Active Seating: Can We Learn How to Move?

| Mark Tiongco

The pursuit to maximize a learning environment’s effectiveness is always going to be paramount.  In our modern society, active seating solutions has ascended to become a game-changer in addressing the topics of enhancing student engagement, reducing classroom distractions, and promoting collaborative work.  According to Edutopia (2015):

“Since implementing flexible classrooms, Albermarle County Public Schools have noticed that:

  • Their students’ grades have improved
  • Their students seem happier and more engaged
  • Their students are participating more and having more invigorating conversations”

However, politics and budgets often dictate whether a school will make the leap towards innovation or keep the traditional classroom status quo.  Investing in active seating furniture helps determine if it can benefit your students and teachers.  Active seating creates a fun, engaging, and productive atmosphere that helps students develop critical life skills such as focus and team work.  The Sit and Stand Student Desk by Luxor is an excellent introduction to active learning by providing a feature-rich desk standing desk solution for your students, thus keeping them engaged, while allowing you to determine if it’s something you can utilize in some or all of your classrooms.

Sit and Stand Student Desk by Luxor

Adaptable Active Seating

In addition to enhancing student engagement, many active seating solutions feature portability and a compact footprint since every classroom is different and lesson plans constantly change.  Classroom seating that can accommodate different student age groups helps a school maximize its classroom furniture budgetary expenditures.  The DOT Soft Seating Floor Stool by Balt is portable, lightweight, and can keep students engaged during floor activities such as music class, arts and crafts, watching educational films, and productive during study hall!

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Teach, Tutor, and Collaborate with Easels

| Mark Tiongco

Among the many critical skills that students must develop at an early age are motor, cognitive, and social skills.  The earlier children develop these skills, the better it helps them perform in future classes as well as their professional careers.  Learning tools such as Easels can help develop these critical skills while also providing a flexible visual teaching aid for multiple classroom subjects and multiple grade levels.  Integrating easels in your classroom helps students develop their cognitive skills by visualizing their creative ideas, understand different artistic perspectives, and allows them to express themselves thus boosting their self esteem and confidence.

When looking for an easel for your learning environment, there are several factors below that can help guide your search:

Art Station Easels

Finger painting, shapes drawing, and imaginations run wild with Art Easels.  Designed for early school grades such as Kindergarten, art easels allow children to draw fun ideas and visualize how they see the world.  Many art easels also include storage cubbies and drawers for an all-inclusive drawing solution with ample space for multiple students to express their ideas.  The 4 Station Art Easel by Jonti-Craft provides a practical solution while offering ample storage, drawing space, and accessories to accommodate multiple teaching scenarios.

4 Station Art Easel by Jonti-Craft

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21st Century Desks for 21st Century Learning

| Mark Tiongco

While we know it is not uncommon to hang on to traditional open front student desks due to budgetary constraints. There will come a time where dilapidated desks and evolving curriculum will create learning friction. As well as the law of diminishing return which are not conducive for the student learning environment.  A modern classroom desk contributes to critical student development which includes skills such as peer communication, teamwork, and adaptability that will be invaluable to students in their future careers.

When shopping for a modern student desk, here are three elements to help guide you in your search:

Modularity

It’s no secret that modularity is a common theme in today’s 21st century classroom furniture.

Student desks that can be reconfigured and easily moved are important for tentative lesson schedules that often change at the last-minute.

In addition, this modularity helps accommodate changing preferences (i.e. some teachers would like the classic individual desk row configuration while others want them grouped together).  The Method Polygon Table by Scholar Craft offers ample student work space with a modular footprint to help students get work done more efficiently.

Method Polygon Table by Scholar Craft

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Maximizing Classroom Dry Erase Boards

| Mark Tiongco

Dry erase boards have been around for decades, being utilized in academic learning environments as well as being a staple in company conference rooms.  However, modern innovations have improved the concept of “dry erase” to make group learning more efficient and accommodate changing situations for better productivity.  Having dry erase boards that complement each other ensures students can collaborate and visualize their ideas while allowing teachers to customize and adapt lesson plans for both group and individualized learning.

Here are several dry erase solutions to help guide in picking what’s right for your learning environment:

Wall-Mounted Dry Erase 2.0

While traditional dry erase whiteboards have eclipsed old chalkboards (which date back to the 19th century), there have been many recent advancements that make these boards better and better.  Some of these innovations include a frameless design to help utilize extra board space while providing an attractive and elegant appearance.  Materials such as porcelain-coated steel with aluminum help with mounting on a curved wall while minimizing dry erase ghosting after repeated use.  The Elemental Frameless Dry Erase Board by Best-Rite offers a wall-mounted dry erase board that also doubles as a projection screen that contributes to a seamless transition between lesson plans.

Elemental Frameless Dry Erase Board by Best-Rite

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