design for learning – Informative Flights – Musings of a Teacher Librarian

Well we’re getting close to completion (all the yellow stickers are things the contractor needs to work on and the pink ones, things we need to do!) on our library project (more links to the history here, here and here) and I’m feeling a little more relaxed. And even in the mood to discuss what has gone well (and what didn’t go so well / what I would have done differently will be the next post).

I’ve added 3 pano photos, from the front and back of the library and from our new “classroom” space.

Let me start and devote this blog post with what I’m happy with – a comment from one of my Facebook groups prompted me to start with this, because I’m beginning to realise I’m way too much of a glass 1/2 empty kind of person, and if I have anything in the way of resolutions this year it is to be more positive! I’ll put some before / during and after shots in so you can see the difference!

I’m loving:

That I was fully part of the design process – in fact I was the designer and I only have myself (or maybe budget constraints or misinterpretations) to blame for what didn’t work out. Plus my principal was immensely supportive all along the way, pretty much gave me free reign and was there when I needed her as a sounding board or to confirm a decision.

The wooden floors

Oh I hated our old carpeting. Despite the fact that it was only about 2 years old it was pretty dirty and yucky – we get a lot of kids through the library each week and kids ain’t (and shouldn’t be) clean beasts. And because they were floor tiles, they could replace them, which meant colour differences, and that picky kid fingers could lift them up so they had to be re-glued regularly.

Before

During

After

The extra display space

We librarians love to display and show case our collections. Whether it’s for a special event or to highlight new books, kindness week, a particular theme, whatever. I had no display space except for that which I’d artificially created by leaving shelves empty, and removing a computer from the dreaded pillar! In the new configuration I’ve been able to convert the pillar to a wonderful wrap around display space. I’ve also copied an idea from UWCSEA-East primary and added book ledges at the front door (they’re not perfect yet – too big and heavy on themselves but that’s another story).

Entrance Before

Entrance During – part of wall removed

After

Pillar before

Pillar after

Teaching spaces

I don’t have great pictures of before, or actually of after, so I’ll have to add these later. Basically my teaching space was a couch and a pulldown screen and a heavy very low flipboard I could drag out of my office when I needed to write anything, but couldn’t leave anywhere because there was no space for it! Now there is not just one, but two teaching spaces as we knocked down the wall between the library and the staff room and the staff room was divided into a classroom and workroom. Each has a projector with apple TV and each has a whiteboard space – the classroom a portable whiteboard and the main library will have two writeable glass sliding doors on either side of the projector screen on which to write. As a bonus, they’ve put blinds in front of all the windows that we can pull down so that the audience can also see what’s on the screen after 2pm!

Before (author visit)

New classroom projector installation

Front Desk

I have very conscientious and neat staff, but open cupboards and a lack of space and no book drop meant that the front desk always looked messy even if it was actually pretty organised. We went for a curved desk, for the show. I wasn’t 100% happy with that but it looks pretty good. I really like the design and the work surface (the top drawers are actually pull out work spaces) extra cupboard space and the fact that the cupboards have doors. I’ve very worried that the seating space is going to be very tight for three staff members, even if they’re all very petite. The compromise was I wanted the desk to be open on both sides because when (not if) there’s a “situation” on the library floor staff needs to be able to get to it very quickly.

White walls

Did I ever mention how much I hated the babypoop and maroon colour combination? Initially all I really really wanted was a paint-job and different seating furniture – but I got spoilt and got a whole new library! Having white walls and light floor makes the whole space so much lighter – even though we’ve blocked off the windows on one side.

Maroon wall

Babypoop wall colour

Nice and white and light

Collection flow

As the school has grown, so too had the collection. And choices I made last year on where to put what helped some parts of the collection (Fiction and Junior fiction) at a cost to others – nonfiction – where I split 000-399 and 400-999. Now each part of my collection has it’s own section and I have an entire wall of nonfiction 000-999. It’s impressive even if I say so myself. And it’s “overzichtelijk” a wonderful word for which the English translation is apparently “clear” but what it really means is that you can take everything in in one glance.

There is also enough space on each shelf that books are not crammed together and we can put out front facing book(s) at the end.

I also ordered signage from Merchandising Libraries, both for A-Z for each fiction collection and with words and pictures for the nonfiction section and “shelf talkers” for various sections.

Section dividers – full nonfiction shelf

Our old sections dividers

Split collection

Another good thing is behind the teaching space / projector sliding doors we can now put in all the “kit” boxes – the multiple copies for literature circles and communal reading. Our school is in an old building so we don’t have grade pods or communal areas so all these books are stored in the library, and were stored in my office. I didn’t like this because it meant they were out of sight and mind of teachers and students and the door was a bit of a barrier (especially in the beginning when they didn’t know me) for them to come and browse the books. Now the office space can be used for sorting UOI books (so they won’t be on the floor in front of the main desk anymore), and the books will be easily accessed by everyone.

Teachers’ resources are also all together at adult height!

Before

After

That’s all I have time for today. I’ll talk furniture and what could have gone better in the next post.

I’ve just spent 5 days at the Suzuki European Convention, accompanying my cello playing daughter and viola playing son, which was a brilliant opportunity to observe some very hardworking and talented students and teachers in action. There are group classes, orchestra classes, concerts and a lot of playing and learning for the students, the teachers who are not teaching the class but observing classes and of course the parents.

Since my current course is INF536 “Designing spaces for learning” I was particularly interested in seeing how thinking about space and learning was incorporated into the lessons. The idea of space is an interesting one. I do not have any power over changing a learning environment, since I am an observer and living in a hotel, however I can make some comments on what I have seen around me.

The first thing I have noticed is that we should not limit our considerations about space to physical space. One of the interesting things is how the temporal space of timetabling is used. Each group starts the morning with a “play in” – with all children at all levels attending. Then there are group classes depending on levels interspaced with orchestra (for the higher levels) and free time, during which students are free to wander into other orchestra rehearsals or to observe classes of their own or other instruments. Building “space” into “time” can also have an impact on learning.

Within the structure of the class the teachers (who are all very skilled “master” teachers) build in playing and learning and working (Kuratko, Goldsby, & Hornsby, 2012) through alternating fun activities with advice on technique, dynamics and other musical issues, as well as the hard work of repetition until the desired effect is achieved.

One lesson that stood out was an advanced class that was working on the Haydn Cello concerto with Takao Mizushima. First the class all played a section together. Then each student had to play it separately while he made comments and suggestions for improvement. All students play to a very high standard, but over the years various habits and issues with posture can creep in which may be expeditious in the beginning, but over time will compromise the quality of sound. In this instance the learning space is the cello and the bow and in fact limited to a very small section of the cello, namely the area from where the finger board ends to the bridge as well as the C Bouts (see below).

The area of learning indicated by the red circle

An important aspect of sound relates to bowing. Ideally the bow should be at right angles to the string and should remain at right angles even as the cellist moves from string to string – which requires adjustment of the whole arm. The video below explains this – in a rather boring fashion. (Note there are exceptions to this “rule” such as in baroque playing or when a specific sound needs to be created).

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v20gjN3yTLY

As the boy finishes playing, the teacher praises him for his interpretation and then says, “please don’t break my heart” – he moves to his bag and gets a roll of sticky tape and fashions a heart out of the tape. He then places the tape on the tip of the C Bout (as illustrated in 3 below) and instructs the student to play the passage again. At no point does he tell the student he’s bowing incorrectly (as illustrated in 2 below) but the student in question and all the students around him immediately get the point of what was wrong. He plays again, to animated “acting” by the teacher about his heart not being broken and the bowing is better. The ‘goal post’ is then shifted (as illustrated in 4) and the bowing is even better.

An illustration of the lesson components

Enjoy the video – the quality is not very good as individuals are not focused on to protect their privacy.

Don’t break my heart from Nadine Bailey on Vimeo.

The lessons I drew from this were the making of a design change – in this case introducing a constraint, display (playing with the constraint) and replay (moving the constraint) with the feedback to both the participant in question and all the learners around, as well as to the audience of a teaching “trick” that is effective.

Tag: design for learning

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