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Leanne's Blog

Just a little aside into how I'm leading the design of a new learning space with teachers and students in Upper Primary.

Yr 5 Student Inquiry - An ideal learning environment (2)

5/8/2014

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Yr 5 students are in the midst of their PYP inquiry.
"Learning environments can be created to meet people’s needs."

The inquiry has been centred around three key questions:
1. What is the role and purpose of learning environments?
2. Why is the learning space designed this way?
3. How do we know the learning environment has met people's needs?


In preparation for designing a learning space for a student in Yr 5 or 6, students have been introduced to a variety of "Connect and Wonder" learning  engagements ranging from a slideshow, gallery walk, videos of other schools and looking at case studies on Furnware's website. One engagement was  to analyse photos of learning spaces from other schools. Students have decided  what  the best elements of a  learning space are for themselves and they have also recommended improvements. (See example in picture below)
Students have also searched and collected ideas from pages such as mine on Pinterest. They have begun to draft out ideas from their design boards and are being creative with the use of existing space and furniture. As you can see, colour is a big theme here as well as circular tables/groupings for collaborative learning engagements. 

We are all looking forward to seeing final designs and improvements. 



PictureThe Connect and Wonder hexagon: part of the DC Inquiry Model created by teachers at Discovery College.

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Y3 Teacher Inquiry - Gathering student voice

3/25/2014

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On a much smaller scale, as part of the Y3 teacher's inquiry into effective  learning spaces, students were asked to do a similar activity. As it was scheduled for the first block in the day, the teachers decided to shake up the look of the shared area and classrooms as a provocation. Beanbags, cubby lockers were moved around into smaller working  areas, all writable surfaces were used and explored, as well as Lego, plasticine, iPads and pen and paper.   Each class had a gallery walk introduction and small discussion about redesigning the classrooms to include their favourite places and spaces to learn. 
The shared area was a very exciting place to be! Students quickly got into the design brief and managed their own resources and groupings. Some chose to work alone but most worked with a partner or small group. Everyone found their own 'little nook and cranny' to work in. Choosing to draw on windows and other surfaces with special pens were also a big hit. 

Towards the end of the session I asked a few students what they had enjoyed most about it. One student said, "I enjoyed having my own idea and not having to change it." He was so intently involved in developing his ideas  and really had time to change and refine them. I'm a big fan of cooperative groupings but I could see that for him, choosing to work alone in this instance was far more rewarding and his product, far more detailed. 

The same themes arose when we looked at the main considerations for learning spaces...students wanted colour, places to work that were different ie. not tables and chairs in groups of 4 and also little spots for working alone without distractions.  They also were aware of the importance of sound, and some put in carpets and rugs to try and reduce it. Of course there were some outlandish designs but even then one could see the spark of creativity and the building on of ideas that are important factors in the design process.



Would love to hear of anyone else doing something similar. Please comment or connect with me @21stcenteducat via Twitter 
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    Author

    I've been working with international students for the whole of my teaching career in Singapore, Hong Kong, Venezuela and London. Lifelong learning is my passion, whether it be alongside students , teachers, friends or for myself. Having a passion for developing new ideas into real action is what drives me. 

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