Spaces



The purpose of this section of the presentation is to ...

1. Provide an overview of how my classroom physical spaces have developed over time 2. Share some excellent resources on classroom spaces

Most of my focus this year (2011) has been on developing my class online spaces. However, with my shift in teaching practice I have also have been challenged to rethink my physical classroom space.

Inspired by the writings of [|Evan McIntosh] I decided I needed to try something diffferent with how my class was set up.

The first step was remove my teacher's desk from the class. This was actually quite hard to do, but once it was done, I actually realised I didn't need it at all. Coffee cups and boxes of panadol now sit on a spare table at the front of the class!

After a few more weeks I decided the student desks would have to go. Furniture was rearranged, couches sourced ( 2 from an abandoned house!), a few students brought in bean bags and comfy chairs. Suddenly, the classroom looked and felt so much more "open"

We now have a 5 main group areas within the class that students work in. Students are free to sit wherever they choose depending on the learning situation. Some students actually prefer to have their own desks (2 of them) and 3 others NEED to have their own desks. The rest of the class have their tote trays stored in "stackers" located around the room.

Our classroom ...



__Articles__

This is an excellent article well worth reading, it certainly helped me!

[|Ten Ways to think about classroom space"]

Ewan McIntosh's article ( a must read!)

[|When digital, learning and physical space meet]

More food for thought ...

[|The classroom is obsolete: It's time for something new]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Open Learning Spaces

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">[|Linking pedagogy and classroom design]

__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Video Resources __

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Space the Final Frontier (Stephen Heppell)

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 * Interesting responses to this video ...**

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Ewan McIntosh again ...

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