My students need 25 bean bags to create a comfortable learning environment in our classroom. I am educating 21st century learners in a relaxed and creative environment.
We are a 1 to 1 digital blended learning classroom that incorporates flipped learning, project based learning, traditional learning styles and 21st century skills into our lessons. Typically in our classroom, students are moving and engaged during our lessons, instead of sitting for our 90 minutes period.
My students come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and represent a range of academic levels.
Although we are a 1 to 1 digital blended learning classroom, many of my students do not have access at home to complete assignments, thus we complete the majority of our work in the classroom. Our classroom is divided into groups to create a collaborative learning environment and activities are designed to keep students moving, to limit the time of direct instruction in a rigid classroom setting.
My Project
For a recent assignment, students were seated on towels on the floor in a large group. This created a comfortable, relaxed learning environment. Most of the students asked that we try a more comfortable setting for class by doing away with traditional desk and sitting on the floor. Many recent studies have shown that students are more engaged, focused and creative when in a comfortable setting. Most classrooms are in "factory settings" of rigid desks in rows.
"A new, yet simple, idea is that classrooms can be comfortable spaces where students feel at home. They might crawl up and read a book. Stephen Heppell proposes that we see few people reading in chairs outside of school, so it may be best to make cozy spaces in the classroom too." Miriam Clifford. The same can be said of people working on digital devices outside of a classroom as well. My students need these 25 bean bags to create a comfortable learning environment in our classroom.
A challenge of teaching 21st Century Learners is finding the right learning space which simulates their home learning space.
Students tend to sit on a couch, gaming chair or bed to work on their homework. Having bean bags for students to sit on instead of desks will create a less rigid, more relaxed setting which will encourage participation and creativity This will not totally replace our desks, as we will need them for projects and tests.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Wilson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
