CF: Classroom

CF: Classroom

        The classroom I will be working in is relatively large, especially as compared with some of the other rooms on campus. It is a rectangular space that stretches out away from and to the left of the door. There are around 32-35 student desks in the room that take up the majority of the space. They face the white board and projector screen; the television is at the front of the room too, in the far left hand corner (from the students’ perspective). There are also a few bulletin boards, a filing cabinet, and a globe at the front. Along the left hand wall are the windows, and in the back left corner is the computer desk. Along the back wall is where I have my desk, but also a table with a box for each period’s work and grade reports posted above those. The back right corner is the teacher’s desk and cabinets. Along the right-hand wall are cabinets and counter space full of classroom resources - dictionaries, pencil sharpener, tissues and hand sanitizer, stapler, etc. It is a big room, and although I have a big class, I plan to utilize the space by having them move their desks around often to do group work, games, or just to get a change of scenery. The sheer size of the room will certainly allow me much more freedom with how I set up the classroom.

         There are quite a few posters and other decorations on the classroom wall. Some of them are useful grammatically, like the poster of Daffy Duck with Spanish question words or the time-telling poster. Some of them are purely cultural - there is “The Great Chile Poster” with all of the different kinds of chile peppers, a poster of Madrid, some of Mexico, etc. There are also a few postcards up on one of the bulletin boards. There is an American flag, but also a Mexican flag, up in the room. The back wall is currently covered in student work: maps of South America, coloured and labeled by my supervising teacher’s Spanish 1 students. I like that the room is colorful, and there has been an obvious effort made, through these posters and other tchotchkes around the room, to bring culture into the classroom. However, other than the aforementioned poster of Madrid, the maps, and a few postcards from Costa Rica, I find the classroom to be very Mexico-centric. Although I do know that many of the native speakers are Mexican-American, I think it is important to recognize the twenty other Spanish-speaking countries of the world. My teaching will be altered as I try to bring in examples and illustrations of countries and cultures other than Mexico - maybe even some maps and posters of my own!

        The room, as I said, is large and colorful, and my class is 29 students plus a student aide. It is a fourth period class, which for many of them means it is their last class before lunch. Many of my students seem to know each other from outside of this class, but they all seem pretty comfortable with each other and with the lay out of the classroom, as well. All of this contributes to a somewhat loud, chaotic, community feeling. The students are a little rowdy at times, but I prefer that to a class that is not active. I know I will have to gear my teaching towards channeling their energy into actual classroom activities, and will have to find ways to engage them. I will have to recognize that it is right before lunch, and I assume I will have to accommodate accordingly on some days when they are especially squirrelly.