Children need softness in their physical surroundings and in their playthings. Soft furnishings from Kaplan include carpets, area rugs, cushions, padded chairs and couches, bean bag chairs and loungers to allow children a cozy area to relax, read or enjoy quiet play. Provide softness during nap or rest time with mats from Kaplan, which are tough, washable, and flame retardant complying with California TB117 specification.Story highlightsAn educator and mother wonders why many insist classrooms be still and quietResearch led her to believe some students learn better with freedom to moveShe found private, public and charter schools where teachers build movement into learningCarolina Blatt-Gross is an assistant professor of art at Georgia Gwinnett College who studies art, cognition and the socially situated nature of learning. She has a doctorate in art education and 15 years of teaching experience at many levels.JUST WATCHEDReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH JUST WATCHEDReplayMore Videos ...
MUST WATCH After all, the brain is ultimately an essential part of the body, a co-conspirator with those wiggly feet and chatty mouths that get little ones into trouble. As the late arts educator Elliot Eisner reminded us, we learn about the world through our senses, drawing information in through our bodies to feed our understanding of the world. That the mind is nestled within our physicality is not a new concept, but perhaps a nearly forgotten one in our age of cerebral and cyber wealth. Even in the early 20th century, progressive educator John Dewey famously unbolted the desks from the floors of the classroom, arguing that education stems from experience. More recently, we've seen treadmill desks and bouncy balls substitute for desk chairs. According to Kristen Hess, the principal and founder of Hess Academy, movement in the classroom is an extension of student choice. At the International Community School, a public charter school near my home that offers an International Baccalaureate, I found fourth-grade teacher Drew Whitelegg.He makes a point of allowing a lot of movement among his students.
His curriculum is inspired in part by Jonathan Kozol's book "Letters to a Young Teacher," which explains that kids are good at moving and talking a lot -- and yet, institutions are surprised when students struggle to sit still and stay quiet.MUST WATCH I met Carlita Scarboro, a first grade teacher, at Laurel Ridge Elementary, near Atlanta. Scarboro's classroom is active and lively, full of confident and convivial students. Don't miss out on the conversation! Follow us on Twitter @CNNschools or on CNN Living on Facebook for the latest stories and to share your perspective. Is It Time to Get Rid of Desks in the Classroom?Every morning, the children sit in a circle on a blue carpet in the middle of the classroom, passing a talking stick and fielding a question from their teacher, Shivonne Lewis-Young: How are you feeling? “I feel kinda normal,” says one. “I feel hungry,” says another, leaving to get a snack from a nutrition box in the corner . “I feel sad,” one boy says.
Ms. Lewis-Young tries to probe a bit deeper, but only gets a shoulder shrug in return. She will remember to revisit that one answer later in the day. Teacher Shivonne Lewis-Young with a student at Massey Street Public School. Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail Many of the eight-, nine- and 10-year-olds in Ms. Lewis-Young’s class, in Brampton, Ont., are considered high-needs students, some formally diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, others suffering from behavioural issues that have led them to the principal’s office or, worse, to a suspension. It’s a challenge Ms. Lewis-Young is addressing head-on by dismantling the traditional classroom and replacing the rows of hard desks and chairs with bean bag seating, an exercise bike and special stools that allows active kids to sit and wiggle, as well as softening the overhead lighting with filters, and using yoga and dance to relieve tension. The thinking – and anecdotally it appears to be working – is that by addressing the emotional state of these students, by allowing them a chance to regulate their behaviour and calm themselves, they will be more willing to learn.
Research suggests that Ms. Lewis-Young’s technique in her Grade 3 and 4 split classroom at Massey Street Public School is on the right path. For kids who learn differently, a traditional classroom reinforces those differences. More variety leads to a better chance of academic success, says Jeff Kugler, an education equity consultant and former executive director of the Centre for Urban Schooling at the University of Toronto. Launched this school year, the Massey Street school project is the brainchild of Ms. Lewis-Young, and her colleague, Michelle Philpot, who teaches a similar-styled Grade 2 and 3 split classroom next door. The pair were inspired after reading Calm, Alert, and Learning, a book written by York University professor Stuart Shanker, who also heads the MEHRIT Centre, an organization that works with parents and educators to assist children in self-regulating their behaviour. The book explores different methods of helping children cope with stressors. The two teachers received input on the physical changes made to the classrooms from the school board’s occupational therapist before drawing up their proposal.
The initiative at the Peel District School Board could improve learning across the country for children with behavioural issues. Massey Street school is ranked “somewhat high” on the social risk index, which measures, among other variables, average household income, unemployment and the educational level of the community. In the last school year, for example, the main office had 386 visits from students who had behavioural issues. There were 393 students enrolled at the school. Ms. Lewis-Young, who is in her 11th year of teaching, has always searched for new ways to engage students who would otherwise lose interest early on in academics, act out as a result, and risk not graduating. She was once among them. She remembers her Grade 2 teacher telling the class they were to learn about penguins. She wanted to study dinosaurs, instead. The teacher turned her down. Ms. Lewis-Young did not complete her penguin project. Did it matter, she wondered, if students were learning about dinosaurs or penguins just as long as they were engaged in the material?
She struggled in school – much like many of her own students. “I was also an out-of-the-box student myself and I know that I would have been successful in school instead of struggling if I had been given choice,” she says. “It’s very powerful when kids feel like they have choice and a voice. It builds trust and mutual respect.” Evan Grandage is a reserved nine-year-old boy whose intellect seems obvious to a visitor even if it’s cloaked by his quiet veneer. He was moved to Ms. Lewis-Young’s class in the middle of his Grade 3 year because school staff felt he needed a different environment. He was sent to the main office a number of times, and he was suspended for fighting, he says. He didn’t find his schoolwork to be challenging. He has remained in Ms. Lewis-Young’s class for Grade 4. “I thought it was really boring,” he says of his schoolwork. “I didn’t like the people in my class.” “I like school a bit.” At one of the standing tables in the classroom, Evan and a friend are using Lego and electronic building blocks to build a crane that would pick up a Lego piece and move itnew.
During a math lesson later in the day, Evan is given a choice of whether he wants to join the group or work on another project. He already understands the math lesson. He prefers doing origami. Students move freely around the room on this particular morning. They build with Lego or use their devices to play educational games. A student asks if he can play Minecraft. “Not right now,” Ms. Lewis-Young says. But then she remembers there’s a Minecraft coding game. Klint Powell, a nine-year-old with scruffy blond hair and a mischievous smile, slouches on a bean bag chair nearby, using his tablet to play a game that lets him move ahead if he correctly answers the math question. As his fingers move across the screen, he says he’s worried about returning to a traditional classroom in Grade 5. “I had difficulties with my teacher,” he says of educators before Ms. Lewis-Young. “It was just that she didn’t understand me.” Those difficulties meant that, last year in Grade 3, Klint was reading at below a Grade 2 level, a problem that, without intervention, could have intensified through his schooling.
Now, he’s almost at grade level. “I think that because he’s calm and settled in the classroom, he’s not afraid to take risks with his learning,” Ms. Lewis-Young says. “Things are not a battle any more.” Many of the 23 students in Ms. Lewis-Young’s room and the 21 next door in Ms. Philpot’s were specifically chosen to attend these classes because they wouldn’t be as successful in a traditional classroom setting, said school principal Kathy Kozovski. She said that, anecdotally, fewer students from these rooms are getting into trouble. There is still structure, but the primary goal is that students are alert and calm. The concept is winning a small following. Teachers within the school are trying to incorporate some of the physical components into their own classrooms, such as the Hokki stools, a seat with a flexible stand that keeps fidgety students active while sitting still. Educators from other parts of the school board have visited the rooms. “We passionately believe that setting up an environment like this can be successful for all students.