Prompt #8: Learning Environments

“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”

― Benjamin Franklin

We can do better than this...

There’s no question that the layout and setup of our classrooms has a fundamental impact on our students’ engagement. The aesthetics of a space and the way it’s designed dictate the function of that space and suggest an attitude for those who inhabit it.We all know that if we want students to interact with one another and have a discussion, the desks should be oriented in a circle or horseshoe-shape rather than in sweat-factory rows. These are some questions we should all be asking ourselves (rapid-fire):

• Does everything have its “proper” place? 
• What is the most efficient way I can organize this space? 
• Does this layout make sense?
• What is the primary purpose of this space?
• How am I supposed to feel when I’m in this space? 
• Where are the light sources, and what pieces of furniture should be closest to them? 
• Is there any furniture which is taking up space unnecessarily? 
• Are we going to have to rearrange the furniture at any time? When and for what purpose?
• Where are the chalkboards/whiteboards/smartboards? Will all the students be able to see them well?
• Art rooms are notorious for being messy and cluttered with old art projects and works in progress. How am I going to utilize storage spaces in my room?
• Will students feel stifled or inspired by the space I’ve created? 

Everything in a classroom must be as thoughtfully and logically placed as the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Like should go with like. When students become familiar with the room, they should have no question about where a certain item is kept. If there is a bookshelf in your room, the books should be organized in some way—by subject, by author’s name, by title, etc. When the fixed elements of a classroom have been sorted into their proper ordered and kept tidy, you clear the way for students to engage with the space and learn uninhibited by clutter and chaos. Organized chaos is ok, but a cluttered mess makes students distracted and anxious. And being overwhelmed kills creativity. The space you set up and maintain is a reflection of your expectations for the students and the culture of your classroom.

Most teachers don’t have the luxury of designing a classroom from the ground up. We have to inherit a room and its old furniture and make the most of it. If this is an older building, the electrical infrastructure and layout probably won’t be current enough to accommodate new technologies like smartboards and ceiling projectors. This doesn’t have to be a setback, however. You don’t need to most up-to-date technology to get your students engaged with learning in your room. I think that if you maintain efficiency and order in the layout of your room while keeping it flexible enough for desks to be reoriented as-needed, you can create an ideal “learning environment” to suit your classroom’s needs.

To give a personal anecdote: After going through a health crisis several years ago, my grandpa moved in with my folks. Since I was away at art college, he inherited my old bedroom in the front of the house. When my brother and I both moved back after graduating (we’re twins), he got his old bedroom back, and I took up residence in the attic. I slept on a rollaway cot—the same one I had in college. When the summer can around and the heat up there become unbearable, I decided on a whim to relocate my base of operation to the basement. When my brother moved out in the fall, I moved into his bedroom. Finally, a space designed to be a REAL bedroom!

Each time I moved, I had to reorganize my furniture and belongings in a way that fulfilled my needs and maximized the potential of each space. The attic and basement especially are spaces that were never meant to be used in the way a bedroom is used. They were designed for storage and for doing messy work, not for peaceful slumber. Our attic is a long room with slanted ceilings. The overhead lights haven’t worked since I was a child. If I wanted to use my desk at all for drawing and work, it had to go by the small front windows—the only natural light source available. The two electrical outlets dictated where I put my lamp, nightstand, and bed. I didn’t have room for a large table, and my one chair was an old one taken from the dining room, no wheels. Though we had placed most of the stored items in bins behind a curtain off to the side, the space never felt completely “mine.” Every once in a while, someone would have to come up to rummage around for something. The same thing happened when I was in our basement. I had to work around an obnoxious support beam running up through the middle of the floor.

But to get to my point…We as teachers are often forced into situations that are less than ideal. We have to be resourceful and make the best out of what we’re given. No matter what space we inherit, it’s our responsibility to make it run as efficiently as possible. It’s our job to turn it into an engaging and flexible space by setting it up thoughtfully.

An open, contemporary learning space (Wikimedia Commons)

I agree with Bridget McCrea when she states in her blog post Designing the 21st Century K-12 Classroom that "furniture should be able to accommodate multiple learners and then be repositioned for independent learning." Furniture that is on wheels allows desks to be rearranged as needed. In my future classroom, I’ll be rearranging my tables all the time. Changing up the desks can help to keep students on their toes. It gets students to engage with the space and with their classmates in new ways. I think it’s also important to blur the boundaries between the grades like at the High-Tech High. Back in the days of the one-room schoolhouse, all the students worked together. The schoolmaster supervised while the older students taught to the younger ones. I think it’s a good practice which institutions of schooling should start to bring back. The design of this school is also innovative. The high ceilings and glass walls contribute to a sense of openness and encourages curious students to see what their classmates are working on. There’s always artwork on display. You really get the sense from seeing the space that the students are encouraged to explore and grow.

There is a lot of buzz about online classes nowadays. Many schools are offering online classes, breaking the conventions of the typical “learning space.” A student’s learning space is wherever they’re able to connect to a Wi-Fi signal. Google Apps for Education (including g-mail, Google Classroom, Google Contacts, Google Drive, Good Docs, and others) make it possible for students to interact with peers and collaborate with their teachers from anywhere and on their own time. The learning space is no longer limited by bell schedule. 

I don’t spend too much time on the University of Akron campus, but one of the places I love going to is the Bierce Library. Its outside and the upper levels have a distinctly Cold War feel, which instantly transports me to a time and place before our lives became immersed in digital technology. I like it. It makes me feel rooted in the past. The library, however, would be intolerably stuffy if it weren’t for the redesigned downstairs. The first floor is designed to be an open, multi-purpose space. There’s a Starbucks (I don’t drink coffee, but to many, this is important), movable chairs and tables, an IT desk, and many, many tables for studying. I haven’t explored it very much, but I’ve heard about the 3D printer somewhere on the first floor. It’s exciting to hear that the space is being used for learning that goes beyond the quiet reading cubicle. The library has always been is a place of quiet contemplation, and now it is turning into a place of peer-to-peer inquiry and discussion. I think it’s nice.