Reflections on the Third Teacher

Final Project: REDESIGN

Making small changes

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The three SPACE DRIVERS I chose for my classroom are:

1. Collaboration
2. Creativity
3. Cognitive Flexibility

I was encouraged to start by making a SMALL change and so I started with the most simple of my three space drivers, collaboration.

Previously my classroom was arranged in groups of 4 or 5.  I have 22 desks in my classroom, so that is 2 groups of 4 in the "front" of my classroom, 1 group of 4 in the middle, and 2 table groups of 5 desks each at the back of my classroom.  And this is how my classroom was permanently arranged.


Although there are 22 desks in my classroom, I don't have a class with more than 21 students in it.  So typically my students work in groups of 3.  When it's time for group work, I usually post the groups up on the board, and then students find their partners, and move around the room finding a space to work.  Some groups of 3 sit at a table of desks.  Sometimes students move the desks around.  Some students work on the floor, or the stand at the lab counters in the back, or work out in the hallway.  It gets a little messy, and it's a little chaotic, but I've always been fine with that.

   

Until now.  For this course, I challenged myself to think about how collaboration is done in my classroom, and what role the physical space plays in the collaboration of my students.  

It is SUCH a simple change to make ... it's almost embarrassing that I haven't thought of it sooner.  I changed my table groups to be arranged in groups of 3 (as I typically group my students) and now each group has their own space at a table.  That makes it a lot easier for them to work effectively and efficiently during the class period.  It also gave me more space to spread the table groups out and there is more room for me to walk between them and circulate throughout the classroom.

  

Separating into groups is much more efficient, and because groups have an appropriate table space, they can work more effectively.  This is a good example of making a small change to make a big difference!!  

Now .... what else can I do???

Space Drivers

What is a Space Driver?

A Space Driver is a learning behavior that you can use the classroom to teach.  A "simple" example is flexible seating.  You can use flexible seating in your classroom to teach the students to work with others, to be flexible, to collaborate, etc.  Space Drivers are used to link design changes with skill development.  The space that you create in your classroom (if you are redesigning it) supports the skills you have identified.

Here are my reflections on some of the Space Drivers we have learned about in this class:

COLLABORATION

CREATIVITY

STUDENT CENTERED

EXPLORATION

COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY

Student Input

One of the ideas I like best from this course on Redesigning the Classroom is the idea of asking for student input.  Why not??  

I asked my students two questions ...

"What kind of space would help you learn?" and "WHY would that space help you learn?".

This is what they told me ....

It is mildly hilarious that the word "HELP" appeared so many times and is just HUGE in this image ... but they repeatedly said that they wanted a space in the classroom where they could to to get help when they needed it.  So that might (hopefully) be different from what you were originally thinking ... ha ha ha --- that my students are asking for HELP!!!