “The word of the week is...” and the animal of the day sign says “The animal of the day is…” and includes a picture of the animal. This area is also known as the front carpet, because the position of the carpet is facing the teacher’s chair. The area next to the front carpet is used as a storage area for boxes of toys (tea party and fake money) and activities (puzzles and play doh). The wall is used to hang students’ artwork by using a clothing line to hang the children’s artwork. The writing center is a table to the right of the storage area that includes paper, pencils, tracing binder of letters, and colorful alphabet sign at children’s eye level. The wall to the left of the writing center has the behavior chart