INSPIRATION & OBSERVATION
I surveyed my students on September 16, 2016 to get their view and opinion on the current state of my classroom, as well as suggestions for improvement. Here is a summary of their responses (click on graph for larger/clearer image):
MY "SPIRIT" FURNITURE
Throughout this journey, I have been able to "test out" multiple furniture options for my classroom. This has been exciting, eye-opening, and overwhelming all at the same time. At this point in the process, my "spirit" furniture, or the furniture that I think would work well in my classroom are:
- ---A table in which students can both stand and sit to work
- ---An egg chair, that provides both comfort and a charging station
- ---Tables that can easily be grouped together, but also separated for independent work
- ---High top tables which seat multiple students
- ---Rolling nodes
EMPATHY
To gather more insight and student feedback on my current classroom setup and ideas for improvement and design, I conducted two activities.
Activity #1 - Focus Group
I invited and bought lunch for 12 students to brainstorm ideas and give me insight into the student's day as well as likes, dislikes, and suggestions.
Activity #1 - Focus Group
I invited and bought lunch for 12 students to brainstorm ideas and give me insight into the student's day as well as likes, dislikes, and suggestions.
Activity #2 - Design Thinking in One Hour
This past summer, I was one of 12 teachers invited to Palo Alto, California to attend a Summer Institute at NextGen Personal Finance. Through this Institute, I attending a Design Thinking workshop at the d.school at Stanford University. I used the same activity with my students to generate empathy and get ideas of their "Ideal Learning Environment".
Students took on two roles when completing this activity - (1) designer, and (2) client. They interviewed each other, dug deeper, recorded insight, and created a problem statement they found related to their "client's" learning environment. Students then sketched solutions to their problem and created a prototype of their solution using available craft supplies in the classroom. Each step of the process was timed and students completed the design thinking process and an "ideal learning environment" for their client within an hour.
Findings:
- The results of this activity were diverse (which challenges me further on my classroom design!).
- A general theme was comfort. However, comfort was defined differently for each student. Some students just want a comfy chair; others want an independent workspace; some want to work with other students; some want more collaboration; others want more online/independent work.
- Lighting is important. This year, I no longer use the overhead florescent lights. I use lamps throughout the classroom. Students like this and prefer it to the bright lights.
- A general disadvantage of my current classroom is space. Many students' "ideal classroom" would include more space to move freely and utilize multiple types of workspaces.
TOP 5 REFLECTION
A lot of learning, brainstorming, research, and investigation has happened so far in this journey to a Classroom4theFuture. My TOP 5 learning points include:
- #1 - Comfort is key.
- #2 - There must be both collaborative space and independent workspace in my classroom environment.
- #3 - More movement needs to be incorporated into my classroom on a daily basis.
- #4 - Multiple types of seating are needed. Think Starbucks.
- #5 - It's okay to be different.