Classroom Floor Plan: Rationale and Description, Essay Example

Floor Plan Rationale

The intentions and purpose behind the floor plan described in this paper were based on a few simple ideas. The primary goal is to provide a classroom setting that is flexible, and can accommodate whole-class instruction, small-group projects, and free time. The layout is designed to support these various instructional modes while allowing room for swift re-purposing and for spontaneous activities and instruction.

Floor Plan Description

The floor plan intentionally leaves as much open space as possible, while dividing furniture and instructional equipment into separate areas. Beginning at the “top” of the floor plan the teacher’s desk faces the classroom and a cluster of student tables. Each table is intended to accommodate 4-6 students, and is used in lieu of individual desks for each student. From the perspective of the teacher, there are storage areas to the left which hold everything from extra rugs for flexible seating arrangements to instructional and play-time equipment (the circle rug pictured in that section of the classroom is there to indicate that additional rugs and other materials are stored in that area). The placement of the teacher’s desk and student tables allows room for the teacher and any assistants to move freely from one student table to another. Round activity tables are positioned along the wall opposite the computer stations and bookshelves.

Beginning at the other end of the classroom, an easel and television are set up to face sets of sofas, beanbag chairs, and a circle rug. This provides a choice of flexible and comfortable seating accommodations for students while watching films or while the teacher uses the easel for instructional periods. This arrangement also makes the television area separate from the desk/table arrangement in the other half of the classroom. The open floor space in this section of the classroom makes it possible for additional rugs to be placed on the floor as needed to accommodate a variety of instructional and play activities. This floor plan roughly divides the classroom into two sections; the first is the basic desk-and-tables arrangement for instruction period and the second is the entertainment and reading section. With this in mind, computer stations are positioned in the “instructional” half of the classroom, and bookshelves are positioned in the “entertainment” half of the classroom. This floor plan is intended to allow the teacher to use the classroom in a variety of ways and to quickly move from one instructional mode to another with minimal effort. The arrangement also makes it possible for teachers and assistants to conduct different activities with smaller groups of students concurrently, an arrangement which supports project-based learning and individualized and focused instruction.