Why Andreas Schleicher & Yong Zhao? Feb. 10, 2015
(Blog Post 6 – EDCI 569)
In my previous blog I mentioned that I wanted to dig a little deeper into a couple of the key players mentioned in a story that I had read about, who spoke at a forum about the future of BC Education.
The author of the news article singled out two of the key speakers for their stances on the state of global education, and I was curious to know more about why the Ministry of Education would invite them to speak. What was the tie in?
Andreas Schleicher:
· Educational Surveyor and Statistician
· Director of Education and Skills for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
In nutshell the German born Schleicher heads up the OECD in Paris and they are responsible for creating and delivering a test that is designed to assess a 15 year old student’s ability in reading, math and science. During his Ted Global talk in 2012, Schleicher claimed the test is not simply meant see what students can reproduce from their studies, but rather to extrapolate from what they know, and see how they apply that knowledge in novel situations. The PISA is administered every three years, and was written by over 28-million teens worldwide.
Yong Zhao:
· Educational Expert, Author, Scholar & Speaker
· Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership at the University of Oregon
Like Schleicher, Zhao is an advocate for Global Education and reforms to the current systems of education in many countries around the world. Unlike Schleicher however, Professor Zhao is not in favour of standardized testing. In an interview done last month with the New York State Association of Independent Schools, he said “Good assessment cannot be standardized, because each student is different, learns at different rates in different ways.” Zhao also suggested that educational leaders need to “stop trying to fix the past, and personalize education, abandoning traditional education. “ He went as far as saying that the “boutique education” being offered at progressive, non-traditional institutions like High Tech High in California, need to go from being the outliers, to being the norm.
Interesting that two educational experts with very different methods, yet similar goals were invited to speak to leaders from across our province about what BC schools should do in the future. Both see the path to success in different lights, but both are on the same page that new graduates to be equipped with skills and abilities that will make them innovative, inventive, creative and indispensable in the future. It is good to see the province consult experts from outside our nation to help give our educational reforms a more global perspective and inject some fresh new ideas into a system that dramatically needs to be overhauled.
I will leave you with my two favourite quotes from each man, and some visuals of what each envisions as effective schools and school systems.
“The test of truth in life is not whether we can remember what we learned in school, but whether we are prepared for change.” - Andreas Schleicher
“Education doesn’t need to adapt, it needs to transform.” - Yong Zhao
The author of the news article singled out two of the key speakers for their stances on the state of global education, and I was curious to know more about why the Ministry of Education would invite them to speak. What was the tie in?
Andreas Schleicher:
· Educational Surveyor and Statistician
· Director of Education and Skills for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
In nutshell the German born Schleicher heads up the OECD in Paris and they are responsible for creating and delivering a test that is designed to assess a 15 year old student’s ability in reading, math and science. During his Ted Global talk in 2012, Schleicher claimed the test is not simply meant see what students can reproduce from their studies, but rather to extrapolate from what they know, and see how they apply that knowledge in novel situations. The PISA is administered every three years, and was written by over 28-million teens worldwide.
Yong Zhao:
· Educational Expert, Author, Scholar & Speaker
· Professor in the Department of Educational Measurement, Policy, and Leadership at the University of Oregon
Like Schleicher, Zhao is an advocate for Global Education and reforms to the current systems of education in many countries around the world. Unlike Schleicher however, Professor Zhao is not in favour of standardized testing. In an interview done last month with the New York State Association of Independent Schools, he said “Good assessment cannot be standardized, because each student is different, learns at different rates in different ways.” Zhao also suggested that educational leaders need to “stop trying to fix the past, and personalize education, abandoning traditional education. “ He went as far as saying that the “boutique education” being offered at progressive, non-traditional institutions like High Tech High in California, need to go from being the outliers, to being the norm.
Interesting that two educational experts with very different methods, yet similar goals were invited to speak to leaders from across our province about what BC schools should do in the future. Both see the path to success in different lights, but both are on the same page that new graduates to be equipped with skills and abilities that will make them innovative, inventive, creative and indispensable in the future. It is good to see the province consult experts from outside our nation to help give our educational reforms a more global perspective and inject some fresh new ideas into a system that dramatically needs to be overhauled.
I will leave you with my two favourite quotes from each man, and some visuals of what each envisions as effective schools and school systems.
“The test of truth in life is not whether we can remember what we learned in school, but whether we are prepared for change.” - Andreas Schleicher
“Education doesn’t need to adapt, it needs to transform.” - Yong Zhao
Sources:
http://www.langleytimes.com/opinion/290668361.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xmr87nsl74
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKpTGJbFL0
https://www.ted.com/speakers/andreas_schleicker
http://zhaolearning.com/
http://www.oecd.org/edu/
http://www.langleytimes.com/opinion/290668361.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xmr87nsl74
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKpTGJbFL0
https://www.ted.com/speakers/andreas_schleicker
http://zhaolearning.com/
http://www.oecd.org/edu/
Assessment and the future of education. More questions than answers - Feb. 8, 2015
(Blog Post 5 - EDCI 569)
“If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”
I’m not sure who said it first or even if I wholeheartedly agree, but in the terms of my topic today, it seems relevant. I had a really interesting experience this Friday while attending our staff meeting, that not only left my head reeling from information overload, but it prompted me to start thinking long and hard about the way I approach my teaching day.
A little background to set the stage. We had early dismissal on Friday for what is called a “School Improvement Day”. At our school, staff got together to discuss future plans for our school and how to deal with the upcoming crush of report cards. The meeting was lively, with lots of interesting ideas being floated and discussed, but when it was over, I found myself more confused than when I went in. It probably wasn’t as much about what my colleagues were saying, but rather a newspaper article I read prior to the meeting. At lunchtime, I came across an article in the local paper called “Teachers are adapting, but not union.” It caught my eye for a number of reasons, the obvious one is because I’m a teacher, but also because I recently attended a conference on teacher leadership and innovation, and was curious to see what “adaptations” the writer was talking about.
With my head filled full of topics shared in our meeting and thinking about the Tom Fletcher article, I began to ponder how much progress I was actually making in instituting change in my classroom. I would consider myself a reflective practitioner (and no that doesn’t mean I practice looking at my reflection), which essentially means I often over-think or over-analyze stuff, and this one was really bothering me.
A bit about Fletcher’s article. It stemmed from recent forum put on in Vancouver that discussed the future of education. In his story, he provides quotes from Andreas Schleicher and Yong Zhao, two well respected educational innovators, and then explains how some of their work, points to a dramatic change needing to take place across the world in terms of how education is presented and assessed. Schleicher, who is the director of education and skills for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, suggested that larger class sizes don’t always equate to lessened performance. He suggested, that in some cases, larger class sizes permitted for greater funding opportunities for student innovation. His stance, flies in the face of the prevailing educational view in BC, that smaller class sizes provide better learning environments for students. Schleicher’s findings and claims, drew a predictably oppositional response from some of the BCTF members in attendance.
I’m not sure who said it first or even if I wholeheartedly agree, but in the terms of my topic today, it seems relevant. I had a really interesting experience this Friday while attending our staff meeting, that not only left my head reeling from information overload, but it prompted me to start thinking long and hard about the way I approach my teaching day.
A little background to set the stage. We had early dismissal on Friday for what is called a “School Improvement Day”. At our school, staff got together to discuss future plans for our school and how to deal with the upcoming crush of report cards. The meeting was lively, with lots of interesting ideas being floated and discussed, but when it was over, I found myself more confused than when I went in. It probably wasn’t as much about what my colleagues were saying, but rather a newspaper article I read prior to the meeting. At lunchtime, I came across an article in the local paper called “Teachers are adapting, but not union.” It caught my eye for a number of reasons, the obvious one is because I’m a teacher, but also because I recently attended a conference on teacher leadership and innovation, and was curious to see what “adaptations” the writer was talking about.
With my head filled full of topics shared in our meeting and thinking about the Tom Fletcher article, I began to ponder how much progress I was actually making in instituting change in my classroom. I would consider myself a reflective practitioner (and no that doesn’t mean I practice looking at my reflection), which essentially means I often over-think or over-analyze stuff, and this one was really bothering me.
A bit about Fletcher’s article. It stemmed from recent forum put on in Vancouver that discussed the future of education. In his story, he provides quotes from Andreas Schleicher and Yong Zhao, two well respected educational innovators, and then explains how some of their work, points to a dramatic change needing to take place across the world in terms of how education is presented and assessed. Schleicher, who is the director of education and skills for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, suggested that larger class sizes don’t always equate to lessened performance. He suggested, that in some cases, larger class sizes permitted for greater funding opportunities for student innovation. His stance, flies in the face of the prevailing educational view in BC, that smaller class sizes provide better learning environments for students. Schleicher’s findings and claims, drew a predictably oppositional response from some of the BCTF members in attendance.
The article goes on the mention some of the philosophies currently being posited by University of Oregon Professor Yong Zhao who insists that not only are standardized tests outdated, but that they are “creativity-crushing drills”.
So with these perspectives in mind, and report cards and FSA’s right around the corner, I couldn’t help but question our current modes of assessment, and the value of assigning the FSAs or even letter grades. I have a lot of questions that still need further research, so my next step is to find out more about both of the men mentioned in the story and draw my own conclusions.
In my next blog post, I am going to dig deeper into the work of both Schleicher and Zhao and see where their assertions stem from, and if their “innovative” philosophies are merited. I know from the article how columnist Tom Fletcher feels, the question now is…how will I?
(Notes taken from The Langley Times Newspaper, page 14. Thursday, February 5, 2015)
So with these perspectives in mind, and report cards and FSA’s right around the corner, I couldn’t help but question our current modes of assessment, and the value of assigning the FSAs or even letter grades. I have a lot of questions that still need further research, so my next step is to find out more about both of the men mentioned in the story and draw my own conclusions.
In my next blog post, I am going to dig deeper into the work of both Schleicher and Zhao and see where their assertions stem from, and if their “innovative” philosophies are merited. I know from the article how columnist Tom Fletcher feels, the question now is…how will I?
(Notes taken from The Langley Times Newspaper, page 14. Thursday, February 5, 2015)
"Pick and Strum": Personal Learning Project Outline and Rationale - February 2, 2015 (Blog Post 4 - EDCI 569)
Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, the Edge. All fantastic guitar players. Jake Main...not so much.
I can barely pick up a guitar let alone know where to place my fingers or know how to strum. The closest thing I've come to a fret, is when I think I'm gonna be late for work. I tried and failed miserably once when I set out to learn to play the guitar, but I'm hoping my second kick at the can is moderately more successful, and that I actually take a couple steps closer to realizing my lifelong dream of being able to sling my six string over my shoulder, and have it be more than just an ornament.
For my personal learning project I have signed up for the Free Online Guitar Lessons available through Bryan Jackson's #IntroGuitar website as well as using YouTube tutorials to learning strumming, picking and finger placement techniques. My first challenge will be to try to tune my guitar, which sounds more like a bellowing sea lion than a musical instrument at this point, so I am hoping to find some online resources to help me in my quest to get my guitar sounding more like a instrument for musical pleasure that a CIA torture device.
Here are the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How's of my Project.
Who: Me, a wannabe rock star, with Edge-like aspiration, and the skills of a middle-aged tone-def imbecile.
What: Learning to play the acoustic guitar well enough, to amuse a couple of friends over drinks and a campfire.
Where: In the privacy of my home and likely in the garage or somewhere else, out of earshot of my innocent wife and children.
When: Most likely late at night, after the family has gone to bed, my students' papers are marked, my lesson planning is done, my weekly stack of scholarly articles are read, my blog posts are complete, and I have a moment to breathe.
Why: Because nothing is cooler than a guy who can play "More Than Words" followed by "Under the Bridge" and capped off with "Sweet Caroline." To be brutally honest, while those are all good songs in their own right, the one song I really want to learn to play is "The Girl" by City and Colour. From the first time I heard it, I knew it was the one song I needed to learn to play.
How: With the fine tutelage of YouTube's finest, the wise words and guidance of Bryan Jackson's instructional videos and assignments, and any other online tutorials or apps I can track down. If I get stuck I may even pick up the phone to consult my cousin, who used to play lead guitar in an Alternative Rock Band.
I'm trying to be realistic with my expectations, but my true inspiration for this is taking a tiny bit of time for myself in what is unquestionably the busiest time of my life, to do something I have always wanted to do. I'm hoping it will be good for my brain, my self-confidence and the soul, as I struggle to sustain my sanity over the remainder of my Master's studies.
I can barely pick up a guitar let alone know where to place my fingers or know how to strum. The closest thing I've come to a fret, is when I think I'm gonna be late for work. I tried and failed miserably once when I set out to learn to play the guitar, but I'm hoping my second kick at the can is moderately more successful, and that I actually take a couple steps closer to realizing my lifelong dream of being able to sling my six string over my shoulder, and have it be more than just an ornament.
For my personal learning project I have signed up for the Free Online Guitar Lessons available through Bryan Jackson's #IntroGuitar website as well as using YouTube tutorials to learning strumming, picking and finger placement techniques. My first challenge will be to try to tune my guitar, which sounds more like a bellowing sea lion than a musical instrument at this point, so I am hoping to find some online resources to help me in my quest to get my guitar sounding more like a instrument for musical pleasure that a CIA torture device.
Here are the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How's of my Project.
Who: Me, a wannabe rock star, with Edge-like aspiration, and the skills of a middle-aged tone-def imbecile.
What: Learning to play the acoustic guitar well enough, to amuse a couple of friends over drinks and a campfire.
Where: In the privacy of my home and likely in the garage or somewhere else, out of earshot of my innocent wife and children.
When: Most likely late at night, after the family has gone to bed, my students' papers are marked, my lesson planning is done, my weekly stack of scholarly articles are read, my blog posts are complete, and I have a moment to breathe.
Why: Because nothing is cooler than a guy who can play "More Than Words" followed by "Under the Bridge" and capped off with "Sweet Caroline." To be brutally honest, while those are all good songs in their own right, the one song I really want to learn to play is "The Girl" by City and Colour. From the first time I heard it, I knew it was the one song I needed to learn to play.
How: With the fine tutelage of YouTube's finest, the wise words and guidance of Bryan Jackson's instructional videos and assignments, and any other online tutorials or apps I can track down. If I get stuck I may even pick up the phone to consult my cousin, who used to play lead guitar in an Alternative Rock Band.
I'm trying to be realistic with my expectations, but my true inspiration for this is taking a tiny bit of time for myself in what is unquestionably the busiest time of my life, to do something I have always wanted to do. I'm hoping it will be good for my brain, my self-confidence and the soul, as I struggle to sustain my sanity over the remainder of my Master's studies.
Four brains are definitely better than one! - Reflection on our first reading group Blue Jeans session - January 28, 2015 (Blog Post 3 - EDCI 569)
There's no video evidence, podcast or even a screen capture to share. But our first TieGrad reading group meeting was time well spent! While I scribbled down a couple notes, and jotted down a few ideas, most of what was discussed would have very little relevance to the general public. But for those of us taking part, it was definitely worth the time away from family and trashy cable TV dramas. Simply having the chance to collaborate, commiserate and converse with my classmates, was not only super-beneficial, but also a lot of fun!
Using our assigned Blue Jeans link, Alison Galloway, Tanya Ross, Christopher Lister and I met up online to hash out our challenges, impressions and the progress we'd made to date on our Literature Reviews. Each of us were thrown together through a common interest in Inquiry Based Learning, but what we didn't realize was, not only were our research topics similar, but so too were the hurdles that we had been experiencing along the way. We spent the better part of our hour together, questioning, providing feedback, giving suggestions and encouraging one another. It may seem odd to be at such ease with complete strangers sitting at their computers scattered throughout the province, but given the fact that all of our classes have taken place online since the beginning of our Master's Studies, it felt incredibly comfortable and familiar, despite the fact I have never met Alison, Tanya or Chris in person (yet).
No final plans were laid, no earth-shattering decisions or proclamations were made, but the conversation was lively, fun and encouraging. The group's positivity and support was a much-welcomed boon to helping me maintain the right frame of mind, to push forward and continue to refine my research and topic development. In the course of our chat, we hatched the hashtag #tieinquiry for anyone who'd like to follow along on our misguided adventures!
Using our assigned Blue Jeans link, Alison Galloway, Tanya Ross, Christopher Lister and I met up online to hash out our challenges, impressions and the progress we'd made to date on our Literature Reviews. Each of us were thrown together through a common interest in Inquiry Based Learning, but what we didn't realize was, not only were our research topics similar, but so too were the hurdles that we had been experiencing along the way. We spent the better part of our hour together, questioning, providing feedback, giving suggestions and encouraging one another. It may seem odd to be at such ease with complete strangers sitting at their computers scattered throughout the province, but given the fact that all of our classes have taken place online since the beginning of our Master's Studies, it felt incredibly comfortable and familiar, despite the fact I have never met Alison, Tanya or Chris in person (yet).
No final plans were laid, no earth-shattering decisions or proclamations were made, but the conversation was lively, fun and encouraging. The group's positivity and support was a much-welcomed boon to helping me maintain the right frame of mind, to push forward and continue to refine my research and topic development. In the course of our chat, we hatched the hashtag #tieinquiry for anyone who'd like to follow along on our misguided adventures!
Reflection on Fraser Valley Teacher Leader Conference - January 22, 2015
(Blog Post 2 - EDCI 569)
Walking into a seminar full of school district administrators and top educational minds can be an intimidating thing. Tack on the fact that I rolled in, 15 minutes late, after getting myself lost in Abbotsford, just added to my anxiety.
Last night (Thursday, January 22, 2015) was my first evening attending a Fraser Valley Teacher Leader Series event. It is a collaborative effort put together by leaders for educational reforms in the six Fraser Valley school districts: Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Maple Ridge, the Fraser Cascade district, and my home district of Langley. Filling all four corners of the hall, were hundreds of keen and eager faces, some young, some more experiences, a few familiar, but new to me.
After scooping up my name tag, (and a oatmeal raisin cookie…I couldn’t resist, getting lost, makes a guy hungry) I quietly snuck my way in amongst the masses, and found my way to the designated table nine. Once there, I took a quick gander about me…a friendly looking lot, but not a single familiar face in the bunch. The first question to pop into my over caffeinated mind, do I show ‘em and take charge during table discussions, or sit back, play it cool and see how this goes? My decision to talk or not to talk, would need to wait, since up on the big screen at the front of the hall, was a hilarious video featuring children and teens discussing how to use an old school, rotary dial telephone. We’re talking late 70’s vintage…you know, the old BC Tel Banana Yellow model with the spirally off-white cord that would always get twisted up during those intense mid-evening conversation with your best friend. It wasn’t bone white or shocking red early 80’s push button phone, nope it was the same 56 pound cast iron beauty (I don’t think it was actually cast iron, but man was it heavy!) that would sit precariously on the kitchen counter next to the phone book and yellow pages??? Not ringing a bell (bad pun, I know)??? Well either way, the kids in the video were equally perplexed by it. Sure that old 56 pound beauty could make a phone call, but what else did it do? The analogy wasn’t lost on me, and that video cleverly set the tone for the magic that would ensue over the next two and a half hours.
The focus of the evening discussion was creating a shift in our thinking, and much of the discussion from the presenters at the front was centered around the educational reform policies of educational expert Michael Fullan. At the onset of the meeting, each of the delegates was given a copy of Fullan’s book “The Principal. Three Keys to Maximizing Impact.” While I expect that much of what we discussed in terms of shifting from a top down or “Accountability” model to a more collaborative “Capacity Building” model will be explained in greater detail in the pages of the book, I truly appreciated the open-minded, flexible and progressive, child-first thinking that was coming from our table. What inspired me the most perhaps, was to be surrounded by other like-minded educational professional, who saw the value in reforming our current system, to make it a more motivating and inspirational place for students to come and learn. There were some fantastic anecdotes being thrown around, about how some of the greatest moments of teacher took place when people made themselves vulnerable and took a risk. I loved the story shared by one of my table mates, who said one of his crowing moments this year, was letting go of the reins and letting a students take the lead on teaching him. In turn, that same student gained the confidence to begin to teach others. Exactly the way a creative, collaborative and cooperative work environment should be.
My favourite activity (outside of meeting so many phenomenal educators of course) was when our table needed to come up with a list of qualities that we would want in a teacher that we would hire. After brainstorming our ideas, we had to express it visually, and we only had 5 minutes to complete the task. Here are some of the results…
Last night (Thursday, January 22, 2015) was my first evening attending a Fraser Valley Teacher Leader Series event. It is a collaborative effort put together by leaders for educational reforms in the six Fraser Valley school districts: Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Maple Ridge, the Fraser Cascade district, and my home district of Langley. Filling all four corners of the hall, were hundreds of keen and eager faces, some young, some more experiences, a few familiar, but new to me.
After scooping up my name tag, (and a oatmeal raisin cookie…I couldn’t resist, getting lost, makes a guy hungry) I quietly snuck my way in amongst the masses, and found my way to the designated table nine. Once there, I took a quick gander about me…a friendly looking lot, but not a single familiar face in the bunch. The first question to pop into my over caffeinated mind, do I show ‘em and take charge during table discussions, or sit back, play it cool and see how this goes? My decision to talk or not to talk, would need to wait, since up on the big screen at the front of the hall, was a hilarious video featuring children and teens discussing how to use an old school, rotary dial telephone. We’re talking late 70’s vintage…you know, the old BC Tel Banana Yellow model with the spirally off-white cord that would always get twisted up during those intense mid-evening conversation with your best friend. It wasn’t bone white or shocking red early 80’s push button phone, nope it was the same 56 pound cast iron beauty (I don’t think it was actually cast iron, but man was it heavy!) that would sit precariously on the kitchen counter next to the phone book and yellow pages??? Not ringing a bell (bad pun, I know)??? Well either way, the kids in the video were equally perplexed by it. Sure that old 56 pound beauty could make a phone call, but what else did it do? The analogy wasn’t lost on me, and that video cleverly set the tone for the magic that would ensue over the next two and a half hours.
The focus of the evening discussion was creating a shift in our thinking, and much of the discussion from the presenters at the front was centered around the educational reform policies of educational expert Michael Fullan. At the onset of the meeting, each of the delegates was given a copy of Fullan’s book “The Principal. Three Keys to Maximizing Impact.” While I expect that much of what we discussed in terms of shifting from a top down or “Accountability” model to a more collaborative “Capacity Building” model will be explained in greater detail in the pages of the book, I truly appreciated the open-minded, flexible and progressive, child-first thinking that was coming from our table. What inspired me the most perhaps, was to be surrounded by other like-minded educational professional, who saw the value in reforming our current system, to make it a more motivating and inspirational place for students to come and learn. There were some fantastic anecdotes being thrown around, about how some of the greatest moments of teacher took place when people made themselves vulnerable and took a risk. I loved the story shared by one of my table mates, who said one of his crowing moments this year, was letting go of the reins and letting a students take the lead on teaching him. In turn, that same student gained the confidence to begin to teach others. Exactly the way a creative, collaborative and cooperative work environment should be.
My favourite activity (outside of meeting so many phenomenal educators of course) was when our table needed to come up with a list of qualities that we would want in a teacher that we would hire. After brainstorming our ideas, we had to express it visually, and we only had 5 minutes to complete the task. Here are some of the results…
So while I had to miss one of my online Masters study sessions, and got lost en route to the destination, what I found was well worth the time and effort. I’m really looking forward to sinking my teeth into what Fullan has to say about reform in his book, and I’m even more excited to see what session #2 holds, when I trek my way back out to Abbotsford in late February.
Rethinking and Remaking the Classroom (Blog Post 1 - EDCI 569)
Far too often, the idea of physical space isn’t considered when we rethink how to maximize our teaching ability.
I have always been fascinated by architectural and interior design, and love the possibilities that physical arrangement and color can positively influence student learning. I dream of the opportunity to have the funds and time necessary to remake, reform and refresh my working, and my students’ learning environment. On a superficial level, I have tried to take the resources available to me, to create a classroom that encourages collaboration and cooperation. I do not have desks, and all of my students sit in teams at large tables. I try to choose teams that feature between 3 - 4 students of mixed ability and gender. My hope is that students stronger in one academic area will be able to help those who are perhaps struggling, and to help model good study habits. I also try to mix the groupings up every month, so that they can learn how to adapt to working with different personality types.
The physical arrangement of the team tables are situated around the periphery of my rectangular classroom, so that there is a large open area at the front of the class where students or I can present when necessary. I have intentionally created a small work space at the front of the class where I have a laptop and LCD projector that are on a wheeled cart that can easily be relocated if necessary.
My biggest frustration is that, while I have tried to maximize the flow around the classroom and minimized the clutter, but my room still feels drab and uninspiring. What I would really like to do is redesign, customize and add some much needed colors to bring it into the 21st century, and more importantly make it a place that my students and I are inspired to work and learn in.
During the course of my research into how physical space and color impacts learning, I came across this series of 3 videos from Edutopia, that demonstrate the importance of good design can positively impact a learning environment, but also how undertaking such a classroom improvement project can facilitate creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and community action.
I have always been fascinated by architectural and interior design, and love the possibilities that physical arrangement and color can positively influence student learning. I dream of the opportunity to have the funds and time necessary to remake, reform and refresh my working, and my students’ learning environment. On a superficial level, I have tried to take the resources available to me, to create a classroom that encourages collaboration and cooperation. I do not have desks, and all of my students sit in teams at large tables. I try to choose teams that feature between 3 - 4 students of mixed ability and gender. My hope is that students stronger in one academic area will be able to help those who are perhaps struggling, and to help model good study habits. I also try to mix the groupings up every month, so that they can learn how to adapt to working with different personality types.
The physical arrangement of the team tables are situated around the periphery of my rectangular classroom, so that there is a large open area at the front of the class where students or I can present when necessary. I have intentionally created a small work space at the front of the class where I have a laptop and LCD projector that are on a wheeled cart that can easily be relocated if necessary.
My biggest frustration is that, while I have tried to maximize the flow around the classroom and minimized the clutter, but my room still feels drab and uninspiring. What I would really like to do is redesign, customize and add some much needed colors to bring it into the 21st century, and more importantly make it a place that my students and I are inspired to work and learn in.
During the course of my research into how physical space and color impacts learning, I came across this series of 3 videos from Edutopia, that demonstrate the importance of good design can positively impact a learning environment, but also how undertaking such a classroom improvement project can facilitate creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and community action.
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Takeaways from the Videos:
The Third Teacher + blog site
· Designers are in the classroom to take a critical look at “Things that work and things that could work better.”
Christian Long: TEDx Overlake Video Link
· Focus on sustainable design by using Recycled, Repurposed and Reclaimed Materials
· All designs for educational spaces need to have a realistic but manageable budget
· The best designs and executions of new classroom spaces involve community support & volunteers
· Any redesign of a classroom needs to match teaching and learning goals
· Involving student input in the process is important:
o Gallery wall of possible design elements to facilitate the students’ visual listening
o Incorporating the students’ preferences into the final design
· The final classroom design should increase teacher/student mobility and overall flow
· To help finalize and mesh together the ideas, host a “Solution Session” involving friends/colleagues or experts to critically assess, brainstorm and refine the design in regards to the following aspects:
o Teaching zone
o Personality
o Display
o Storage
o Furniture
· Prior to redesigning the space, it needs to be decluttered and cleaned
· Scott Doorley – Creative director at the Stanford D school
Design priorities
o Open people up
o Enhance Creative Collaboration
o Help share learning experiences
o Enhance peer-to-peer learning
Studio situations with whiteboards where students can collaborative problem solve / share ideas
The Third Teacher + blog site
· Designers are in the classroom to take a critical look at “Things that work and things that could work better.”
Christian Long: TEDx Overlake Video Link
· Focus on sustainable design by using Recycled, Repurposed and Reclaimed Materials
· All designs for educational spaces need to have a realistic but manageable budget
· The best designs and executions of new classroom spaces involve community support & volunteers
· Any redesign of a classroom needs to match teaching and learning goals
· Involving student input in the process is important:
o Gallery wall of possible design elements to facilitate the students’ visual listening
o Incorporating the students’ preferences into the final design
· The final classroom design should increase teacher/student mobility and overall flow
· To help finalize and mesh together the ideas, host a “Solution Session” involving friends/colleagues or experts to critically assess, brainstorm and refine the design in regards to the following aspects:
o Teaching zone
o Personality
o Display
o Storage
o Furniture
· Prior to redesigning the space, it needs to be decluttered and cleaned
· Scott Doorley – Creative director at the Stanford D school
Design priorities
o Open people up
o Enhance Creative Collaboration
o Help share learning experiences
o Enhance peer-to-peer learning
Studio situations with whiteboards where students can collaborative problem solve / share ideas