Flexible Classroom

How should we put out room together? Should we line up the walls with the desk in the center of the room? Should we set it up so all the computers are facing towards us? Should we use laptops instead?  All these question come up when you plan your room, if you are talking about setting up a engineering classroom or a regular room you have to think of where to place things.

In the past five years I have reworked my room to be in a different setup every year.  I have personally rewired cables just so the set up I have in my head will work.  How does the set up of a room deal with technology, well it has everything to do with tech in the classroom.  We have all heard of "flexible seating" but I like to call my set up "Flexible Classroom."

My flexible classroom mimics a lot of major companies getting out of the old cubicle style of an office and making it more open and fun.  Keeping an office place interesting keeps your mid from becoming stale and makes you more creative.  That is my theory that I tell my students and I think most of them buy into it.  Before becoming a teacher I worked for an engineering firm in Kansas City, MO and we work in row of four but our desk connected with out neighbors.  We did this so we could work on project easier and be able to look at plans with out having to drag it to a conference table, it made it more efficient.  So I decided to do this in my room with a few more bits of inspiration.

Looking at Google, Facebook, IDEO and even Nike  I created a sort of design for my room that looks like something that would fit in one of their offices.  I joined all the desk to make a large table so groups can work together easier and collaboration with other team essential.  Communication became easier and the larger tables with cabinets are all on wheels.  I put white boards on multiple locations so students can work on them to draw out ideas.  All the big technology like 3-D printers, plotters,  and engravers are all in my room but they are in closet with a window so students can see what is going on when something is being used.

I have arranged my room so the tech is there but not necessarily be the center of the room.  I keep the center of my room open so I can roll in tables and have a hand on demo of what ever we are doing that day.  I want my student to be able to focus but still know that everything in the room can be used in time when they learn how to use it correctly.  Having all the cool "toys" is great but unless your students want to use the technology and know why we would use it than it is useless.  Sometimes a simple setup of how the room is use can be just as important.  So next time you think you want to get a new equipment or technology in your room or school, step back and figure out where are we going to put this so it can be utilized the most efficiently.