Ideal Classroom
Introduction
Most teachers and institutions do not recognize the need to have an ideal classroom. This is because most institutions do not want to create an ideal classroom for the students. Teachers need to create an ideal classroom for the students so as to overcome the problems faced by teachers while teaching. Teachers can use decorations and learning materials to construct an ideal classroom. For example, teachers can use charts to make learning easy. They can also improve the teaching method so as to create an ideal classroom. Teaching first grade students is not easy and one has to develop an ideal classroom for the students. The students to be used in this program are first grade students. An ideal classroom is good for teaching students as it has a lot of benefits. Working in an ideal classroom is also beneficial as it motivates the teacher to teach the students well. This in turn prevents the teachers and students from being bored.
Teaching in a classroom that is not ideal is not easy. This is because the teacher strains to make the students understand what is being taught. He also spends a lot of time making students concentrate. Students find it hard to concentrate in a general classroom. This is because the students are distracted by various items like noise, heat and coldness. This is according to an experience experienced while teaching first grade students. The problems above forced me to create an ideal classroom so as to ease the work. The ideal classroom developed proved more successful than the general classroom. It made it easy for students to understand the content being taught. It improved the concentration of the students.
Components of quality program for first grade students
There are several components of a quality program for first grade students. Quality programs for first grade students have a lot of benefits. This is because the programs prepare the child to read and help him in development. Quality programs for first grade students make it easy for students to perform better as the needs of the students are catered for in the program. The components of quality program for a first grade student include quality of staff. First the program should incorporate teachers who have good experience in teaching first grade students (Smith, 2004).
The teacher should have a good background in early childhood especially in teaching first grade students. In addition, the teacher should have finished a supervised training that involves working with young children. Incorporating quality staff in the program will help improve the outcome of the program and student performance. The component will help the student grow mentally as he will be able to understand what is being taught (Gunning, 2002).
Apart from quality staff, another component is the environment. The teaching environment should be suitable for first grade students. This is because the first grade students are still learning and developing. The students need a lot of help from the teacher. First grade children acquire knowledge differently, so the teacher should establish the right environment for the student. Children aged three to eight years learn using different skills. They learn differently from other children in the institution. They mainly learn through sensory encounters from the world and interaction with the environment.
The learning environment both the classroom and out door environment should support student learning. The environment should allow children to explore and learn new things. This will make it easy for the student to understand the concept being taught. The child should be able to play, walk and learn in the classroom or outside. This will allow the student to develop mentally and physically. The child will grow up being sharp and happy to learn. The teacher should structure the environment to include such features (Gunning, 2002).
Another component is teaching. The program should encourage one to one tutoring. The teacher should be able to teach each student alone so as to meet the needs of the student. This will help improve the performance of the student and the teacher as the student will be able to perform better than before. First grade children have difficulties in reading and one to one tutoring will help overcome the difficulties. It will make it easy for students to learn effectively and understand the content being taught. The classroom should be able to support one to one tutoring so as to help the teacher implement it. It should be designed according to the needs of the students. One to one tutoring helps the child develop mentally and become responsible.
Assessment is also another component. Assessment involves analyzing the progress of the student. Teachers are required to analyze the progress of the student. This will make it easy to identify whether the student is doing well. Then the teacher will use the results from the assessment process to improve instruction materials for the student. This will in turn improve the performance of the student. The component will help the student have cognitive development (Kameenui &Simmons, 2001).
The Ideal Classroom
Most institutions do not have an ideal classroom. This is because the institutions do not know what constitutes an ideal classroom and how to make a classroom to be ideal. An ideal classroom should have the following characteristics. First, an ideal classroom should have good learning environment. The environment should not be too hot or too cold, but it should be warm. Environments that are too hot affect students in different ways. The environment makes it hard for students to understand what is being taught and to concentrate. The student is easily disrupted by objects in the classroom. The students will spent most time trying to mediate how the temperatures affect him. Cold temperatures affect the concentration of the student as they spent time rubbing hands instead of listening or writing. The environment should be conducive. It should permit the student to have full concentration so as to understand what is being taught.
Further, the environment should not be prone to noise. Students are easily distracted by noises as they try to listen to people speaking or identify the sources of noise. Young children do not have maximum concentration as they like playing. So, the environment should be free from noise and interruptions (Smith, 2004).
Also, an ideal classroom should incorporate supplementary materials to support learning for first grade students. First grade students learn by exploring and playing with objects. The classroom should have charts or any other objects to explain the concept being taught. The supplementary materials will make it easy for the first grade students to concentrate and understand what is being taught. It will also help the student grow mentally as he will be able to synthesize what he has learned using the supplementary materials (Gunning, 2002).
The ideal classroom should support current technology. Students should be able to interact with computers and learn more. They should be able to connect what they have learned in class with the hands on experiments. Computers make it easy for students to expand their knowledge and improve their performance. Thus, the ideal classroom should incorporate computer lessons that support hands on experiment (Kameenui &Simmons, 2001).
Curriculum and instructions
First grade is important as it helps prepare the child for future classes. Children characterize themselves as poor or good at first grade. In addition, most instructions are inconsistent with research at first grade. Instructions for first grade students should have strong reading materials. The reading materials for first grade students should incorporate new words the student has learned in class. The letters should be connected to the content the student has learned in class. Teachers should use simple words while teaching the student so as to make him understand the content. Most children in first grade have difficulties with phonic sound and alphabet. The teacher should emphasize on teaching the student phonic sound and the alphabet. Children should read books that are engaging and well written. The books should include words that are easy to interpret so as to help the student apply the words in real life. This will help the student grow mentally. Teachers should allow students to read the content at first and help them when they encounter problems (Moran, Miller &Stobbe, 2008).
Most teachers do not know how to teach students phonetics. The teachers influence student’s performance and development. The teacher should be able to use supplementary material to help the student remember the content being taught and understand it. They should use pictures to explain difficulty words (Smith, 2004).
First grade students have problems when it comes to compression reading. The students find it difficulty to read compression. The teacher should teach first grade students how to read comprehension. Before reading the comprehension, the teacher should identify the aim of the reading. He should identify the vocabulary that is connected with the comprehension. Also, the teacher should help the student build background. The student should be able to remember the content taught before and link it with the content being taught (Smith, 2004).
After that the teacher should help the student read the content, ask any questions and provide solutions as needed. Then the teacher should ask the children to retell the story they have read. To determine whether the student has understood the content, the teacher should ask the student to create pictures to explain the story. This will make it easy for the teacher to know whether the student has understood the content or not (Smith, 2004).
The teaching instructions should include writing programs. Teachers should encourage first grade students to practice writing. Writing is importance as it allows the student to apply what he has learned. This helps the student master phonic sounds and spelling. Hence, it encourages language development in young children (Kameenui &Simmons, 2001).
Teachers should use grouping strategy to group first grade students according to the needs of the student. This is because students enter first grade at different kevels. The children also show different types of development. Some students entering first grade are able to talk while others are unable to talk. Others have knowledge in alphabet and sounds. They should divide the students into different groups according to the needs of the students and provide instructions to the student. This will enable the teacher to meet the needs of each student in the classroom (Kameenui &Simmons, 2001).
The institution should encourage curriculum based assessment. This type of curriculum helps the teacher identify how the student is performing. The teacher should asses various items when assessing first grade students. He should analyze phonetic, reading skills, writing skills etc. The teacher can also use informal assessment. The teacher has to monitor the student every day so as to know his or her progress (Moran, Miller &Stobbe, 2008).
Challenges
Teachers teaching first grade children face various challenges. First, the teacher has hard time trying to understand the needs of the student. The teacher might not have enough skills and experience in early child hood and this makes it hard for the teacher to deliver instructions. It also makes it hard for the teacher to identify the needs of the student (Moran, Miller &Stobbe, 2008). Also, teachers face problems like lack of corporation between the student and the teacher. First grade students do not know how to concentrate in class and this affects how the teacher delivers instructions (Moran, Miller &Stobbe, 2008).
Teachers face communication difficulties when teaching first grade students. This is because most students are not able to express themselves well. This makes it hard for the teacher to understand students need (Moran, Miller &Stobbe, 2008). Teachers need to identify ways to overcome the challenges. Teachers should have good experience in teaching first grade students and they should have experience in early child hood. This will enable them to identify the needs of the student and deliver instructions. The teacher should encourage proper communication between the student and the teacher. He should teach the students how to express themselves so as to be able to identify their needs (Moran, Miller &Stobbe, 2008).
Conclusion
In conclusion, an ideal classroom is important. This is because it helps prevent teachers and students from being bored. It helps improve student performance and the outcome of the program. Teachers should create an ideal classroom by improving the classroom environment. The environment should be conducive for learning. It should not be noisy, hot or cold, but it should be effective for learning. The ideal classroom should incorporate supplementary materials and current technology. There are various components of quality program. Examples of the components include quality teachers, environment, and assessment and one to one tutoring. The components help the child grow mentally, physically and socially. Instructions for first grade students should include reading materials, writing skills and supplementary materials. Reading materials will help the student identify new words and be able to use them later. Writing will enable the student to apply what he has learned.
Reference
Moran, C., Miller, J., &Stobbe, J. (2008).Keys to the Elementary Classroom: A New Teacher’s Guide to the First Month of School. Corwin Press
Smith, J (2004).Reading First Activities, Grade 1.Teacher Created Resources
Kameenui, E.J.,&Simmons, D.C.(2001).The Role of Fluency in Reading Competence, Assessment, and Instruction: Fluency at the Intersection of Accuracy and Speed: A Special Issue of Scientific Studies of Reading. Routledge
Gunning,G.T.(2002).Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties. Allyn and Bacon
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