A.

Durdan Junior Classroom Set-up: Effective Junior Strategies On Friday I was at one of the feeder Elementary schools for my high school to have a transition meeting where we discuss the grade 6 students who are coming to us the next year. I had an opportunity to talk to a grade 6 Math and Art teacher and to view her classroom. This is what I saw! 1. The room should be arranged with groups of students sitting together to facilitate group work and discussion. The groups should be teacher created with student input (ex. name three students who you would like to sit with and one that you think that you wont work well with). Groupings should be changed throughout the year. 2. Some students need preferential seating throughout the room. A student with anxiety may need to be seated with their back to the wall, a student who has anger issues may need to sit away from particular students, and a student with attention difficulties may benefit from being close to the teacher. 3. A small seating area should be created for student/teacher conferencing. This can be in a corner of the room or at the teachers desk. 4. A spot should be kept where students can work independently and have less distractions away from the group. 5. Materials are stored in well labeled containers so that the students can access the material. The shelf that the material is stored on should be labeled as well so that the students know where to return the materials once they are done with them. 6. The teacher that I spoke with creates math centres and has a different handson math activity for each group of students. She rotates the activities throughout the groups after a set period of time or each lesson depending on the length of the activity. 7. The students know that when they are travelling from one place to another within the school during class time that they are to walk single file down to the gym. At the start of the year the principal has each class practice this on the way to a weekly spirit assembly. 8. Technology in the classroom is very important for these young learners who are intrigued by the opportunity to get to use Smart Boards and iPads. It helps to involve them in the learning. It also helps support those teachable moments that we happen unexpectedly. 9. The school that I visited is right on the boarder of Gatineau, Quebec and Ottawa, Ontario and it has a very transient population of students moving from one side to the other, or going to live with a parent who lives in the other city. The area has a high rating on the Board socio-economic rating chart, meaning that there are a large number of students whose families have financial problems. The school provides breakfasts and lunch for students in need. It has a huge impact on the school identity and philosophy, and the principal and teachers work hard to make every student feel safe and

A. Durdan supported at school. One student that we discussed has showers at school each morning and is provided with clean clothes. 10. The school works on a 6 Day cycle. In order to make more time for Math and ELA the classes are always doubled so that students receive twice as much time on each subject during the day. This benefits teachers because they are able to get more activities done and have a group discussion about what was learned at the end of the class. 11. Teachers create student profiles with the help of the schools two Resource teachers. A file is kept for each student with all of their educational information, testing results, IEPs, report cards and notes that teachers have made on the student as a learner. 12. The teacher that I spoke with used email mainly as a form of communication with parents. 13. Sometimes the French teacher doesnt have a classroom so the teacher may need to allow places throughout their classroom for other teachers to keep resources or to post visuals.