French teacher Timothy Hirsh speaks on new classrooms

By Sara Feld
Calendar Editor

Air conditioning, ample space, and bright lights are only some treats that the new “finger” classrooms consist of. Most teachers believe it is a privilege to be given new classrooms that have only what they could ever hope for.

Over winter break, some Foreign Language and English teachers moved into the new classrooms. Unlike the rest, French teacher, Timothy Hirsh, did not want a new classroom when given the choice.

“I do there that I can’t do here,” Hirsh said. “I do not feel that moving will make my classroom a better learning environment in anyway.”

According to Angela Miller and Kathryn Cunningham classroom environment encompasses a broad range of educational concepts, including the physical setting, the psychological environment created through social contexts, and numerous instructional components related to teacher characteristics and behaviors.
“I do not want a new classroom because I like the set up I have,” Hirsh said. “A students learning environment has a huge effect. There are so many different aspects like shape, size, desk arrangement, number of students, color, and lighting that all come in to play. I do not have any serious problems with it. Therefore, I feel like moving would not give me anything beneficial in return.”

Behavior is affected by a person’s environment and characteristics. Having a beneficial learning environment is essential in a student’s path to success.

“I think Mr.Hirsh’s classroom is a great learning environment,” Hirsh’s student Sophomore Olivia Everhard said. “Although having a fancy new room would be great, I don’t think that it will have any effect on the students. I definitely think the physical appearance of classrooms have effects on students learning ability. For example, a clean room is less distracting than a messy one.”