Changing of Physical Space; Change of Teaching Methods - Part 1
- Paige Dersham
- Feb 25, 2016
- 2 min read
Changing the physical environment of my room was the catalyst for my blogging to begin because I needed to document my journey. Telling my story of how I changed the room was really for me, but I also wanted to make the process public. A funny thing has happened as I have embraced the change in my classroom environment and stepped into blogging (know that I am a reluctant writer), my teaching has shifted and changed as well. I don’t know if I was ready to begin to change my teaching methods and the room change was a part of that or whether the room change caused my teaching to change (chicken/egg). I will probably be sorting out my transformation for a long time.
First, “dream big”, don’t be frugal or worry about money or whether something is possible right now, just plan big. As teachers we are so used to doing everything on a small budget we often squash our big ideas. For this to work don’t do that, don’t set limits on your plans.
Take some time to think deeply about these two questions:
What do you wish your physical environment would allow you and your students to do that you cannot do now?
How could your physical environment change your teaching and how kids learn?
3. Take a lot of pictures of your room right now as it is. Take pictures with and without kids, open your cupboards and take pictures of your stuff. You will need these pictures when you start to think about space use, design, possibly pitching your idea for funding, and so that you can document your process.
4. Find a thought partner, someone who can look at your room without any ownership and who might also want to change their space.
5. The hard one for teachers: De-Clutter.
What items do you have stored that you don’t need or could be stored somewhere else?
If you haven’t used it in a while - it goes.
If it can be found online or lives on your computer - get rid of it.
If someone else could use it more - give it to them.
The painful and somewhat embarassing declutter phase
Start with these 5 steps. It will take a while to really think about how the environment can support teaching and learning. The decluttering step can be the hardest, this is where your thought partner can help. You may have to get rid of materials that you love but never use. I had a huge collection of books that I had in boxes because as a science teacher I no longer used the novels I had so long held onto. The books in my room that we use are nonfiction texts related to science and scientists. That collection of fiction books were my treasures but were nothing in boxes. I let my kids take them, now they are not in boxes in my cupboards and kids are enjoying them, double win.
If you are still feeling energized after all of this and are seeing the need to change you are ready for more. Come back next week when I will post part two - The Design Process.
