This week, CEP 811 really got me excited. We were tasked with thinking about our classroom space, and thinking about how we could reinvent our area to promote student learning. The most exciting part about this week is that I got a chance to do this when I adopted flex seating into my classroom 3 years ago after attending the MACUL conference. In my blog post this week I am going to work a little backwards, first I am going to show where this idea began, the steps I took to make my classroom vision a reality, the results that became from my vision for my classroom, and how it beautifully fit into my learning this week.
My Traditional Classroom
Walking into my classroom 4 years ago you would have seen the typical items. I had desks and chairs where students engaged in independent learning. I had a library area with books and computers. I also had a gathering area where students came to do most of their learning, and listen to books. It was very traditional, extremely limiting, and the only thing creative were my anchor charts. I remember getting very frustrated when no desk setup would work, and I was constantly spending time moving kids around. I even remember in my last year with this class setup reading the article “What Your Classroom Setup May Be Saying to Students,” which lead me to arrange my students in clusters to promote collaboration. I do not have a good picture of how my room looked like back then, but using Sketch Up, it looked very similar to the picture below.
I thought this was how my classroom was always going to be and I would eventually find a desk combination that worked. Until I attended the 2014 MACUL Conference. I cannot even tell you how many teachers were talking about classroom spaces and bringing up the coffee shop model when thinking about where students would do their best learning. I left the MACUL conference that year with a vision that needed a plan.
Making the Change
Myself as well as third grade teacher in my building were determined to create a classroom for our students that promoted comfort, choice, engagement, and collaboration. We both started with thinking about what our classrooms needed to achieve success in these areas. Different types of seating could provide both comfort and choice. Plants could also add to the comfort. Big windows already in our classrooms added the natural light, but we found blue sleeves to put over our fluorescent lights to reduce the flicker and dim the brightness. Instead of desks to promote collaboration we thought tables would be better. We got a lot of inspiration for Erin Klein’s Blog Kleinspiration, where Erin talks about how the learning environment, including physical spaces, plays a key role in how students learn.
After we had a plan of what we wanted to do we had to figure out how we were going to make our classroom experience come to life. This is where mine and my colleagues experiences differ. I want to share both though. My colleague was able to redo her complete classroom makeover with funds received through her donor’s choose project. I applied for a classroom makeover grant through the Meemic foundation which gave me $1,000 to put towards creating my dream classroom. Most of the money was used to purchase seating options, some of it was used to purchase organization bins, and supplies to build a bench that doubles as storage for our classroom library. I even had teachers in other school that donated furniture like a table where students could stand to work if they wanted to. So much help and support went into the vision that is my classroom now.
My Classroom Now
When you walk into my classroom now it looks like such a fun place to learn. In place of desks and chairs, there are tables with a variety of different seats to choose. It’s a classroom centered around choice. The students have access to every area of the room and can move around it as they wish. In the tables groups they sit in they get to choose who they sit with, and work with which increases their willingness to learn, and engages them in helping each other. The plants around the room warm up the space, and the blue light sleeves helps tone down the fluorescent lights. It’s such a comfortable environment, and my students have nothing but positive things to say about it. During our school visit last year from the state librarian he asked my students what they like the most about their classroom. The response of one of my students warmed my heart, as she answered with, “It’s a cozy place and I feel safe to do my best.” Photos of her cozy space can be seen below.
My Learning this Week
My learning this week made me feel confident in my choice to convert my classroom into a fun learning space. Now I think I could add some other components to improve my classroom environment. Other than wanting to try an air purifier, after Reading Kyle Vanhemert article I feel that the changes I made in my classroom hits all the major areas of a classroom that affects student learning positively. An environment where my students can not only learn, but engage in a learning experience.
References
2018 MACUL Conference. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://maculconference.org/
Creative Strategies for Redesigning Today’s Classrooms via @All4Ed & @edwebnet! (2015, July 22). Retrieved from http://kleinspiration.com/creative-strategies-for-redesigning-todays-classrooms-via-all4ed-edwebnet/
SketchUp Make. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-make
VanHemert, K. (2017, May 02). Study Shows How Classroom Design Affects Student Learning. Retrieved from https://www.fastcodesign.com/1671627/study-shows-how-classroom-design-affects-student-learning
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