21ST CENTURY CLASSROOM

ARRANGEMENT
Engaging learners and widening
learning experience and creativity

Teachers who are willing to

experiment and take risks on behalf of
kids are in a much better position,
regardless of their age, to meet their
students where they are, and my
experience is that students appreciate
the effort. Ron Nash, From Seatwork to
Feetwork: Engaging Students in Their Own
Learning

facilitate collaboration and

cooperation, not conformity and
standardized learning.
How a classroom is arranged communicates to

students what they are expected to do. It screams

loudly to them if desks are arranged in rows in front of
teachers desk, I am the teacher, the imparter of all
knowledge and wisdom, and you are my students, the
receptacles of all my knowledge. Take the time
before school starts to really ponder your
classroom arrangement. If you want student
interaction and student-driven learning, you
may want to move your teacher desk out into
the hall (Just kidding. I know the fire marshal
would have a fit). With your classroom
arrangement, purposefully create places for
collaboration and talk.

2. Change your mindset from curriculum

or content coverage to a mindset that
engages students in in-depth, relevant
learning.
In a test-driven school culture, it is easier to cover

content rather than really examine what you are

asking students to do and have them actively engage
that content. Covering content means just that, and
fosters a teaching attitude that says, "Well, I taught it;
it's the kids responsibility to learn it." The trouble with
that thinking is clear: no, you didn't really teach it. You
covered it. Engaging students in content deeply means
teaching that asks students to apply that content in
some deep and meaningful way. The old factory maxim
that puts students in the role of recipients of
knowledge rarely is engaging anymore. Take on the
mindset of engaging students in learning not covering
content standards.

3. Take instructional risks this year.

Dont sacrifice creativity and innovation to

obtain orderliness and conformity.

Instructional risks, as Ron Nash aptly points
out, are really appreciated by students.
They are excited when teachers try new
ways of teaching and learning, and
teachers who try new ways of instruction
are excited too. Recharge your
classroom and your students by trying
instructional methodology and
pedagogy you havent done before. It
will re-energize your teaching and
your classrooms.

4. Accept that real student engagement and

student learning is most often messy and
chaotic.

Places where students are actually engage

in learning are often noisy places. At first

glance, these chaotic and messy
classrooms and schools dont appear to
foster true learning, especially if you view
them through the lens of 20th century,
factory-model education system. Laughter
and loud talking are not necessarily a sign
of off task behavior. Students who are
engaged make a lot of noise. Dont dampen
their excitement by insisting on silence or
sitting in seats. Let the messiness of
true student engagement begin on the

5. Choose your tech tools wisely.

Choose the tools that get students engaged

in the learning you want them to engage in.

Using technology because it allows
students to engage content in new and
novel and effective ways means you look
for the tools that fit the kinds of learning
you want students to do. Having students
Do PowerPoints is often not an engaging
activity by itself anymore, and having to sit
through someone flitting through slides in
monologue is even less so. Choose your
tech with a eye to risk and to what you
want your students to do with that

6. Pay attention to relationships.

Students behave better for teachers that

care about them, period. They are more

engaged in the learning and are more
involved in classroom activities. Teachers
who focus on relationships with students
"teach students not math, or science, or
social studies." Take some time this year
to build solid relationships with your
students. Doing so creates a climate
of safety where risk-taking and
mistake-making are acceptable.

KEY COMPONENTS OF 21ST

CENTURY CLASSROOM

KELAS 1 DELIMA

KELAS 1 DELIMA

KELAS 2 DELIMA

KELAS 2 DELIMA

KELAS 2 MUTIARA

KELAS 2 MUTIARA

KELAS 3 NILAM

KELAS 3 NILAM

KELAS 4 DELIMA

KELAS 4 DELIMA