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We all know that a work place filled with windows, plants, comfortable room temperature, good PC's and decent chairs contributes to the success of the company. Employees achieve a greater efficiency thus work productivity and quality increase. The exact same principle holds true for the environment in the classroom and school in general. Children are not little puppets that are unaffected by the world around them. Students are sponges absorbing information through virtually all the senses. An inviting, stimulating environment is of uptmost importance to student success.

Look at how one room school houses were designed. There were large amounts of windows within the classroom for students to get scenery and visual stimulation. Potted plants were in the corners of the room and often student work was displayed on the walls. The seats and flooring weren't the most comfortable compared to today's standards but the general environment was inviting and warm.

In today's schools parents can donate small decorative items for the classroom such as hanging plants, bulletin board borders, colorful cubbies and bookshelves in addition to school supplies. Even have parents donate light scented wall plug ins for aromatherapy while the students are learning. Encourage your child to take pride in their classroom. Have students wipe their seats and desks daily. This will not only reduce germ contamination, it will prepare them for office life in the future.

Teachers are often bogged down with curriculum requirement, lesson planning and grading papers. Emphasis needs to be on making the learning environment fun. So often students learn so much when they don't feel as though they're being beaten with knowledge and course work. Have a weekly theme that can focus around the course subject. For example, for math class the theme could be money. Students would use money instead of calculators to add, divide, etc. For history, students could dress up similar to the time period.

Hold contests within the classroom and give out ribbon awards. Students can display the ribbons on their desk edges. Contests can be simple like which student wears the most green or blue or another color. Which student can collect the most different pencils with designs on them and have the pencils donated to the class for those that forget theirs one day. You can have a no board day. Nothing will be written on the board. How about a backwards day. At the beginning of class students turn their desks around and put their shoes on backwards for class. My daughter's teacher does a backwards day when giving pop quizzes. They don't mind the quizz so much because they got to turn their desks around.

Learn more about this author, Joyce Priddy.
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