You likely have dreams for your early childhood environment that are greater than rating scales, regulations, and room arrangements. "Designs for Living and Learning" has been a favorite resource among educators and caregivers for more than a decade, and this new edition is packed with even more ideas that can be used as you create…

Good teachers know that the physical environment of the classroom can either enhance or hinder learning. Appropriate room preparation and arrangement of materials reserves class time for learning, while inadequate planning interferes with instruction by causing interruptions and delays. Before the year begins, effective classroom managers…

Eight elementary school teachers describe how they organized their classrooms to make unique, effective learning environments. There are ideas for creating a reading garden, shared spaces, more work space, more storage space, desktop folders, confined block areas, magnetic display holders, and effective room layouts. (SM)

The traditional two-teacher school in Queensland is high-set, providing two classrooms, services room, and verandah upstairs, and a concreted area underneath. This plan re-arranges the traditional two-teacher school to fit a linear multiple-area plan (which can, with minor variations, be adapted to up to a four-teacher school). The plan…

A comfortable, colorful classroom may help motivate children to learn. Suggestions for decorating walls, making children's furniture, and organizing a private place are discussed. (DF)

Maintains that the arrangement of a classroom's physical environment is part of the early childhood curriculum. Discusses characteristics of classroom environments that promote children's cooperation, sense of trust, independence, involvement, and acquisition of concepts and skills. (LB)

A preschool staff project was undertaken to develop and implement a more efficient curriculum organization plan and curriculum rotation system. The aim of the project was to provide a healthier working environment by improving communication among the teaching team, organizing curriculum storage outside the classroom, designing curriculum rotation…

The beginning of a new year is a crucial time for both students and teachers alike. What a teacher does to establish an effective classroom management system and create an environment that supports learning will influence what students accomplish throughout the year. Learning cannot take place in chaos, but well-managed classrooms do not just…

Looks at the impact of the classroom environment on student emotions and behavior, offering suggestions for using the physical features of the environment to calm or stimulate students. Shows how the factors of environmental arousal, classroom robustness, and spatial settings may be used to create art classrooms that minimize chances for…

The effects of the arrangements and use of physical space in the art classroom is discussed. Settings can be purposefully designed to suggest certain meanings as well as exert control over the amount and kind of communication that will occur within them. (Author/RM)

This handbook provides information on establishing and running learning centers in an elementary school classroom. A learning center is a station containing instruction and materials for one particular project. Every center should include multimedia and manipulative materials that support the topic or skill that is being focused upon. Students use…

Described is an index method that will help art teachers design, maintain, and control art classroom settings. The following topics are also discussed: the historical background for environments, the emerging role of the classroom environment, humane qualities in the classroom, and flexible qualities in the classroom. (RM)

The one room school is a challenging educational setting for both teacher and student. Isolation of the school, limited availability of educational resources, and the demanding role of the school as the only formal educational institution within the community are conditions which make classroom efficiency an important consideration for the…

Provides specific guidance to teachers planning activity areas and storage spaces to create an environment that supports children and how they learn. Areas of consideration include order, independence, comfort, materials, and boundaries. Hints for discovering unused space, including small and large storage projects, are provided. (SD)

Presents an analogy between classroom space utilization and Peter Brook's 1968 play, "The Empty Space," used in a modern, dramatic literature, college course. Taught from a feminist and student-centered perspective, students configured the classroom and class members as part of their dramatic readings. Stresses the indispensability of…