Ideal Classroom

When I imagine my ideal classroom I imagine a colorful room, bright lighting, with fourth or fifth grade students. I imagine my students to have a wide range of personalities from the trouble child or goof ball, to the shy little boy girl. After teaching in China for 5 months and realizing that you aren’t going to have a class full of students who are completely attentive, happy, and wanting to learn, but that you can help them be the best part of themselves as you show how much you care, and seek out the needs of each individual student.
My ideal school will be one with positive and friendly colleagues. We will share lesson plans, funny stories about our kids, just normal everyday life occurrences. I want to feel support from them and I want them to be able to feel support from me. Also my ideal class will have parents who want to be involved in their child’s education. I want to give them opportunities for this, and then make sure that I show how much I appreciate their help and input.
As far as my curriculum goes I want it to be one where the students are able to explore. I don’t want to merely give them assignments as “busy work”, but rather I want them to really have to stretch their minds in new and creative ways as they start to learn and embrace the curriculum I am to teach them.
More importantly than all the things I have previously talked about I imagine the feeling of the room to be comfortable; I want it to be a place where my students feel safe. They may not be my “brightest” student but that won’t matter, because they will know that I care about them for who they are, not what they accomplish.