Our babysitter is starting her first year of teaching this week. She’ll be teaching kindergarten at one of our high needs schools. It’s an Open Court school, so while most of her curriculum is already prescribed for her, how she arranges her classroom is up to her. And she’s filled with questions!

As a teacher, setting up your classroom is one of the most exciting parts of August! Where should the classroom library go? Where should the teacher desk go? How should the student desks be arranged? In my mind, each decision says something about how the classroom will run and what the teacher values.

For desk arrangements, this site and this site show various desk arrangements, and the types of learning encouraged from various styles (my classrooms were usually a variation of the horseshoe or the group work plan). This article on Reading Rockets, Classroom Arrangement , provides guidance about some things to consider when setting up all your furniture.

Also check out our classroom libraries section where you’ll find resources on building a diverse library, labeling the books, and creating a welcoming spot.

We’d love to hear what has worked for you, August is a great month for veteran teachers to share their expertise! What’s your classroom arrangement like?

About the Author

Joanne Meier has more than 20 years of experience in the field of education, including serving on the faculty at the University of Virginia for six years where she trained reading specialists and future classroom teachers. Dr. Meier was Reading Rockets’ research-to-practice consultant from 2002 to 2014, where she wrote the Page by Page blog — sharing best practices in supporting young readers at home and in the classroom.

Publication Date
August 12, 2008

Related Topics

Children’s Books, Classroom Management
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