The Ideal Classroom

By Montie W. Stone

Now that the traditional one-size-fits-all attitude toward learning styles has changed, classrooms don’t look much like they used to. Gone are the straight rows of forward-facing desks, the dusty and boring ABC posters and the ominous teacher’s desk that dominated the front of the room. Kids Enabled talked to teachers about how changes in the classroom are making it easier for kids with learning differences to experience success.

Today’s teachers are thinking outside of the box – the box that we used to call the classroom. In thinking about the ideal classroom for children with learning differences, Kids Enabled decided to go straight to the source and interviewed local educators on what they believe makes a classroom ideal for learning. Creating a learning-friendly environment involves not only the structural elements of a classroom such as desk placement and color choice, but thoughtful and informed consideration of the diversity of learning styles as well. While perfection is not possible in an imperfect world, there are many accommodations that make learning more fun and less difficult for children with learning differences.

Lighten up!
Even simple adjustments can enhance a learning environment. Peggy Price, an educator at Coralwood School in DeKalb County, says it plainly, “It’s the little things.” Many classroom teachers start with changing the lighting from glaring, fluorescent lights to table or floor lamps and natural sunlight from the windows. Since lighting can influence both mood and performance, many teachers strive to create both well-lit and dimly lit areas to allow for different stimulation levels of their students.

Similarly, color choice has been shown to influence attitudes, behavior and learning. It has even been found that color affects attention span and sense of time. Educational planner Kathie Engelbrecht insists that, “Color is important and it can have benefits for the classroom…The mental stimulation passively received by the color…helps the student and teacher stay focused.” Younger kids are stimulated by bright colors while older students respond better to blue and green since those colors are less stimulating. Knowing that color does make a difference helps teachers make informed decisions about how to decorate the classroom.

Silence is golden (not!)
The old assumption is that children need silence in order to concentrate and learn. Today’s research shows that a little bit of background or “white” noise can actually help some children concentrate. Educator Liz Walsh of The Howard School states, “It’s important to be mindful of individual children’s preferences. Choose moments of silence in the classroom, and offer individual children the option of working with headphones and music.”

The use of music in the classroom can positively affect the learning atmosphere. Some teachers play non-distracting, quiet background music to get the creative juices flowing. Matthew Carden, a teacher at the Orion School, uses music in the background during certain activities such as handwriting or art and found that Sinatra was a hit with the kids! Students engaged in creative activities can benefit from harmonious and calming tunes. In contrast, other activities may need more upbeat tempos to help students maintain focus. In the afternoon, students often need more, not less, stimulation. Some teachers interviewed used music and dance to help the children get exercise after lunch, which helps their concentration levels in the afternoon.

The Colors of the Classroom

Pale yellow/almond
• Best colors for not irritating anyone
• Good general color for school hallways

Light pink/rose
• Very soothing
• Suitable for a room where the activity is high

Green
• Creativity…is inspired by the color green
• Green is a great color for an art room
• An excellent choice for a creative writing center

Blue
• The color of academics
• Best color for a science or math room
• Light blue is a good overall classroom color…
it is calming

Orange, yellow and red
• Bright yellow excites the brain and body
• The color orange seems to agitate

Source: Color and Learning: How does Color Affect
Our Thinking and Feeling? by Barbara Pytel, www.suite101.com

Take a break!

Since it is not usually possible for children to completely separate themselves from the class, noise reduction headphones are useful to block sound for children who are distracted or over-stimulated. When students need more help to regulate their senses than the headphones can provide, and a separate break room is not an option, teachers can use another part of the classroom specifically for this purpose.

In these instances, teachers can use body socks, bean bag chairs to nestle into, pillows covered in a variety of fabrics, sensory brushes or a cubbyhole. Some classes have weighted blankets or vests to help soothe a child who needs to regulate his sensory intake. This is a time when dimmed lighting and low dividers can be useful. These dividers allow the teacher to still see everyone, yet the students feel sufficiently buffeted from the stimulation of the classroom.

Sit still!
Effective teachers know that telling a fidgety child to “stop fidgeting” is counter-productive. In fact, many of today’s educators realize that keeping hands busy helps keep the brain active and receptive. Mark Rapport, an ADHD researcher, believes kids use their fidgety movements to keep themselves focused, much in the same way adults use caffeine to maintain concentration. (For details about Rapport’s study, click here).

Leah can concentrate better when the noise is reduced by her headphones

In the classroom, teachers use straws, gum, fruit licorice, mints, and fidgets (small toys) of many shapes, substances and sizes to help students keep their senses awake and alert. Some classes keep a “sensory box” where students can find items such as gloves to fill with different textures such as rice, flour and sugar to satisfy their sensory needs. Other teachers place Velcro inside or under student desks to give a tactile sensation while sitting and listening to a lesson. Ursula Daniels of the Coralwood School says, “It doesn’t have to be expensive. Be willing to recycle and be creative with materials.”

Solutions, like the use of Velcro, can be simple and inexpensive. One small “fix” is the use of pencil grips or varied thickness of triangular pencils. The use of manipulatives (various objects designed to be moved or arranged by hand) is an excellent way to develop motor skills and grasp abstract problems. These can vary from foam or magnetic letters to blocks, puzzles and play foam to teaching tiles and play money. The list is as extensive as the educational benefits, and the cost is minimal. Parents and teachers can Google “manipulatives in the classroom” to begin exploring the great ideas online.

This chair, aptly named the
“egg chair,” gives a sensory escape within the classroom.

Wake up!
Teachers agree that keeping students alert and focused is a priority. There are many simple products and accommodations that help keep children engaged in their lessons. Some children benefit from sitting on inflatable disks at their desks. There are also plastic cushions available that have a nubby side and a smooth side for students who have a hard time sitting still. These students are given the ability to “move” in their seat without disrupting the rest of the class.

Opportunities for actual gross motor movement will also help children focus and stay alert during instructional activities at different points during the day. Some teachers have found that allowing students to choose different places in the classroom for work: at their desk, on the floor, in a rocking chair, on a stool or at taller tables can help them refocus and stay sharp. Even bathroom and water breaks are opportunities for the students to move their limbs and wake up their bodies.

How Does Your Child Learn?

Visual learners

• tend to get information through reading
• learn from pictures
• are drawn to paintings, crafts and other arts

Auditory learners

• are good at listening to instructions
• are usually sensitive to variations in spoken words
• may enjoy studying with music in the background
• may not get bored as quickly in lecture classes

Tactile/Kinesthetic learners

• like to find out things for themselves
• are more active
• see their environment as something to be explored (movement)
• like to tinker with objects and toys to see how they work
• are usually doers, not thinkers

Stay on schedule!
Transitioning can create anxiety for many children with learning differences and can make introducing a new topic very difficult. It’s important to give children the time they need to prepare, both mentally and physically, to move on to their next activity or lesson. Many teachers use a large and very visible classroom timer, such as the Time Timer™, to provide a visual cue to help students prepare for transitions. A picture schedule for the day, or a “Where am I going next?” board by the door, are also useful in easing transition. Both visual and auditory cues help “warn” kids about the upcoming transition so they can begin thinking about and planning for what is about to change.

The writing on the wall
All the teachers interviewed agreed that classroom walls should be used as space to convey the most important information of the classroom. Hanging the students’ work on the walls lets them know they are important and valued, and gives them ownership of their work and the classroom space. Having the students brainstorm and then write the list of classroom rules for the wall also gives them ownership of their behavior. However, it’s worth noting that the walls can become too “busy” and can create visual confusion and chaos. Teachers say, “Less is more,” when it comes to classroom walls. The information posted should be well-organized and easy to read. What is on the walls should have value to the learning experience and serve a clear purpose. Important items to include may be a list of learned words or a “word wall,” rules and expectations, class schedules and current student projects.

Seating flexibility and structure
When teaching a classroom full of students with diverse learning styles, teachers know that a strict seating plan doesn’t work. It is not always automatic that a child with attention issues needs to be seated front-and-center. Sometimes a child may need to sit in the back row or in an area that offers less distractions and more room to spread out. Recent studies show that some students learn better when being allowed to stand at their desks as they work. For example, my daughter, Leah, concentrates better while half-standing at her desk. When her kindergarten teacher continued to bring up this “problem” at conferences, my response was “Is this an awful thing? If she isn’t disturbing the other students, and it’s helping her to learn, please let her continue.”

The teacher realized it was more important to accommodate Leah than to enforce a “rule” that was counterproductive to learning.

Other students may use small lap desks that can be taken to the floor or out into the hall. Flexibility and creativity create a space that appeals to all students. Secluded areas in the room (centers) for individuals or small groups of students can provide a customized learning space that accommodates different learning styles. Some teachers have the resources to place a variety of seating options in their classrooms. Rocking chairs, bean bag chairs, cube or lounge chairs, or wedge cushions all contribute to the ability of the classroom to accommodate the learner.

The “ideal” classroom…
Lighting, color, music, visually appealing walls, separate areas for various activities, opportunity for movement and flexibility in the room all work together to create a classroom most conducive to learning! Combine these elements with classroom teachers who are excited about what they’re teaching, and you have a learning environment that nurtures the whole child – socially, emotionally and academically.

Ursula Daniels reminds us that “teaching is not about the four walls. You have to think about how to use other spaces available to you. Wherever they [our students] need to learn and grow, we need to be able to go there.” This philosophy can also be applied as “however” our kids learn. We need to be willing, as teachers and parents, to “go there” and acknowledge and respect how they learn. Not only will the student experience greater success, so will the teacher!

Kids Enabled would like to thank the following educators for their input and expertise:

Lynda Weaver, Peggy Price and Ursula Daniels from Coralwood School; Marsha Beisel, Liz Walsh and Melissa Sexton from The Howard School; Alex Jones and Tara Gilbert from Hirsch Academy; Katie Boehme from Sophia Academy; Katherine McGee and Matthew Carden from The Orion School (formerly The 504 School).

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