New Year, New Approaches
With the start of a new school year comes a bunch of unknowns. Student personalities, learning styles and levels of engagement and motivation are just a few. As students walk in to my room for the first time at the start of a new year, they find flexible seating (single student desks, standing desks, hexagon tables, and various cushy seating arrangements), bookshelves stacked full of YA novels, the standard-to-my-school technology such as an ELMO document camera and projector, but if they turn a slight corner, a cart of MacBook Airs also awaits them. My hope upon entering my classroom is that students feel welcome, comfortable, and eager to learn. As we progress through the 21st Century and our current students have different needs than those 10 or 20 years ago, we need to consider a classroom that works best for their specific learning needs. I believe having Flexible Furniture, Classroom Lighting, and Technology Integration to be top priorities wh...