Little Boxes....made of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

So in my post http://3rseduc.blogspot.com/2011/03/houghton-mifflin-prescribed-automaton.html I mentioned that my classroom had to have exact certain things in exact certain places and look exactly like the neighboring classroom.

I then was researching my research-of-interest, Prussian education, and came upon a quote by author Thomas Alexander in describing Prussian schools,

"The first row of seats is at least 1.7 meters from the front wall; the last row at least .3 meter from the rear wall; the space between seats and the window wall at least .4 meter; the middle aisles are at least .5 meter in width; the space between the seats and the window wall is at least .6 meter. The teacher's desk is ordinarily placed so as to give a good view of the children and the door. The stove is generally near the wall opposite the windows. The minimum distance between the stove and the nearest seat is .8 meter. By far the larger number of schoolrooms in Germany are 4 meters in height; the minimum is 3.20 meters. The height of the schoolroom must be such that each child shall Height of have at least 2.5 cubic meters of air space. The dis- Room tance from the top of the window to the floor must be at least one half the width of the room. These regulations are observed with very few exceptions."

Ok so yes we need some regulations so we don't teach in a closet, but isn't this a bit much?

And this reminded me of my Reading 1st classroom, focus walls, etc and how I got written up for a crooked spelling word and it all made sense...

Reading First Focus Wall Checklist
Standards Posters
Focus Wall Titles
Theme Names
Genres
Selection Titles and Authors
Reading Comprehension Strategy Posters
Reading Comprehension Skill Posters
Story Vocabulary
Word Pattern Board Labels
ABC Labels
High Frequency Word Wall Words (K and 1st)
Phonics Focus
Spelling Words Focus
Phonemic Awareness Focus
Writing Genres
Grammar Focus