Creating The Best Classroom Design For Learning: Ideas, Setups, & Color Palettes

Table Of Content

• The Active Learning Classroom
• Tip 2: Look for sample classroom layouts to model your unique classroom design
• Creating active learning environments
• Social-Emotional Learning

Jonathan Matta is KI's National Education Leader, supporting organizations in their pursuit of solving complex challenges by applying the power of design. Matta previously served as the Vice President of Design at RXBAR, where he led a design team that applied a variety of design strategies, chiefly Design Thinking, to a multitude of organizational challenges. Jonathan holds an altMBA from Seth Godin's program, along with completed courses from Stanford University's "d.school" and IDEO-U. I took five steps to ensure that the upgraded space met the needs of my students. In other words, if you think changing your tables is going to solve your problems, you’re probably not going to see results.

The Active Learning Classroom

Finding the perfect seating arrangement is challenging but we have you covered. Use our free seating chart maker or classroom seating chart templates to find the best solution with minimum effort. Save your time (and your back) by pre-planning your classroom layout and furniture placement with a Google Slides interactive design template. Simply create a room in any given dimensions and start adding furniture to your space.

Students Work on Portfolios in AP Studio Art & Design Class - River Journal Staff

Students Work on Portfolios in AP Studio Art & Design Class.

Posted: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Tip 2: Look for sample classroom layouts to model your unique classroom design

If you only want to plan the seating layout, then add desks and chairs only. To design the entire classroom layout, add storage, bookshelves, activity areas, etc. If there are additional icons that you would like us to add to the classroom planner, then please leave a comment below. The following diagram depicts four different classroom layouts for Montessori.

Creating active learning environments

So, I would use this layout simply so students are aware of what to expect when entering an exam room. The active learning classroom was also helpful to teachers because it relied on tools that helped teachers understand just how well different groups were learning. One element of the small groups included a portable white board that extended over the desk of each group member. This allowed all members to work at different sections of the board.

Teach Starter Publishing

Finally, consider removing any decorations or artwork from walls if it takes away from the overall design aesthetic you are trying to achieve. You should also eliminate any extra supplies, such as books and materials, that are no longer needed – this will help create an uncluttered look in your classroom. We often expect students to passively wait until we present opportunities to create, and then we expect them to turn on that creativity like a faucet. Ultimate interior design platform to help you create stunning projects, wow your customers and win new clients. Motivate your students and colleagues with this set of 4 posters and postcards. Use this printable Teacher-Parent Conference Form to organize your parent-teacher conferences ahead of time and keep accurate and detailed records of parent communication.

Toolkits

When it comes to the physical space, make sure tools like laptops or tablets can be stored safely and securely when not in use. If students are sharing tech tools, provide enough collaboration space so they can access the tools equally. Composition notebooks may be timeless, but they are far from the only writing surface available to today’s students.

Out of the 7.3 million students with a disability in the U.S., about one in three has a learning disability or neurodevelopmental condition such as autism. For these students, who often have sensory or executive function issues, colorful, richly decorated environments may be perceived as a cacophony of visual noise, according to a 2021 study. At the end of the study, the researchers found that students who were more centrally located and aligned with the teacher were more likely to ask questions. These findings suggested that students might feel more engaged when seated in a way that put them more directly in the view of a teacher.

Designing or redesigning your classroom does not require expensive materials or upgrades. Big box stores like Walmart and Target sell attractive, affordable classroom organization solutions, and Pinterest features hundreds of thousands of ideas for designing a classroom on a budget. Grid seating – some teachers like to separate their students into a grid layout to allow students to work individually. Think about all the elements you want to include in your classroom. The number of students will determine how many spaces you need in your classroom. Permanent fixtures in the classroom – Take into account areas where you cannot place tables such as near the door, next to the air-con, etc.

An exam situation is the most common situation in which this layout is used. A modelled teaching or teacher-centered teaching style may not suit this layout. Students are not all facing in the same direction making it hard to attract their attention. There is ample space in the middle of the conference table for resources to be pooled. The open space in the middle of the desks is clearly the focal point or ‘action zone’ in this sort of space. This setup is not space efficient and may not be possible in a smaller classroom with minimal space.

There are also many students who will be looking at other students’ heads, so you might find a lot of students pivoting to talk to one another. This layout is a textbook example of a behaviorist approach, whereby the teacher delivers ‘truths’ to students and the students practice what is taught in isolation. While considered outdated to many, all students still come across it at some point in their schooling.

Each student could work independently on their section of the white board and then confer with one another. This helped students to better collaborate and discuss with one another how they arrived at different answers. One example of an optimized classroom layout is the active learning classroom, which uses two different layouts depending on what activities are being done that day. This type of layout relies on easy rearrangeable furniture to allow for a flexible classroom.

The seating pattern is divided into two, with a walking aisle in the middle. Since the room is big, it shows two doors that ensure a quick and easy exit through the room. This is a more crowded seating plan accommodating more students at a single time. The teacher's desk is placed in the middle to easily interact with both sides of the class. The example below shows a classroom floor plan for a middle school. Considering students can engage in distractions, the seating is spaced yet maintains a limited interaction between peers.

When students get to pick their own seats, some will pick better than others and make it more likely that they have a better learning experience. For this reason, students should be allowed only a limited amount of choices with regard to seating. Teachers should design their layout such that no matter what a student chooses, their learning experience is optimized.