Three weeks in and this is the first time that I have a chance to contribute to this blog. Yikes! How does the time go by so quickly? A lot has been accomplished so far, but I am still uncertain as to how my students are reacting to the changes. What have I done so far? Well.... let me tell you.
I decided that this year I would let the students set up the room to how they like it. I had tables put in the class, and books and other things like that, but I really didn't do anything with them. The first day, the students came in and chose their own spots (not desks as we don't have any in our classroom). They also choose their drawers to share with a friend. Took some of them by surprise that I didn't have anything ready for them. Shows how little say they have had in the past few years of their education. I feel that allowing students to choose in the class al
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Introduction
As part of my M.Ed capstone project, I have decided to start this blog. My goal is that teachers and educators from around the world will share ideas on how to reshape classrooms and restructure thinking about what education looks like.
My capstone is about open-concept classrooms and the differentiation that goes on in them. I want to be able to show that this type of classroom can work and that students do learn in it. Whenever I mention my ideas and opinions to my colleagues, I get the groans and the nay-sayers. They all seem to think that the open classroom is a horrible idea and that it will never work. Their reasons for this thinking range from: "there is too much noise and no control" to "I don't have time to set one up, it will never work".
My goal is to prove them wrong.
Starting now, I will be planning out my classroom for next year. I want to think about how it will look, what we will do and what will go on. I have been experiementing with the concept a bit this year, and I plan on interviewing my students for their ideas and input before leaving for the summer.
If anyone out there has had any experience with this, or has any ideas, please let me know! Any comments (positive and negative) are more than welcome.
My capstone is about open-concept classrooms and the differentiation that goes on in them. I want to be able to show that this type of classroom can work and that students do learn in it. Whenever I mention my ideas and opinions to my colleagues, I get the groans and the nay-sayers. They all seem to think that the open classroom is a horrible idea and that it will never work. Their reasons for this thinking range from: "there is too much noise and no control" to "I don't have time to set one up, it will never work".
My goal is to prove them wrong.
Starting now, I will be planning out my classroom for next year. I want to think about how it will look, what we will do and what will go on. I have been experiementing with the concept a bit this year, and I plan on interviewing my students for their ideas and input before leaving for the summer.
If anyone out there has had any experience with this, or has any ideas, please let me know! Any comments (positive and negative) are more than welcome.
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