Inspirational Learning Spaces – Page 3 – Learners leading learning in Midlothian

Concentration Research

P6B decided as a class that they wanted to research which learning spaces supported concentration.

For each learning experience the children were able to select a learning space suitable for their own individual needs and were encouraged to move when required.

Here this numeracy group chose where the class teacher was based and developed a station that supported concentration. The children said that this supported learning as they were working directly with the teacher and everyone could contribute and see.

During numeracy this child chose to work independently away from any other children. He said this helped him to focus as there were no distractions.

During this HWB lesson some children chose to work sitting next to a partner but not facing them. They said it was good to have someone to support their learning but it stopped them from talking about off task topics.

The consensus was that the children were more engaged when they got to select their own learning space. We hope to adapt our classroom to provide more opportunities for personalisation and choice.

Creating budgets

Creating Budgets

Primary 6 were very excited to get their hands on the brochure for the furniture. However before we could decide on what we wanted we had to look at the layout and size of the measurements of the classroom.

One group of children worked on measuring the classroom space and recording the results. The children developed an awareness of how items would fit into the space and began to look at scale drawings.

As a whole class we then discussed how to best utilise the classroom space. Here is what the children came up with. The class discussed that this may change over the course of the design project.

The class then went on a website that showed us furniture and the different partitions that we could buy. We were given our budget, 44,000 points and we had to decide what things we would need and how many we could buy leaving some budget to buy electronics and different kinds of technology.

As a class we are now at the point where we need to collate our ideas and decide which items will best support our learning space.

First steps into the ECO project

Eco project

We split into six groups and two of them worked with S6 pupils from Lasswade High. We were given a folder with an introduction of what we had to do. We had to create a team name eg. Eco Environments, Recycling Revolution. We also had to design a team logo and to decide job roles in our team eg. Time keeper, Manager, Resource manager and Note taker. We then had to research about all things ECO friendly. We are excited to learn more about what we can do to make our classroom Eco-friendly.

Roisin and Alexander P6B

St.Mary’s investigates: What does being Eco Friendly mean?

Today St.Mary’s pupils got to grips with what being Eco friendly really means. We played an Eco/Sustainability game which had some funny forfeits if you landed on the wrong square (like draw a plug from memory in under 1 minute, or spell Fair Trade backwards in 20 seconds) then we used ipads to research different Eco topics. Our High School volunteer Rebecca helped us to to record our ideas on a smartboard mindmap which we used to make links between the topics. Our other High School volunteer Lexvi helped us to write our introductory pages and publish our photographs.

Our mi:SPACE story so far!

At the start of our topic we drew our own classroom on A3 paper and voted for the best one. We thought really carefully about the different furniture we could use from the brochure and one of them was tiered seating.

Then we had a look at the room and we wanted to figure out what kind of learning zones to include. We decided on an instruction zone, quiet and independent zone, collaboration zone and a discovery zone. We split into teams to research each zone and found out what we would need to set up for each area. For example, we thought the instruction zone would best suit tiered seating.

Then we began working towards our school assembly and we made a model using wood work and measurement so we were learning lots of different things at the same time. We focussed on the area of the classroom and the scale when creating our model. We presented our model at the assembly and then began to look at the technology we could include.

Recently, we used the school stage to create tiered seating for our debating project and it worked really well. Everyone felt comfortable and could see what they were doing.

Our next steps are working out more things and looking at our class budget.

Eco School STEM project

We hope you’re all getting on well with your Eco School STEM project, here is some more information about things to look at and what you can be doing to get your project underway!

eco-school-project

What Saint David’s think of mi:SPACE

Playing with Programmable Robot Dash

Following the Vex Robotics Training for their teacher, P6 at St. Mary’s had a try-out with Dash, a programmable robot. The ipad controls were very easy to use and we loved the flashing lights and the sound effects.

Our Research

We researched light, colour and sound. Then we investigated different types of furniture including tables, chairs and storage.

We made a wish list for our classroom which was lots of fun and even included a fizzy drinks dispenser!

Then we put on our sensible heads, we used scale drawings and calculated cost to create initial floor plans in partners. Then we peer assessed them using sticky notes to give 2 stars and a wish on each others designs.

Some of the items were hard to visualise in the classroom so we used metre sticks to construct the physical space they would take up.

We decided the rug would be too small for what we wanted after we sat in the space on the floor.

It’s Only The Beginning, Seating Plans 1st

We spent time moving our furniture already in the classroom into different layouts.

When the tables were in 2s and in rows we could turn to work as a 4 easily. We also liked that we developed a positive relationship with someone who we could ask for help and use the C3B4Me method. We didn’t like it as it didn’t make the best use of space, the tables were cramped and we had lots of unused room at the back.

With the tables in 4s we could work in groups easily so project tasks were quick to start with little movement. We felt however,it was hard to concentrate on an individual task as there was always someone who would distract you.

Scattered 2s were good for partner work as we had space to work and discuss ideas without others stealing our ideas. Miss Brownsell struggled to teach the whole class as there was no floor space for us to gather and if she spoke at one end of the room people sat at the other end struggled to hear.

We liked the tables being in diagonal lines as we all faced the smart TV at the angle of the screen. You were able to ask others around you for help easily, however the people at the back struggled to see and the people at the end of the row could only speak to 1 person.