By Nancy Lindsey
The Patrick County school system is putting into practice long-held concepts about children’s different learning styles, the importance of giving students some independence in how they learn best, and fostering movement in the classroom.
The initiative of “innovative learning spaces” is being incorporated into schools this year, according to Dr. Cyndi Williams, director of instruction, who explained it to the Patrick County School Board last month.
The program encourages teachers to have a vision about how they make their classrooms “student-centered,” Williams said, and then carrying out that vision creatively.
“We are looking at how we support kids working collaboratively,” Williams said, “and we can’t do it if we’re isolated in rows and every kid is an island.”
Innovative learning spaces offer students a choice in what kind of space works best for them, and helps them to work collaboratively, communicate and engage in critical thinking, Williams said.
The program provides a variety of seating, such as yoga balls, foldable chairs, chairs for games, stools, crates, carpet squares, and standing desks.
The idea of standing desks is one that is occurring in offices and other workplace environments: if standing at times is physically better than sitting for long periods, the theory goes, isn’t it also better mentally and psychologically?
A study by Matthew T. Mahar and others found that “simple in-class activities can boost performance…children who participate in short bouts of physical activity within the classroom have more on-task behavior.”
While adults have coffee or water breaks, kids in this program have “brain breaks” or games that give them a chance to move around the classroom.
“Instead of a teacher corner taking up to 25% of the classroom, teachers have workspaces similar to students’ workplaces,” Williams said. “The amount of space that teachers now use is minimal, giving more space in the classroom for creating student corners, or the ability to move furniture around.”
“Research shows that benefits of flexible seating include burning more calories, using up excess energy, improving metabolism, increased motivation and engagement, creating a better oxygen flow to the brain, and improving core strength and overall posture,” Williams said. “Physical activity is linked to higher academic performance, better health and improved behavior.”
Comments by two education researchers offer additional insights. Dr. Ken Wesson said, “the average number of years children are in age equals the average number of minutes they can maintain attention and understanding during direct instruction.”
In his book “Brain Rules,” John Medina discussed the fact that “the brain has a stubborn timing pattern of 10. After about 10 minutes of direct instruction, the brain must make a shift to refocus.”
Another educator, Dr. Ron Nash, talked about “from seatwork to feetwork.”
“Part of the frontloading process for teachers is to take the time to create a physical climate that stimulates the curiosity and imagination of the students who will spend an entire school year there,” Nash said. ”Teachers need to change the physical state of students by providing opportunities to stand, move, and process information in standing pairs or groups…The combination of movement, music, and collaborative processing can be a powerful learning tool.”
The innovative learning spaces program is not being implemented in all classrooms, Williams said. “Some teachers restructured everything and others did a little bit.”
Another example of a flexible space is a math classroom with whiteboards around the perimeter of the room, Williams said, giving students the opportunity to get up and use a board to figure out a math problem.
“It’s exciting to watch the changes,” Williams said.
