Jen just sent me two photos of her new classroom:
It struck me that the space is so inviting and expressive of the time now of starting again, of the possibilities. But then I realized that desks would soon be in there, changing the space completely. I am thinking that as nice as the space looks now it will soon be cluttered with desks. If the room is cluttered, will not the instruction tend to be cluttered as well?
Sabrina and others have unapologetically gone to deskless rooms, or at least rooms with the desks aligned on the outside walls. Perhaps this is where they should be since our students write less than 5% of the instructional time in CI classes anyway. Mary Beth, on a visit to Denver last year, and I observed a few of Sabrina’s classes last year and the effect was visibly heightened communication between her and her students. They had nowhere to run!
In my new classroom a couch and two chairs with big fluffy pillows dominate the central space in the room. The desks for writing are not very noticeable on the outside walls of the classroom. I will try to get a photo of it and Linda’s room across the hallway.