Personalized Learning in 13 Blogs-Step7: Changing the Environment

I was feeling comfortable with the steps we had taken for student ownership. It was time to change the learning environment. Again, I gave thought to how to transition so that we could have a sustained success. It couldn’t be a drastic change that would disrupt our learning or push us too far outside our comfort zones. I decided to step into the changes gradually giving everyone an opportunity to experience the differences in little pieces. Now that being said, I also decided to make the changes in December which I knew was going to be crazy because of the anticipation of the holidays. It played out wonderfully because it kept the students on their toes throughout the month. First, I kept my teams together, but rotated them around the room to different tables. This threw the students off balance. Then, I continued rotating the teams, but I changed some of the desks so that they were as short as possible by removing the holding screw. For those desks, I let the students use carpet squares on the floor or sit on the desk. During independent working times, some students like to work under the desk so they are isolated. We discussed rules and appropriate choices before making any permanent changes. The last two days before winter break, I let the students choose their seats and took a poll for favorite seating. They were excited about the changes to say the least.