About this time last year I was getting ready to turn my thoughts to a new school year. As most teachers that I know are, I was excited about a fresh start and the possibilities that come with trying new things with new students. Inspired by many members of my PLN during the #4thchat Mondays, creating a new physical environment in my classroom was a big goal of mine (see actual chat archive). I have always had an interest in design, and although my natural talent in the area is rather amateur, I pride myself in paying attention to what other creative people are doing and turning their ideas into something that will work for me. Hey, borrowing is something teachers do pretty well, right?
My first order of business with this Summer Classroom Makeover was to purge. While I am by no means a hoarder, classrooms just seem to pile up with stuff... which ultimately take up space. Being in a building built in 1954 meant that space was at a premium, so I wanted to be sure that everything in the room had a purpose. The other benefit to purging is to create flexibility within the space. This is where my beliefs on classroom design and pedagogy meet. I wanted to teach and learn with my students in ways that were collaborative, open and authentic, so having flexible space, purposeful furniture and only necessary tools was the goal. Here is what ended up going:
My first order of business with this Summer Classroom Makeover was to purge. While I am by no means a hoarder, classrooms just seem to pile up with stuff... which ultimately take up space. Being in a building built in 1954 meant that space was at a premium, so I wanted to be sure that everything in the room had a purpose. The other benefit to purging is to create flexibility within the space. This is where my beliefs on classroom design and pedagogy meet. I wanted to teach and learn with my students in ways that were collaborative, open and authentic, so having flexible space, purposeful furniture and only necessary tools was the goal. Here is what ended up going:
Lots of furniture! Lots of paper! In all I donated 5 major pieces of furniture, including my desk, to the summer hallway scavengers (other teachers). There were also entire filing cabinets and binders filled with (mostly) useless paper from (mostly) useless professional development sessions over the years and some stuff that dated back prior to my occupying the room.
Last summer was also a time when I was experimenting with a new tool for aggregating visual web resources, you may have heard of it by now.. Pinterest. :) I created a pin board dedicated to ideas that inspired me for creating a great classroom environment. Between those pictures, several articles bookmarked on Diigo, and my Twitter interactions, I had plenty of ideas from the web to reference. I also had started an impromptu session at EdCamp Detroit a few months prior for "Imagineering a Computer Lab" where I met people like Jennifer Bond who shared interesting thoughts and resources on innovative furniture and layouts. (At the time I thought I was going to get a chance to do a Computer Lab makeover in our building, too, but that never materialized.)
Armed with all this and keeping in mind proven learning theories and the constraints of Room 17 (like connected desks) I set out with the following basic framework for the remodel:
Last summer was also a time when I was experimenting with a new tool for aggregating visual web resources, you may have heard of it by now.. Pinterest. :) I created a pin board dedicated to ideas that inspired me for creating a great classroom environment. Between those pictures, several articles bookmarked on Diigo, and my Twitter interactions, I had plenty of ideas from the web to reference. I also had started an impromptu session at EdCamp Detroit a few months prior for "Imagineering a Computer Lab" where I met people like Jennifer Bond who shared interesting thoughts and resources on innovative furniture and layouts. (At the time I thought I was going to get a chance to do a Computer Lab makeover in our building, too, but that never materialized.)
Armed with all this and keeping in mind proven learning theories and the constraints of Room 17 (like connected desks) I set out with the following basic framework for the remodel:
Classroom GoalsOpen Comfortable Collaborative Mobile | Design FeaturesLimit clutter Minimal amount of big furniture/barriers Earth tones: blues, greens, oranges Natural & soft light Unique spaces |
Replacing my ancient, mammoth of a desk with a simple stand and the desk attachment meant that I was no longer barricaded in the corner. It allowed my students to have greater access to not only me (when I was there), but also to the technology tools that we shared (laptop, document camera) in that space.
Some of you might have noticed the classic "Kidney Table" out in the hallway, also being released into the wild. The purpose of that type of table is for small group learning, either facilitated by the teacher or between students. What I replaced it with, I found out, was just as effective and took up a fraction of the space. This is a small trapezoid table with the legs removed so students can sit on the floor & work on it.
I ended up either just pulling over a chair with a group or joining them on the floor during small group instruction, and it was really no big deal. Sitting on the other side of a kidney table probably also reinforces the traditional role of the teacher..much like "rows". I wanted to be learning with them, not simply telling them what to learn, and subtle environmental cues can work for or against that.
A strategy I used for keeping space open was to make sure all the book shelves and tables (besides student desks) were along the walls. This allows for clear pathways and for students to pull up circles of chairs or pillows for collaboration. The "milk crate+pad" chair is a Pinterest idea that I have seen several variations of. They are lightweight, easy to store and comfortable for 4th graders who are generally good with being low to the ground.
A strategy I used for keeping space open was to make sure all the book shelves and tables (besides student desks) were along the walls. This allows for clear pathways and for students to pull up circles of chairs or pillows for collaboration. The "milk crate+pad" chair is a Pinterest idea that I have seen several variations of. They are lightweight, easy to store and comfortable for 4th graders who are generally good with being low to the ground.
The last, and perhaps most extreme, undertaking in our classroom was allowing students to use exercise balls for chairs. This idea has been around for a while and has its foundations in the attention and wellness benefits to students. I was inspired to give it a go after hearing firsthand accounts from my wife's 2nd Grade classroom. We both would now "never go back to chairs" if at all possible. That entire story is a blog post in the works, but you can imagine this was a big hit with students & it certainly benefited our classroom environment!
I don't think that it was a coincidence I had the best year teaching ever, was generally happier and gave students the most project-based opportunities out of all my years in this "new" space. Student "Interior Designers" helped me throughout the year with decorations & posting student work and even got to choose their own desk layouts some of the time. We worked as a team, got messy, made revisions and generally just had a lot of fun.
Thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas to my Classroom Makeover! It cost less than $30. What are your plans for designing an ideal learning space? Have you seen pictures of some innovative classroom layouts? Please share!
Thanks to everyone who contributed their ideas to my Classroom Makeover! It cost less than $30. What are your plans for designing an ideal learning space? Have you seen pictures of some innovative classroom layouts? Please share!
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