![]() Incorporate bright colors and catchy visuals.If possible, organize your technology so that it can be easily stored and taken for student use throughout the school day. Consider this when planning your new classroom design and think about adding a dedicated space where kids can use the technology in centers or stations. Of course, no classroom would be modern and relevant without the inclusion of technology that students use for learning! But don’t forget that these laptop, Chromebook, or iPad carts can take up a lot of room. For instance, use beanbag chairs or carpet squares for a reading corner, or use standing desks for a writing center. Instead, plan to use a variety of types of furniture and spaces within your classroom that open it up and allow for range of movement. It will also prohibit or discourage freedom of movement, making the room less comfortable. If the room is crowded with desks or bulky furniture, it will look small. Likewise, when planning your room design, think about how a student might view it when they walk in each morning, or at the beginning of the year. When there’s too much furniture in it, how does it look? It’s likely that most people would find the room crowded and small, even if the room itself is fairly large. Think about your bedroom, or even your living room at home. Allow space for some freedom and movement.For example, if a teacher prefers to use collaborative learning, the space can be outfitted with tables that encourage teamwork, versus individualized learning spaces for students who work independently. In order to design a new learning space, it needs to reflect the types of activities that are often used. Also bear in mind that a 21st century room must reflect 21st century teaching practices. This might be due to, in part, but the different types of classes and activities that students of various ages complete. Speaking of different types of lessons, it’s important to remember that a modern and relevant classroom might look entirely different in an elementary classroom as opposed to how one would be set up in a middle school. The key here is to plan for spaces within the classroom that can be modified and changed to accommodate different types of lessons. In addition, think about adding removable dividers or partitions to create workstations for independent work, or making full use of yoga mats, exercise balls to encourage movement for particular activities. Creating spaces that can be utilized for many different purposes can help teachers get the most use out of her design. For instance, if you incorporate a reading corner, also use it as a quiet place for journaling to inspire focus and creativity. While thinking about organizing the space in your classroom, don’t forget about accessibility and the ability to use the space for multiple types of lesson activities. For ideas regarding flexible seating, be sure to go back and read our previous article here. To outfit a room, different types of furniture may be needed or utilized, such as small couches, beanbag chairs, or tables where students collaborate for projects. How could you utilize the space? Nooks and areas of the room could be created to allow for different types of activities throughout the school day. First, imagine the room without any desks. However, to make a room more student-centered, teachers should be incorporating other types of furniture into the room. ![]() When we think of classroom furniture, most of us recall sitting in desks for long hours of each school day as a child. Furniture: it includes more than just desks.Considering this key change in pedagogy, explore the following key elements of a modern and relevant classroom: Instead, the learning experience centers around students engaging with the content, while the teacher acts as a guide. Gone are the days where the instructor stands in front of a class to lecture. Today’s big trend in education is to convert teaching into an experience that is much more student focused. When thinking about classroom design for 21st Century learning, it’s important for teachers to think outside the box. ![]()
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