Classroom Design

My classroom is a high school biology/zoology classroom. The school in which this classroom would be placed is a small, private school. The various classes I would teach in this room would be Freshman Biology, AP biology and labs, Zoology, Anatomy and Physiology, Animal Nutrition, as well as independent study classes for students with particular biology based interests. The desk formation is set up in a semi-circle allowing easy manipulation of the desks to create learning groups, as well as promote more classroom discussions. The long tables are necessary for various laboratory experiments. Additionally, because of the chemicals and various fluids that are used in biology labs and classrooms, there are not carpets or "comfortable" chairs to prevent contamination from spills.

The walls would be a shade of light blue since studies have shown that students who studied in a classroom with light blue walls showed an increase in overall health and attentiveness, and a decrease in fidgeting and aggressive behavior. The blue walls would also be decorated with the student’s projects, to encourage them to push themselves to do their best (since it would be on display), and offer visual reminders of the students success to increase confidence levels. The bookshelves behind my desk would be filled with books the students could checkout at any time, for their own personal use, or for homework purposes, thus offering them the resources to initiate their own learning. Finally, the other pictures on the walls would be of teachers who guest lectured in on the classes. These would be video-chat classes where students had the opportunity to learn from other teachers who do not look, or teach, like I do, but might reflect more of what the students benefit from. By combining the wall color and decorations, as well as resources available to the students, I hope to increase student’s health, confidence levels, and overall learning experience.

In my classroom I have numerous opportunities for students to explore their interests. Attached to the classroom is a greenhouse. This greenhouse allows students, who have an interest in horticulture or plant based science can participate in hands on experience starting in their eighth grade freshman biology classes. For the same reason, there are also numerous animal enclosures so students with an interest in pursuing a career in the field can have basic experience caring for birds, mammals(rat), fish, and reptiles (snake, amphibian, turtle, and bearded dragon). These animals would also be used for the Animal Nutrition class; students would be able to prepare/create diets for certain animals and compare the various animal diets to each other, as well as their own diets. 

The animals, mainly the rat would also be able to be used as test subjects in science fair projects, assuming the experiments were humane and the students could provide multiple test subjects, mainly the rats. The use of these animals, as well as the greenhouse, create a vast number of possible experiments students could perform, and with an increased accuracy. This would not only offer students with the means to have higher quality results, and presentation, but also increased chances of higher ranking in competitions, which open the door for scholarship opportunities, as well as resume builders for college and career applications.


My hopes for my classroom is to provide a safe, healthy, and beneficial learning environment for students. I want them to be able to enter into the classroom and feel welcome, and be excited for the day. I hope that the opportunities my classroom would allow them, would be the first stepping stones into allowing those students to actualize their dreams, and to instill in them lessons that will carry on with them through all aspects of their lives.