Tuesday: During the school day, another adult tripped over my classroom rug and it became clear the furniture needed to be rearranged. I went home and, as usual, spent way too much time on Twitter. During that time I watch video posted above.
Wednesday: Instead of thinking the furniture arrangement over alone and implementing what I thought would work, I asked my class. They brainstormed and came up with a great idea. We moved stuff around it was a nice cozy reconfiguration.
Thursday: Another teacher’s class came into our room for Meeting for Worship (I work at a Quaker school – here’s some info on that from the Friends Council on Education http://bit.ly/ykXpPa). We needed more space to be in a circle together so the furniture got pushed back into a more inclusive arrangement.
After the other class left I realized that I was a part of the circle. It felt so good! I wasn’t off to the side or in the front or back alone. I was inspired and in the heat of the moment (it was my Carpe Diem moment) decided to change things. I let the kids know that from that point forward they could sit wherever they wanted to, within eyesight for now, as long as they were engaged in what was going on and on task. They could sit on the floor, a table, a counter, the couch, or wherever, as long as they met the normal expectation that they’d be participating in the expected activity, lesson, project, discussion, or whatever. The kids were amazed. They looked at me like I was growing a second nose. We have some bean bags and we pulled them out of the closet where they hide and now push them under the counter at the end of each day.
I have been coveting tables or walls painted with Idea Paint (http://www.ideapaint.com/). So much could be done! After watching the above video I wondered, could dry erase markers really just come right off my regular tables? So I tested it out.
Friday: During a group brainstorming activity, I made a show out of it. I picked up a dry erase marker and walked around the room marking lines on tables, chairs, counters and the floor. This time the looks were more along the lines of, “Where’s the straight jacket?” I then grabbed a dry erase wipe and just as quickly erased it all. I let them doodle and play around – it was all so new and I wanted it to be fun but also for them to come to their own realization that doodling on the table was no better than doodling on paper. They were so dynamic mapping their ideas and each reaching in to draw extensions and connections. It was amazing to see.
I spent the weekend pondering ways to make my upcoming Social Studies unit more creative and inquiry based. I kept asking myself, “I know I think this sounds really cool, but will the kids like it?”
Monday: I wrote up the three main categories of content for our upcoming unit, described each one briefly, and explained to the class in very broad terms the main content goals I had under each category. Then I asked them how we should explore and learn about the topics. They came up with great ideas that were substantial and would require them to demonstrate understanding of the content. The class loved the idea that they had some input in what we would do.
In all honesty, I did not use their ideas as much as I had hoped I would. I bit off more than I could chew with all of these changes at once. That being said, their very specific ideas guided what I selected and planned, and gave me a broader framework for most of what we have done and will do in this unit.
Observations on this adventure in spontaneous departure from my comfort zone (I have tended to be a bit of a controlling personality as far as decision making goes).
· Red marker doesn’t come off of non-dry-erase surfaces as well as other colors.
· People who are left-handed encounter some difficulty/smudging when writing on flat surfaces with dry erase markers.
· These freedoms work well when it is an environment with which the students are comfortable and not an occasional break from a more strict routine. This shift has worked really well with my homeroom. A separate group of students who come to me for math for 40 minutes each day are taking longer to adjust and have more trouble regulating themselves.
· It was uncomfortable for about 4 days but then it just became the new normal!
· My classroom is the tidiest it has been all year at the end of the day these past two weeks.
My one big wonder is whether it worked well because the students saw it as a leap of faith and me sharing responsibility with them for the productivity of our time together. They had something with which to contrast the experience – the first ½ of the school year. Would it work as well if we had started like this from day 1? Would it have needed more structure inherent in the freedom?
How do you let students manage their classroom spaces? Anything else I should try? Advice on ways to do things differently? I would love to hear from you!
