Over the summer I changed classrooms. It was a lengthy process, but great, as I was able to reorganize my classroom. I moved into a smaller room with less cabinet space. To boot, the room also didn’t have any carpet. Starting with a blank slate caused some anxiety at first, but it also gave me time to think of different design ideas.
Over the summer I received many great ideas from my pln about classroom design. I knew I wanted to add additional group stations and lay out the space so kids could utilize all the different locations within the classroom. I’m not an HGTV expert by any means, but I thought that some changes in my design might be helpful. During August, I ran across a few Tweets from TMC about vertical non-permanent surfaces. It even has it’s own tag – #vnps. Interested, I researched this a bit and found some great news. My summer book study and the TMC crowd both confirmed that these seemed to help students. Thankfully, I ran across a Tweet about getting whiteboard from Home Depot.
I went over to Home Depot a couple days later and bought two 2 x 5 boards. I wasn’t really sure where I’d place them. Over the next few days I started unboxing my materials and started planning out student learning places. I put in a work order to hang up the vertical whiteboards and they were installed a couple days early. Maintenance drilled the boards into the wall and I was a happy camper.
I labeled the stations the next day. I explained that the whiteboards were used so students could brainstorm and show their thinking. Immediately, students were excited to use these new shiny boards. The quality was decent and they easily erased. It was interesting how quickly students picked up their Expos markers and got to work. Some use them solo while other students like to use them in groups.
My only gripe is that I wish they had a magnetic component. Some students want to hang up their papers on the board and show their work on the board. I’m still looking into options to what I can use to attach the work to the board without buying some magnetic paint. Still checking out alternative ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing how students use these surfaces throughout the year.
Educational Aspirations 