When you’re thinking about how to set up your middle school science classroom, you’ve got a lot to consider. It isn’t all about seating charts and throwing up a bunch of science themed posters on the wall. There’s a lot more to consider. You want to create an environment that is ideal for learning so that your students can remain productive and engaged. You’ll be surprised how quickly a lesson can fall apart when your class doesn’t know where to sharpen their pencil, find supplies or where to get their notebook. Whether you’re a first year teacher or you just want to improve from last school year, I hope you’ll get some inspiration from these science classroom layout ideas and tips.
What to Do First?
The first thing you want to do is think about all the areas you’ll need or want to have in your room. Think of these spaces as ways that will keep you organized, keep your students organized, provide accessibility and make your life easier. Ask yourself questions like:
Where will students sharpen their pencils?
Where will you have students turn in their work?
Where will you keep your student supplies?
Where will students find textbooks?
Where will students put their notebooks/binders?
Where will you have your students keep their chairs when they need to be stacked at the end of the day?
Where can students access work if they are absent?
Will you have a designated lab area?
Where will you store lab materials?
Where can you place a smartboard or projector?
Where can safety equipment be found?
Where will important information for students be displayed?
Student Seating Arrangements
If you’ve got those big, heavy lab tables, you know they are the absolute worst to move around. It’s important to think of how you want your layout to be for your students. If you want an environment that fosters collaboration, you may want to have your students sit in groups. Maybe you just want students to have a designated lab partner. You may also be sold on the idea of traditional rows. Think of the pros and cons of each before making a decision.
Just because you choose one way to set your seating in the beginning of the year, doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. You can begin with rows while still ensuring that you have an easy way to put desks or tables together for lab days.
Another big thing to consider is accessibility. You want to make sure all the students in your class can see you, the board or anything else they’ll need to pay attention to without twisting their entire body to do so! It may sound silly, but I like to sit in random spots around the room to make sure that the arrangement is comfortable and accessible for them all, no matter where they sit.
This is also a great time to consider the needs of students you have that may have disabilities. You want to make sure they can see, navigate around the room and that paths are clear.
Student Access to Technology
If your school is anything like mine, then you won’t get a lot of your technology such as smartboards, projectors, printers and laptops until a few days before students come in. If you’re setting up your classroom early, make sure you are envisioning your space with these added factors in mind. Also, make sure they are accessible for your students since some of this tech will get a lot of use.
If your students don’t receive their own computers to use and you rely on a laptop cart like I do, consider numbering the chargers and laptops to make it easier for students to access them and plug them back in with ease. I assign my students laptop numbers to make this process easy.
Don’t underestimate the size of those smartboards if you get one. They are usually bigger than you think and you’ll need a decent amount of space for one, especially if it doesn’t have wheels!
Check out some more agenda slides designs here.
Resource Centers for Students
Many science classes and teachers provide a lot of differentiated activities and labs which require a variety of supplies. Setting up a general student resource center that students can have access to on those lab/project days can make your life, and your students lives, much easier! I like to set up my resource center with the following:
Stapler
Hole punch
Pencils
Colored Pencils
Markers
Glue
Scissors
Loose Leaf paper
These types of supplies remain there all year but I will switch things out depending on the activity I am doing. The point of this space is to be a one stop shop for all resources students are welcome to have access to if they need them.
As well as a resource center, you want to plan an area of the room where students will get their textbooks, science notebooks, folders and any other personal materials they may have.
There should also be a designated area for students to turn in their assignments. You may want one single catch all bin or tray. I like to have individually labeled trays for each of my class periods. This makes grading and organizing so much easier!
Extra Student Copies and Absent Work
This area of my classroom has saved me a tremendous amount of time. I call it the absent wall. I hang file folder holders on the wall and add any extra copies of assignments there. Students who miss a day or lose something can just go up to the wall, find what they need and grab it. I have more information about how I manage work for absent students here.
Supply Storage
I feel like science teachers are notorious for having a ton of supplies in their classroom. We do all the labs are projects, right?! It means we have a lot of stuff so storing all that stuff is important. You can read about my solutions for organizing all my science classroom supplies here. Some of my favorites include photo storage containers for task cards and rolling storage carts!
Pro tip: Label EVERYTHING. It may seem tedious but I promise you’ll thank yourself later!
Bonus Tips
1. I love having an area of my classroom to display student work. Even the big kids like to be shown off a little!
2. Try not to clutter your classroom too much with decor. You want your students to focus on the content, not everything you’ve got going on.
3. Don’t feel limited to just science-themed posters. You can make the room your own while mixing in those posters!
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