Blog

A Space for All of Us: Setting Up the Classroom

by Marta Garcia
August 28, 2025

“The space has to be a sort of aquarium that mirrors the ideas, values, attitudes, and cultures of the people who live in it.” – Loris Malaguzzi, The Hundred Languages of Children.

The start of the school year is an exciting time for teachers, children, and families. I remember the joy of putting together an inviting, student-centered room. Early in my teaching career this meant shopping for folders, name tags, borders and cutouts, and countless hours designing bulletin boards. Later, impacted by research about student-centered classrooms, I would make a few welcoming displays but leave wall and shelf space mostly empty, for students to design and fill with their ideas, thinking, interests and work.

Creating learning environments that support productive math learning involves decisions about how to set up the classroom, organize and display math tools, and establish routines and expectations for math class. Aguirre et. al. challenge us to also be thinking about ways to distribute math authority among students, teachers, and text, and to encourage student-to-student interaction and broad-based participation (2024, p. 47). And Godfrey reminds us that “No student should be asked to leave any part of who they are at the door. This includes race, languages, and ways of knowing, as well as the family and community knowledge and skills students bring with them.” (2023)

So, how can the design of a room promote the distribution of math authority, equitable participation, and respect for different learners? How can it ensure that students see themselves, feel welcome, and understand that this will be a joint undertaking?

In Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Liljedahl summarizes research by Cobb, Wood, and Yackel that describes how “the normative structures that permeate classrooms in North America, and around the world, are so robust, and so entrenched, that they transcend the idea of classroom norms.” (p. 11) These institutional norms impact how people think classrooms should look and function. Even though we have new technology, desks, whiteboards, etc. the “foundational structure of schools” (p. 12)—forward-facing, teacher-focused seating arrangements—still exists in many classrooms. To be responsive to students, it is worth considering the ways the physical environment can disrupt norms that interfere with learning. As decisions are made about classroom setup, it’s important to encourage productive movement around the room and to support students in recognizing and calling on their individual and cultural strengths. Classroom spaces designed with these considerations in mind support students’ agency and feelings of belonging. 

In thinking specifically about a classroom setup that supports a math class focused on discourse and sense-making, there are some questions to consider:

In what ways does the physical space encourage individual, partner, and small group work? Collaboration with peers? Productive whole group discussions?

Math classrooms today are more cooperative, flexible spaces. “In a collaborative learning environment, students play an active role in their learning. Students have opportunities to decide how they are going to solve problems, to select tools and materials, and to choose which activities they work on.” (Russell, et. al., p. 5) Students work individually, in partners, small groups and as a whole class. Sometimes students are all working on the same activity or task; at other times, they may be choosing what to work on, for how long, and in what order (i.e. Math Workshop, Choice Time, etc). If students are encouraged to share and respond to mathematical ideas and to each other, to make responsible choices, and to work productively, we need to consider how the physical layout of the room fosters this kind of collaboration and participation.

A classroom that allows students to easily see and hear each other takes into account where desks, tables and chairs are placed. There should be spaces that allow students to work in pairs and small groups, as well as spaces where students can work independently or privately. Clusters of desks or tables allow the classroom space to be used for various purposes. They can serve as designated seating for students or as shared common space, for multiple uses. Some classrooms use “office spaces” when students are working alone or with a partner—open spaces around the room that students can choose from depending on their needs and preferences for a working environment. The use of clipboards, white boards, or non-permanent vertical spaces allow students to move and work in different ways.

Bringing the whole class together for discussions is an important part of creating a classroom community. That means a space that is conducive to conversation, where students can see each others’ faces (rather than the backs of heads), is critical. Some classrooms have a rug or open area where students can easily sit in a circle or horseshoe arrangement. Some teachers establish protocols for moving chairs so that students can see and hear each other; others facilitate discussions with students at desks or tables. Ultimately, the space should support students in focusing on the discussion and any work that is shared. Students should also be able to “turn and talk” to a classmate, reach and use materials, and respond and connect to one another. This encourages student-to-student interactions, disrupting the teacher-student-teacher interaction patterns that can contribute to inequitable participation. It can also diminish students’ perceptions of the teacher as the sole authority in the classroom. The goal is to have a seating arrangement that decentralizes the teacher and invites students to speak and listen to each other respectfully and productively.

How does the physical arrangement of the classroom promote equal status, independence, and individual decision making (agency)? How does it help distribute math authority “among students, the teacher, and text”? (Aguirre, p. 81)

One thing to consider is where the teacher stands, sits, and displays tasks or student work. If the teacher is always the center of attention, this can contribute to the perception that they are the sole authority and the one responsible for carrying the work of classroom conversations. Think about how to “de-front” the classroom by finding ways to  stand and sit with students. If there is a  teaching station that incorporates technology, focus on moving among students as ideas are  shared. A clicker can allow interaction with the technology from different parts of the room, freeing teachers  from being in one place. Such moves are essential when challenging spaces of marginality since these are “practices that embrace student competencies, diminish status and value multiple mathematical contributions.” (Aguirre et. al. p. 71)

I always love it when someone comes into the classroom, and they have to search for me. My students love saying, “Oh, Ms. Wagner is over there on the floor with that group!” Or “She must be working at a table with another group.” When we gather for whole group discussions, I also am careful not to sit above my students but to take a place that lets them know we all are equal in this discussion. – A Grade 3 Teacher

Another aspect to consider is how students will access math materials. It’s important that students understand that math manipulatives and tools are a powerful way to model and solve problems and to explain their thinking. The more available materials are, and the more they see their teacher and their peers using them in a variety of ways, the more likely students are to use them. So, it’s important to think about where they will be stored and accessed, for example on students’ desks or on a classroom table or shelf, where students can retrieve them as needed. Students benefit from a visible organization, clear information about particular materials that are needed that day, and clear expectations about use and storage. All of this supports them in becoming responsible for selecting, using, and caring for the tools that will best support their thinking.

Most years, I organize my math materials, in labeled boxes, in a central place. But one year, after introducing the many math tools available (e.g. cubes, tiles, graph paper, dice), one student responded, “We are in fifth grade; we don’t need those things anymore!” Many students chimed in. I was struck by their perceptions about the use of tools. After that exchange, I realized I was probably not going to see anyone getting up to get tools! So the next day, I put baskets on every table, each with a variety of math tools. I told the class, “Today you have tools right at your table. Your group can decide when and how to use any of the tools in your basket. In a few minutes, we will take a walk around to other tables to see how people used the tools.” As students worked, I noticed many curiously looking in their baskets and pulling out tools to consider in their work. — A Grade 5 Teacher

What messages are present about what it means to be a doer of mathematics?

As soon as students step into a classroom, they look for ways to connect to their new environment. The space sends messages to students and others regarding what is valued in behavior and learning (Savage, 1999; Weinstein, 1992). Strong-Wilson and Ellis talk about how the environment helps manage student interaction and behaviors, but can also serve as an extra “teacher,” one that encourages and motivates students to learn about themselves and others (pp. 40-47). Using students’ cultures, communities, and interests to fill the classroom with interesting and useful materials and resources that both support their math identities and the work of ambitious mathematics is a powerful strategy. Students should see documentation of their learning experiences including their questions, wonderings, conjectures and claims on the walls of their classroom.

Reflecting on  the displays, books, posters, pictures, student work and materials that are visible (and not) in a classroom can raise some questions to consider:

• Whose work gets displayed (and whose does not)?
• Is there a variety of student work? Finished and in progress? Correct and in process?
• Can students choose what work they want to display?
• Are a variety of cultures and contributors to the mathematics community represented?
• How do displays mirror the cultural capital that your students bring to the class? How do they offer windows into the cultural knowledge of others?
• In what ways is the community in which your students live evident in the classroom environment?

Conclusion

Author and educator Mike Hopkins “urges teachers to forget about the way things have always been done and to visit museums, libraries, other schools, and colleagues’ classrooms to identify different ways of organizing learning space” (Hopkins, in Shalaway), to foster an environment that is engaging, inclusive, and responsive.

“Classrooms are microcosms of a larger society in which racism, power and privilege converge to empower some students and disenfranchise others.” (Godfrey, 2023) Reconceptualizing the physical space, and observing and reflecting on how it impacts and is used by the class, is one way to send messages about authority, identity and equitable engagement.

References

Aguirre, J., Mayfield-Ingram, K., & Martin, D. B. (2024). The Impact of Identity in K-12 Mathematics: Rethinking Equity-Based Practices. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc.

Godfrey, Lynne. (2023, October 2). Establishing an Equitable Learning Community in the Elementary Mathematics Classroom. Retrieved from: https://www.terc.edu/mathequityforum/establishing-an-equitable-learning-community/ 

Liljedahl, Peter. (2021). Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics. Corwin Press, Inc.

Malaguzzi, L. (1996). The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education. New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Russell, S.J. et al. (2023, September). A Framework for Reflecting about Equity in the Elementary Mathematics Classroom. Forum for Equity in Elementary Mathematics. Retrieved from: https://www.terc.edu/mathequityforum/framework/ 

Savage, T. V. (1999). Teaching self-control through management and discipline. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Shalaway, Linda. Classroom Organization: The Physical Environment. Retrieved from: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/classroom-organization-physical-environment/

Strong-Wilson, T. & Ellis, J. (2009). Children and Place: Reggio Emilia’s Environment As Third Teacher. Theory Into Practice, pp. 40-47.

Weinstein, C. S. (1992). Designing the instructional environment: Focus on seating. Series on Highly Effective Practices—Classroom Environment 5 Bloomington, IN: Proceedings of Selected Research and Development Presentations at the Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 348 039) .