Treasure Chest of Thoughts

Tomorrow our Classroom Redesign team meets to dream:  what should a 21st Century Classroom look like?  We wish we knew!  As fast as technology is evolving, we realize that within just a few short years that our “modern” rooms will soon be out-of-date.

In yesterday’s Scientific American e-newsletter, it’s primary article headlined “How Room Designs Affect Your Work and Mood.”  Thinking I might have stumbled upon part of our answer to our class redesign, I read on…and then took a trip down memory lane, as the article reiterated the need for light, windows, and carpet…that was my first classroom, the one with light blue wall!

In their analysis of more than 10,000 fifth-grade students in 71 Georgia elementary schools, Tanner and his colleagues found that students in classrooms with unrestricted views of at least 50 feet outside the window, including gardens, mountains and other natural elements, had higher scores on tests of vocabulary, language arts and math than did students without such expansive vistas or whose classrooms primarily overlooked roads, parking lots and other urban fixtures.

In one school district—Capistrano, Calif.—students in the sunniest classrooms advanced 26 percent faster in reading and 20 percent faster in math in one year than did those with the least daylight in their classrooms. In the other two districts, ample light boosted scores between 7 and 18 percent.

I find this so interesting…while I am more excited than I can express (not sure the reality of this “dream” has really sunk in!), this article reminds us of other elements to further consider in this redesign of our classrooms for the 21st Century.

Special thanks to Ms. Carla at Web English Teacher for responding to my Twitter request for thoughts on designs for a 21st Century classroom…have shared those notes already!