Element 34
Organizing the Physical Layout of the Classroom
Elements 1 -3 have a focus on Providing and Communicating Clear Learning Goals
Where do I start?
Your primary resource is your book The New Art and Science of Teaching by Robert J Marzano. This site will take you further into each element.
Click this link to view the folio. For Copyright reasons, this link will only work if you are logged into your D49 account.
Dive Deeper
The Marzano Compendium of Instructional Strategies is a great place to begin. This folio is designed to help teachers increase their effectiveness by focusing on professional growth. It includes numerous strategies and reproducibles.
Self Assess
This scale will help you assess and monitor your progress with this element.
4
Innovating
I adapt behaviors and create new strategies for unique student needs and situations.
A teacher involves groups of students in the design process by identifying areas that need improvement and letting them independently create solutions. For example, the teacher recognizes that the classroom library and the arrangement of student desks are not effective. The teacher divides the class into two groups and has one group focus on the class- room library and one group focus on the arrangement of student desks. The students collaborate, make changes to the existing models, then explain the reasoning behind their changes to the group.
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3
Applying
I organize the physical layout of the classroom, and I monitor the extent to which my actions affect students’ behavior.
A teacher tries various arrangements for students’ desks including small clusters, one large circle, and traditional rows. The teacher tries each for a few weeks, monitors how students’ behavior is affected, and weighs the pros and cons of each. The teacher uses this experiment to inform her preference for student desk arrangement.
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2
Developing
I organize the physical layout of the classroom, but
I do not monitor the effect on students.
A teacher realizes that she does a lot of group-work activities with her class, so she reorganizes the rows of desks into clusters of four. This eliminates students’ need to move when starting group work, but the teacher is not sure how it has affected overall classroom behavior.
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1
Beginning
I use the strategies and behaviors associated with this element incorrectly or with parts missing.
A teacher recognizes that décor is important and hangs up classroom decorations as well as students’ work. However, the teacher rarely changes these decorations, so they are often outdated and unrelated to the content being taught in class.
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0
Not Using
I am unaware of strategies and behaviors associated with this element.
A teacher hasn’t put much thought into the physical layout of her classroom, and, as such, the classroom often is counterproductive to learning. For example, the teacher finds it difficult to transition between whole-class instruction and group work because of the way the desks are arranged.
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What does it look like?
Here is an example video from one of our D49 teachers!
Watch Example: Providing and Communicating Clear Learning Goals Classroom: Kindergarten
Teacher: Jaci Reed (RVES)
iObservation Videos
More videos can be found in the Resource Library in iObservation.
Click this link to view the video.
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Strategies In Action - Video 21: Establishing Routines & Organizing the Physical Layout Grade: 4
Description:
View the Strategies in Action video for establishing classroom routines and organizing the physical layout of the classroom. As an enhancement, access the debrief tool titled, Strategies In Action - Video 21: Establishing Routines & Organizing the Physical Layout (Grade 4) Debrief.
Elementary School Science Sample Video of Organizing the Physical Layout of the Classroom
Grade Level(s): Pre-k - 5
Description:
In this classroom video, the teacher is utilizing element 5, Organizing the Physical Layout of the Classroom.
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Organizing the Physical Layout: Preparing and Organizing Materials
Description:
In this video, Dr. Robert Marzano discusses organizing the physical layout of the classroom with a focus on preparing and organizing materials.
Click this link to view the video
For Copyright reasons, this link will only work if you are logged into your D49 account.
Click this link to view the video.
For Copyright reasons, this link will only work if you are logged into your D49 account.
Classroom Look-for Video: Organizing the Physical Layout
Grade: 10
Description:
View the classroom video focused on a high school-level science class. One element of the physical layout is preparing and organizing materials, notice in the video the prepared materials for text rendering activity, clear directions, and prepared materials for modeling the process on the interactive Whiteboard.