Classroom set-up My classroom layout is unusual for a high school. It has a listening space at the front and the desks are purposefully set out around the back of the classroom and around the walls. I set it up like this because I wanted to differentiate between work time and listening time in lessons. It seemed incongruous that we should have these elements to get through but none of the classroom structure to support them. The traditional classroom set-up caused me a lot of angst and made classroom management difficult. Now, at the beginning of each class, I write the plan of what we will be doing up on a small whiteboard. The students are invited to the front with their chairs. I run through the plan and we discuss anything that they’re unsure about. After that, the students can either begin work or remain at the front with me to go through individual concerns. But anything shared is done at the front of the room. Doing this really focuses the students on task and it seems to increase the questions that the students ask because they don’t have to shout across the room. Also, whenever they’re in that space it’s easy for me to say, ‘Excuse me, we’re in the listening space, you know the rules that apply here.’ So the physical layout really supports the listening and helps to create trust and confidence. It also enhances the written work. When they’re at their desks, two to a desk and basically facing the walls, it helps them to be really focussed because they’re not actually seeing the back of someone, they’re not actually facing each other either, they’re sitting alongside people. They can choose either to work with someone or just be by themselves. The other thing is that when they’ve gone to the work space I can scan the room to see that everyone is happy. It helps me move round the class and I don’t get that ‘back row’ syndrome where there are students that you never get to. I’ve been able to do manual things like paper-making at the front, poster-making on the floor as well as the ‘normal’ desk activities. I’ve also had a signing choir where I’ve taught the kids how to sign a song. It is an invaluable viewing and discussion space. It really is a multi-task area. The layout makes the classroom look larger and friendlier. Other students visit to check out new things and teachers comment on the relaxed feel.

Displays Because it’s an English classroom I’ve tried to have big displays. I have a different section for each grade so that they can show the other grades what they’re doing and where they’re developing. Within each grade section I try to show the different genres. So, for example, the Year 7s have some graffiti work and Aboriginal stories. Year 10s have fairly complex analytical essays and sociograms up and Year 8s are showing that they’re exploring with all the different genres so they have incident writing, poetry, labelled jars of alien products, all sorts of things. What I actually aim to do is not just to make the classroom look really exciting but make displays so that other kids can see all the different sorts of genre. If I talk about characters with Grade 7 I can show them a sociogram that a Grade 10 has done so the display provides ongoing models.

Resources

The National Statement and Profile allow for use of a huge range of resources. I try to provide a wide variety. I always have scrap paper for lots of reasons. I use a heap of that. I’m happy to provide things and I know that sometimes they’re going to walk but I try to meet some balance. Usually I have a great big tray of pencils or textas. I have lots of poster paper and I usually have a box of books. At the moment I have a box of comics in there and also a box of short story anthologies. I have some resources on animation for Grade 8s and a heap of newspapers. I tend to have examples of whatever genre each group is working on.

I also aim to increase the number of guest speakers and performers so that the kids have real reasons to view and listen.

Classroom Organisation

I’m not the sort of person who sticks well to routines and neither are any of the 13 year olds that I teach, so I try really hard to be organised and provide routine. I do have a regular silent reading program but this also depends on what we’re doing. If we are studying novels then I give silent reading away for a while. I like to see myself as a bit of an innovator in many respects but this means I sometimes forget the basics so I now incorporate the basics into the week’s routine. Grade 7s do a weekly grammar and punctuation sheet for homework. Once a week we have individualised spelling. I try to include reading, writing, speaking and listening in every lesson but the emphasis changes. The thing that underpins everything that happens in my classroom is the discussion that happens at the very beginning. It is the key. When the students come in they know that they’re going to see the plan of the lesson and they see what the goals are. They know that I’ll explain each goal really carefully and I think that that’s what they appreciate more than anything.

One thing that I never do is I never sit down. My time for sitting down in a class is that time at the beginning and after that I’m spending time with individuals or groups. I constantly circuit my class.

Spelling I have a spelling program for each class because parents and students expressed a need. The grade 7s have an individualised program drawn from Super Spell. Each student has a manilla folder containing their own lists to complete. I sign each list off as the kids are tested by a peer. We do a spelling lesson about once a week. The grade 8’s and 9’s are given ten new words each lesson to learn for homework. It sounds boring but when I ask them, ‘Have you guys had a gutful, should I finish this?’ they say, ‘No, no, I’ve learnt heaps.’ The longer I’ve pushed on with a regular spelling program the faster they’ve become, the more competitive they’ve become and the more focussed they’ve been about it. This is probably everyday stuff to teachers. I don’t surprise the students with a new list because it doesn’t prove anything. The aim isn’t to trick them, the aim is to get them to learn new words. The words I give them each lesson are usually the most commonly misspelt words or have something like a ‘psy’ beginning or some other common feature. The next lesson I test them on the words and record their results. They know I have this sheet that has all their scores for months on it and that it’s mostly just to get them to learn, it’s not for assessment purposes. It helps their vocabulary enormously — we discuss the words and methods of learning them. We also have a Spalding program to support the literacy outcomes for our students.

Grouping Students

When we do a co-operative learning task and I need them in groups of 2, 3 or 4, I usually leave it up to them but it depends on the task. If it’s going to be a long-term thing then I need to make sure that they’re not just choosing their buddies or that they’re not choosing unwisely. We talk about what makes a good team, and we might make a Y chart showing what group work looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like, all of the Barrie Bennett stuff basically.

The best grouping technique I’ve found goes like this. If it’s a group of 3 that they need to be in, they write down their name at the top of the small piece of paper and three people they’d like to work with and a sentence about why they’ve chosen those people. That gives me a really good indication and makes them think about why they’re choosing those people. I take all those little pieces of paper away and construct groups so then I can put them in a group with someone that they wanted but I also know that it’s going to work. But that’s for a big project. For the kind of things that are going to last for just a lesson or half a lesson I’ll usually say, ‘I’ll be looking at how you select the people in your group. You know what’s supposed to happen when you’re in a group, these are the goals, so you’ve two minutes now to select one or two people that you know you can work with’.

A teacher who’s done any cooperative learning stuff will know that how you construct a group is always dependent on the students and the task so it varies enormously but I guess they’re the two main methods I use. The classes are heterogeneous so putting students into groups and getting them to work in groups can be really tough.

Technology

The only option I have with access to computer technology is to send small groups of students to a computer room to publish material and it doesn’t work well. It’s a big problem. Last year it was just a limitation or a restriction that I had. This year things have moved so quickly and the curriculum has moved so much that I’m finding it a disadvantage and I’m finding that it’s disadvantaging my students too. So it’s gone from a minor problem to a serious one.

I’ve tried to use other forms of technology but again the resources in our school are so restricted. We have two tape recorders and one school camera, which is often caught up with whatever publication is going on at the time. I’ve worked on everything in the last 18 months — overhead projects, tape recorders, cameras, video cameras. I even used slides recently. Internet access isn’t working well at the moment. The Grade 9s and 10s working on negotiated studies often go and request time on the Internet but it’s awkward to monitor. They head off to the library with a note letting them to use the Internet but there’s usually a queue. They’re on there for five minutes out of fifty.

I can’t wait until our access improves (which it will in the next six months) because when it does it will be a fabulous tool. I still maintain that it is only another resource, it is not the focus, just a tool. A bit like me, I suppose.