The Perfect Classroom by Megan

The Perfect Classroom by Megan - October 2014 Scholarship Essay

The perfect classroom, is there really such a thing? I would like to address three ideas on how I believe the average classroom can be improved. First off, I believe the overall physical comfort of the room should be considered.

Comfort, in school? Why would making classrooms more comfortable ever be considered? Well, I believe that if students were given a little more physical comfort in their classrooms it might help them to focus more on learning. For example, many times the stiff plastic chairs can hurt your back. A student might be more focused on their back pain than on their schoolwork. Another thing is the space under each desk. Some people have knee pain that can be avoided if they are given sufficient legroom. Both of these can be fixed simply by replacing the small individual desks with tables and chairs. It does no need to be anything fancy, but if the chairs were somewhat padded and the desks turned into tables both back and knee pain could be reduced. Thus, allowing students to worry less about pain and more on their work.

Another thing that should be monitored is the room temperature. This goes along with the physical comfort of the room. I have found that I tend to learn better in a room that has a mild temperature. Many times schools crank up the A/C in classrooms making them unbearably cold. This causes the students to try to find ways to keep warm instead of learning the material being taught. If classrooms were kept somewhere around 70 degrees I believe students would be able to focus more on learning.

I believe many learning blocks in the classroom are psychological. If students are intimidated or feel threatened they are less likely to learn as much. I know that in classes were I have been afraid of what the teacher might ask me to do in class has led to me focusing on the unknown instead of learning the material. If schools worked more on making the classroom less threatening I believe students could learn much easier. Simply having the teacher explain what he or she might call on students to do in class can help fix this problem. If students know what class will be like then there is less to worry about because they already know what to expect.

I believe that if these three simple things are addressed and monitored in the average classroom could be turned into the perfect classroom and students would become more successful. Tables and chairs provide more room and help students to feel more comfortable in their learning environment. The temperature of a room also helps students to not focus on how they feel and to focus on what they are learning. And finally, making the classroom feel less threatening can help students to feel more comfortable with learning.