At this point in the midst of 21st century learning, I would be hard-pressed to find a school or district that doesn’t have the word “collaboration” in the public mission or vision for their students. If you are on board with boosting student collaboration the easiest way to help facilitate this process is setting your space up to be conducive to students working together with ease. Here are a few tips:
- Rethink student workspace-If your classroom furniture and layout is traditional in nature don’t worry-when students work together it doesn’t have to be at a desk and in chairs. You can create lap desks for students to sit on floors together, and for younger students you can designate work stations with tape on the floor and carpet squares or rugs. Do you have a door that leads outside? Use outdoor floor pillows or some crates upside down with fabric cushions on top to create a quick patio work station. Visit our Pinterest board: Mindful Classroom Space or Student Collaboration for more ideas!
- Create group brainstorming spaces-I love whiteboard paint and would paint every wall in my classroom and house with it if I could afford it! However, for those of us on a budget here are a few more affordable ideas:
- butcher paper rolls mounted on the wall or on tables. This is easy to swap out and also keep for documentation of learning.
- a quick trip to home depot and the folks there will cut your whiteboard into sizes that can easily slide onto your desk pods when students are working together
- use some scrap wood to nail a square on the wall and create team boards using chalkboard paint around the room.
- Create a group work station-this is a designated space in the classroom where student groups can organize and save their work, access any project resources they may need and also make visible where they are in the learning process. This space can include team folders for students to hold their group work, project handouts, team huddles or contracts posted for reference. This space can also include a project process wall-Check out these great examples from industry:
Next up on our Back to School Edition: “Classroom Space Tips for Promoting Growth Mindset”. Be sure to sign up to follow our blog to receive notification when we post every week, and follow us on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for daily tips and tools for your craft!