12 Ways to Upgrade Your Classroom Design

Making in Michigan Libraries Thanks to all who joined us for our virtual conference the afternoon of Tuesday, February 21! Introduction Welcome everyone to this afternoon’s Making in Michigan Libraries Virtual Conference! My name’s Ben Rearick and I’ve been a research assistant on this project for over a year and a half. We travelled around to 8 different community libraries this past summer, and we’re very lucky to see most of them represented here today.

7 Tips for Decorating English Classrooms for Teens - Secondary Sara There are three kinds of teacher-decorators: those who were born for Pinterest, those who can’t, and all the ones in between (such as the broke, the tired, and the I-have-no-time-to-decorate). However, making a classroom appeal to middle and high school students doesn’t have to involve serious crafting or expensive, time-intensive projects. Check out these tips from me and Bonnie from Presto Plans as you prepare your classroom for the fall (or at any time of year that you want to give it a boost!) 1.

Mindfulness meditation may ease anxiety, mental stress My mom began meditating decades ago, long before the mind-calming practice had entered the wider public consciousness. She liked to quote sayings from Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist monk known for his practice of mindful meditation, or “present-focused awareness.” Although meditation still isn’t exactly mainstream, many people practice it, hoping to stave off stress and stress-related health problems. Mindfulness meditation, in particular, has become more popular in recent years. The practice of mindful meditation involves sitting comfortably, focusing on your breathing, and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future. (Or, as my mom would say, “Don’t rehearse tragedies.

The Magic of Tidying Up Your Library Tidying Up Your Life Last year, I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. I’ve read a lot of books on decluttering and organizing, but this was the first one that simultaneously resonated with me and annoyed the heck out of me. 7 Tips for Decorating English Classrooms for Teens There are three kinds of teacher-decorators: those who were born for Pinterest, those who can’t, and all the ones in between (such as the broke, the tired, and the I-have-no-time-to-decorate). However, making a classroom appeal to middle and high school students doesn’t HAVE to involve serious crafting or expensive, time-intensive projects. Check out these tips from me and Bonnie from Presto Plans as you prepare your classroom for the fall (or at any time of year that you want to give it a boost!) 1. Have a color scheme (if you can)

How to Create a Calm Down Corner in 5 Easy Steps Do you have students who have a hard time controlling their emotions? Are you unsure of the best approach to help meet your students’ social and emotional needs? One strategy to try is called a calm down corner. A calm down corner, sometimes referred to as a mindfulness corner, is a designated space in your classroom where students can go when they need to regulate their emotions. Using Research to Find a New Chair for Baby Bear If you have ever read Goldilocks and the Three Bears you know that Baby Bear’s chair ends up in pieces. The sad thing is his chair never gets fixed. Below you will find how students in preschool use the research process to find and build a new chair for Baby Bear. Let me start by saying this idea is not my own! This is a beautifully borrowed idea from Kristen Girbach.

From the Classroom: Reimagining Learning Spaces—The Third Teacher By Tricia Ebarvia A few years ago, I started to rethink my classroom space. I wondered, What does this room say about me as a teacher, or my students as learners? Is the space working in the best ways it can? De-Stress Before EOY Exams – The Port Press Need a break from school stress? Want to clear your head before a test? Need a few minutes for yourself during the day? The NHS Library has the perfect place for you: the Wellness Space. Mrs. Cavaliere has been hard at work putting this place together all year and she had its grand opening during Wellness Week.

Old Office Turned Production Studio There is a room connected to the library that has had many lives. It has been an over-crowded storage room. Then it turned into an office. From there, it became a classroom. Finally, it ended up empty. Rather than turn it back into a storage room, with no real educational purpose, it was decided that it should have a new life. 9 Awesome High School Flexible Seating Classrooms There are a TON of images and ideas out there for flexible classroom seating. In this post, I will focus only on high school classrooms. While I'm not in the classroom anymore, I still enjoy thinking about classroom design based on brain research and the infusion of technology in the classroom. Here are the nine awesome classrooms, in no particular order...