Oddly enough, my principal was just presented with two options. Fulton County will give her $15,000,000 to build a new facility on a site near our current location. We have to remain close to the College Park MARTA station as we don't have transportation for our students provided by FCS. However, as an alternative/non-traditional school they would not build a theater or gymnasium. Her second option is $10,000,000 to renovate our current location. It is important to note that FCS does not own our building. It belongs to the City of College Park. They would have to agree to a long term lease of the facility for the district to move forward with this option.
What a grand opportunity for the school. We are hoping that we can work it out with the City of College Park to remain where we are. Ten million dollars will go a long way toward creating learning centers that better suit the needs of our students. We are in the process now of moving to personalized learning and redefining our learning spaces. It is a real challenge to redesign a space being locked into the old furniture options. We have been able to provide a kidney table for each of our teachers to support a teacher-time station, but our collaborative stations are four old fashioned student desks thrown together that by design do not form a nice flat space to work.
It is time for school districts and school leaders to see beyond the spaces in which they grew up and design maker spaces which challenge students to think in new and better ways. Creative teachers are finding ways to "make" the tools they need, but why can't they be provided with a classroom designed to support their needs as facilitators of learning. I understand that the money is not there to remove the old high school desks and replace them with new and innovative spaces for students. Every school leader should be actively seeking grants or other money to finance the dreams of their staff. Let's take a long hard look at our classrooms and brainstorm better ways to do what we do and provide students with learning centers designed to promote thinking, understanding, and problem solving!
photo credit: http://www.lothinc.com/company/clients/hilliard-city-schools-mcvey-innovative-learning-center/
LOVE this post, Tim! Thank you for sharing that inspiring article. The pictures you shared inspired me to go check out the website for the interactive Learning Center in Hillard, OH. They have a virtual tour video of their entire space, which is super cool:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hilliardschools.org/ilc/about/tour-the-building/
It's funny to me though, that one of the pictures they included in their photo collages looks like a completely traditional classroom, just with more colorful furniture. Student desks, set up as islands, facing the front in grid format, with teacher at front of room. Even in a place like an "innovative learning center" we have trouble breaking the mold and letting go of the past! I was excited to see in the virtual tour video that fortunately the traditional layout was rare, and the space includes a vast array of layouts that support a variety of learning modes.
Your post also reminded me of a photo I've seen going around facebook that sheds light on how little classroom setup has changed in 100 years:
https://www.facebook.com/BillGates/photos/a.10150331291841961.334784.216311481960/10153330653851961/?type=3&theater
I found that photo so disconcerting! Why is it that we feel so compelled to hang on to a model of learning that positions the students as buckets to be filled and the teacher as a knowledge dispenser? How is it that we've innovated so many other areas of our lives and our society, but schools remain so stagnant?
I'm so excited for you guys and your budget for innovating your space! A quote that I constantly keep in mind comes from Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach to education: “ There are three teachers of children: adults, other children, and their physical environment.”
At Cloverleaf, we recently had a big study of this quote as it relates to one of our 4 Cs, "Considerate." We talked about considering our school environment, helping students consider the learning environment, and creating a school environment that teaches our students in a positive way, not a negative way.
There's also a design company named after the "third teacher" quote:
http://thethirdteacherplus.com/
They consult with schools to create innovative learning environments. They do some awesome stuff!
Thanks again for your post. As I help my school move into our new permanent home, it is nice to be reminded that this is a huge opportunity to create an innovative learning environment.
Thanks for sharing that quote! I am going to steal it if you don't mind!
ReplyDeleteTim & Jen-I agree that schools have along ways to go to create true learning spaces that encourages things like collaboration and creativity. Jen-I see your point with that picture. However, I'm also familiar with and have seen those desks at a school I recently visited. Because they are on wheels, they are marketed to be able to allow for quick redesign of a class. I'm hoping that image was to highlight how you could move from whole class instruction into small groups with no wasted time.
ReplyDelete10 million?! That's awesome and I hope it works out well for the school community. I remember my first year teaching I spent hours decorating my classroom. Some veteran teachers frowned upon my "elementary" ways but it certainly made my room stand out. It's amazing what a little color on the walls and bright posters can do for the mood. I remember my college library was renovated with new desks and tables, computer stations and and work rooms with lots of colors. The number of students who visited the library (some may not have been studying) probably quadrupled. When the money is not available teachers can certainly still transform classrooms into more collaborative environments by rearranging furniture and painting.
ReplyDeleteTim, this is a great post. I worked in a previous school district that was somewhat on track with these ideas; the design of the newest high school was not traditional - there are plenty of non-classroom learning spaces, but the furniture is very traditional. Baby steps, I suppose. Similar to a trend in rethinking traditional public libraries (e.g., the Chattanooga Public Library’s 4th Floor - http://chattlibrary.org/4th-floor and the Nashville Public Library - http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/02/living/library-learning-labs-connected-learning/), in Cobb, they are beginning to retrofit their media centers to be more learning commons than library/media center (http://cobbcast.cobbk12.org/?p=13213). This allows these spaces to be more focused on the production of knowledge rather than the storage of knowledge. Last week I was able to tour one of these commons areas and it is incredible. Education changes & so should the spaces in which it is presented & practiced.
ReplyDelete