A New Look Learning Space

The Year 4 learning space has recently undergone a makeover- morphing from two distinct classrooms into one vast learning space. The students sat down to discuss what effect this open learning environment would have on them as a learner, and how it might impact the way that specific lessons are taught.

Operating as a large group, we felt it necessary to familiarise the students with specific language around different approaches to learning before throwing them into a large, open plan environment- where chaos could effectively break out. After explaining that the students will now have freedom to choose where they wanted to work and who they might work best with (with teacher monitoring), we introduced Steve Collis' notion of the 'cave, campfire and watering hole'. The students understand that during 'cave' time, they are working individually on their learning tasks, they may be sitting next to somebody else or lying on the ground in a group, but the task is individual and the working environment should be quiet. During 'campfire' activities, the students know that they are working collaboratively in small breakout groups, while the 'watering hole' suggests a large group discussion.

The students were enthusiastic about a new learning space and couldn't wait to make the change. There was some apprehension in the beginning from a small number of students, mainly through fear of the unknown, however after the transformation took place- these students prefer the new arrangements.

As teachers in this learning space, we find that the students are responding well to the change, discovering new friendships, working more productively together and self regulating their learning. It's an uplifting moment when you hear a child say to his friends, "Guys, I love you- but I just have to go over here to work, I'm too distracted!"  

Motivated, Inspired, Encouraged

On Monday the 13^th of August, the brilliant Steve Collis from Northern Beaches Christian School ran our Staff Development day here at Sacred Heart.

Steve showcased a range of innovative and exciting ideas around the management of open classrooms, 21^st century pedagogy and inspired us to initiate a plan of our own.

Here in Year 4 we excited and ready to take a leap towards the future of education. We hope to be pioneers in shifting the thinking around the culture of education, by implementing our own innovate teaching and learning strategies within Sacred Heart.

The notion behind Steve Collis’ professional development linked perfectly across with the CEO’s iLe@rn position paper, which we had unpacked in our staff meeting earlier that week. The iLe@rn model conveys a set of skills in which students need to be able to work, collaborate and communicate in the 21^st Century.  These concepts are not new to our pedagogy however, as teachers we need to magnify these skills in our learning space in order to advance the students and move forward in our profession.

We are excited at what lies ahead!

Melody Edelman & Amy Sherburd

Keeping up with current practices!

On the 30th and 31st of May 2012, we were fortunate enough to engage in a 2-day sold out national event, Technology in K-12 Education National Congress 2012, held by EduTech at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. 

With speakers such as Sir Ken Robinson, Stephan Heppell, Greg Whitby, Juan Lopez-Valcarcel and Dan Haesler- only a handful of the many inspiring speakers at the conference, my colleague and I walked away from the convention feeling enlivened and eager to get back into our classrooms knowing that the benefits and possibilities of technology in learning are countless.

Greg Whitby cemented our own thinking around technology when he stated that, “technology is a seamless connection between school and life. All kids can learn and technology is an enabler, it is simply a tool- the right tool for great teachers.”  Therefore, the idea of introducing iPads into the classroom and into various lessons shouldn’t be foreign- it is simply linking learning to the real world, convincing me that the excitement that the children display during our lessons is a clear indication of engagement, inquiry and learning.