Creative Process

My Creative Process

One technique I learned about in CPSA260, that I focused on implementing in class, was creating an active learning classroom (ALC). In class, we read an article titled “The Room Itself Is Active: How Classroom Design Impacts Student Engagement” from the Journal of Learning Spaces. The reading really resonated with me as someone who sits in countless awful lecture halls for hours. The reading talked about how open, collaborative ALC design made a community of learners, helped students work at their optimal level of challenge, and allowed students to learn more holistically. An ALC means movable furniture (chairs and tables), lots of places for students to write around the classroom, and lots of places where media can be used (projectors, screens, etc.). 

I was blessed with a huge ALC for my workshop. After discussion in CPSA260, and drawing out the layout of my classroom, I found ways I could utilize all the benefits of my classroom more. I tried moving the tables into a circle for group discussion, I had students write things on the chalkboards around the room and do gallery walks, I had students turn their chairs to talk to each other during Think-Pair-Share, and I moved tables to allow us space to dance and move. I could tell doing things like this really benefited their learning, and let me establish a much closer relationship with my students, rather than a strict teacher-student power dynamic and hierarchy. I acted more as a facilitator or student learning, rather than a lecturer. 

I already had a lot of teacher techniques in my back pocket as a Secondary Education major, but this was one I never really practiced or used, so it was really great to practice so I can do it in my future classrooms.