There were several things in this chapter that I agree with, and also a couple that I’m not so sure of. First, I like the idea of creating a more relaxed reading/writing environment for the students by providing comfortable furniture in the class such as a sofa. I had a couple of class growing up that had sofas, bean bag chairs, or recliners for us to do our silent reading in and I loved it. We all know that being somewhere where we are relaxed and comfortable allows us to focus more on what we are reading and comprehend the text more fully. I’m not sure, however, that all of the ideas listed are appropriate for a high school classroom (realizing the book is for middle school as well), such as drawing a picture of a window where there is none. It seems like this idea would seem a little silly to a high school student, unless the teacher went above and beyond o make it more realistic. What, for example, did the teacher do if it was raining? Or Snowing? Having separate drawings prepared for such inclement weather could provide amusement and a topic of discussion for the class. Of course a nighttime scene would also be need for parent conferences and open house.
Something I hadn’t thought of before but agree with is the authors’ suggestion that we try to teach more at the students’ cognitive level, rather than always trying to prepare them for the next step before they have grasped the current one. I remember always hearing in junior high the phrase quoted in the book: “they’ll need it when they get to high school” and it always seemed unfair that they were trying to skim over what we needed to know then to get to what we were going to learn later anyway. Perhaps trying not to get too far ahead would allow teacher s to focus more deeply on their own curriculum and the students could master each concept before moving on to the next.
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Just like Eric, I would really love my room to be a comfortable haven that induces writing. This chapter made me think about all the MAP antics for supposedly raising scores, and one of them was that students remember things best when they are in the same context that they learned it. Also, posters and such were allowed to be up during testing if they have been up all year. I had quite a few teachers in high school who catered more to this method of room decor, and not to what was suggested in our reading. How would this standard be changed if I had couches and bean bags instead of desk and chairs? Would that even be plausible? Would I have enough room in my class for both desks and couches? It so hard to try and plan out how I would like my classroom to be when I don't have any idea how big will be or what it is going to look like. Give us classrooms now! Haha...
I agree with what both you say, Eric, and what Bethany added. Each teacher needs to make his/her classroom an inviting center for creativity and instruction. However--and I dislike being the voice of doom and gloom here--your school district and/or building administrator may have other ideas. Using the research that Bethany stated is one way to "turn the tide" if an administrator is opposed to your decorating or furniture selections. But I do think that when you are looking at schools when applying for jobs, keep in mind the support teachers receive for trying innovations--including those of decor and materials.
On another note--I agree with your statements on cognitive level. There's a big push right now to slow things down, to have students read deeply instead of widely. I believe you'll see more attention focused on what each grade level needs, and I hope we'll see even more stress placed upon looking at each child individually. At the secondary level, I received pressure to "prepare kids for college," but not every kid was going to college. Some need instruction on non-college related subjects--like different letter genres, forms, resumes, research on "real life" issues (like I had kids research medical conditions as a mock, "what if your kid were diagnosed with..." exercise).
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