classroom

A classroom is traditionally a room in a school where a class is taught.

The word classroom is commonly used to refer to such a room at every level of education, including elementary school, high school, and college.

It can also be used in a more general way to refer to any space where students are being taught by a teacher. Some classrooms might not even be in a room—some schools have outdoor classrooms where students are taught outside, for example.

The word is sometimes used in a figurative way to refer to the primary place where someone learns and gains experience outside of a formal educational setting, as in My grandfather didn’t have much formal schooling—the farm was his classroom. 

Example: I try to set up my classroom to be a space that allows each student to learn in their own way.

The first records of the word classroom come from the late 1700s. The word class can refer to the group of students assembled in the classroom or to what’s being taught in it.

Classrooms can take many forms. The traditional image of a classroom is a room in a school with rows of students (often 10 to 30 or so) at their desks facing the teacher at the front. At many large universities, some students attend classes in big classrooms called lecture halls—a type of auditorium with raised seating that allows many students (perhaps more than 100) to attend the same class. The classroom can even be used to refer to a virtual space where students are gathered for online learning.

What are some words that share a root or word element with classroom? 

• class
• room
• homeroom
• classmate

What are some words that often get used in discussing classroom?

• student
• teacher
• desk
• learning
• professor
• auditorium
• hall
• lab
• study

The word classroom is commonly used at all levels of education.

First, we have to acknowledge that students come from different experiences and might have a STRONG growth mindset in ways not connected to a traditional classroom. Let's honor that and not be narrowly focused on what happens inside the classroom walls.#MasteryChat

— Jim Bentley (@Curiosity_Films) August 21, 2020

I genuinely LOVE learning…just not in a classroom.

— queen quen (@quenblackwell) December 1, 2018

Dear Educators! Your virtual classrooms will be great! This is new for everyone! Mistakes will happen. Brick and mortar classrooms have been in place for 200 or more years and we have yet to get some aspects of that right. Take a deep breath! #virtuallearning #remotelearning pic.twitter.com/Ks8qwb9s45

— Kim Lane Clark, Ed.S (@askatechnogirl) August 17, 2020

Which of the following spaces could be considered a classroom?

A. a room in a school
B. an outdoor space where students learn
C. a virtual learning environment
D. all of the above