third teacher 2013 portable 9
TRANSCRIPT
What’s Cool for School? The Action Plan
December 5, 2013
The State of Our Classrooms The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Look at what our students are dealing with now!
.How can we revolutionize the way we utilize our classrooms? How can the “Third Teacher” better serve our students’ needs?
The State of Our Classrooms The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Look at what our students are dealing with now!
.Students are working in poor conditions. They need proper lighting and alternatives to broken chairs that are uncomfortable and workspaces that are too small.
The State of Our Classrooms The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Look at what our students are dealing with now!
.The walls of the classroom need to be painted. The classroom should be an inviting and colourful space that encourages learning, not a lackluster space with damaged walls.
Action Plan The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Action Plan
.
Point #1: Desk and Chairs
Students want to revolutionize their chairs and desks. They want to sit on medicine/exercise ball chairs on wheels and perform their activities on desks that provide more workspace. These revolutionized desks must have the capability to move easily around the room on wheels to connect to other desks for the purpose of collaborative learning.
Students also want hooks to be installed on their desks so they can easily hang their bags to keep them away from the aisles.
Action Plan The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Action Plan
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Point #2: Collaborative Workspace
The students want collaborative working spaces where they can share descriptive feedback with their peers and teacher. This area of the classroom could be used for that purpose. The students would like to remove the old filing cabinets, “mystery closet” with no key, and overhead projector that are not being used anymore, and create a “collaborative working space” in this zone of the room. This zone would house at least three larger desks on wheels that are topped with dry-erase paint for group brainstorming activities.
Action Plan The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Action Plan
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Point #3: Brainstorming Walls
The students want to replace the old blackboards with whiteboards, and, on the opposite side of the room (bottom picture), the students want to create a “brainstorming wall located in the “collaborative working space” zone of the classroom. This wall will be created using a large piece of medium-density fiberboard. The MDF will be painted with dry-erase paint and placed against the wall using brackets to secure it.
Action Plan The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Action Plan
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Point #4: Genius Bar and a Mounted TV
The students want to replace the old clock with a digital clock, and secure high-shelving on this wall to create a “genius bar”. The genius bar will house laptops that can be used for research purposes once Wi-Fi is available in the portables. Above the “genius bar”, the students want a mounted TV that can be connected to a DVD player or a laptop so that students can project their presentations, videos, blogs, etc.
Action Plan The Voyager Lab
The Dunes
The Terrace
Action Plan
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Point #5: Reading Lounge Zone
Instead of having this unsightly teacher’s desk, the students want to have a reading lounge placed in this zone of the classroom. They want shelving to be secured on the walls by the window to house books and magazines. They also want bean bag chairs on which they can sit and read in comfort. This is a student-focused classroom of collaborative learning, therefore there is no need for this clunky desk.
Let’s make it happen!
December 19 and 20, 2013