I have been wanting to change my classroom around for awhile. The bulletin boards were annoying me, the furniture wasn’t really working, the flow of the room just seemed off. And I’m the one who organized it! It must be even worse for my students who have to put up with it every day.
With all that in mind, I made one change: moving the Smartboard to a different wall. My students were floored when they walked into the room today (you would’ve thought I introduced a giraffe into the classroom). When I mentioned that I wanted to move some stuff around, and if they had any ideas…well, that was about as much as I was able to get out. They had so many ideas!
So we got up started moving stuff around. Time to harness that energy and excitement!
My white board table completely swapped with my other table, putting it in front of the Smartboard instead of the white board. Then we had to move the bookshelves under the window. And the meeting/read aloud rug had to move as well. And the drawers where we keep our notebooks et al. And then we had to decide where all of the different types of chairs would go. It took all of 20 minutes for our room to transform from my space to our space. I didn’t even really have to say much, except, “What do you think about centering that bookshelf under the window?” (I couldn’t help myself!). There was so much movement and energy and cooperation; it was every teacher’s dream.
And my students were so excited! They seem really enthusiastic about the changes. Even the one student who cried out at one point, “I don’t know where anything is anymore!”
Next up…the bulletin boards.
Teaching With Mrs. Clark 
How exciting for you and your students! A fresh space for new learning!
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Way to give the students’ a voice in their classroom! I love this idea … a couple times a year to rethink the flow of the classroom. Now, they own it and I bet they loved being a part of the process! Enjoy the new space!
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That sounds like such fun! And how great that you could give your students the opportunity to participate in all the decision-making….it will be so much more meaningful for them. 🙂 ~JudyK
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You are brave! My favorite line is this one: “It took all of 20 minutes for our room to transform from my space to our space.” That’s the essence of what you did. 🙂 What lucky students.
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You are such a smart teacher. Allowing the students to arrange the room makes it their room, not your room. What a great way to build a community of learners!
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Wow what a great idea to enlist your kiddos into the arrangement of the classroom! I’ve never thought to do that. My shelves aren’t on wheels so I’d be nervous with furniture, but they could always direct me! I might have to give this a try!
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Community learning at its finest!
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Great that you enlisted THEM in this, as it’s their classroom, too. I read an article yesterday about making the college classroom more interactive. The point the author made is that if a teacher just moves around, leaves the front of the room, the dynamics change. I think about how energy is stored and released when we change just the smallest…and sometimes larger…things! (Elementary/middle/high school teachers are more aware of interaction spawned by classroom environments than college teachers, I think.)
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