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Interested in switching to flexible seating? Get funding ideas, helpful tips, and how-to photos from the pros-your fellow high school teachers.

Courtesy of Josh McDaniel

Teacher Stephanie Sleeper was intrigued by a photo of a flexible high school classroom, but she needed to know more. "Can I ask how many students you have in an average class?" she asked Emily Polak, who took the picture. "I so want to do this with my high school social studies classroom, but I'm worried about space."

Sleeper wasn't the only one feeling anxious. The sheer size of high school students is a concern for teachers who are exploring the leap to flexible seating in grades nine through twelve. Without the efficiency of rows of desks, how do you squeeze a lot of big kids into learning spaces that are often no larger than 700 square feet?

And the questions didn't stop there when we asked high school educators for their thoughts on flexible seating. They also wanted to know if flexible seating would make things too casual, producing a climate of distraction-or even outright chaos. A few educators worried that there might be more students sleeping in class, or using the new space to socialize with friends instead of learning. Other teachers, already spending too much of their own money on classroom upgrades, expressed doubt about finding the money to fund purchases of new furniture.

The good news? In our recent email interviews with 20 teachers who have converted to flexible seating-five of whom were high school teachers-we found positive responses to most of the common issues. High school teachers were making flexible seating work in rooms that averaged about 750 square feet. The number of students per class ranged from 27 to 34. Respondents were almost universal in reporting that their students took their seating options seriously and that discipline problems had actually decreased since the shift to flexible seating.

There were some challenges. Furniture breaks more easily with bigger bodies, a few teachers noted. Funding often came up short of ambitions, leaving teachers to source tables, couches, and chairs from friends and family, thrift stores and garage sales, PTA grants, and crowdfunding campaigns on sites like DonorsChoose. Standardized testing forced some of the teachers to bring desks back into the room at intervals.

But none of the teachers expressed regret. Almost all of our interview subjects-across all 20 classrooms, from kindergarten through high school-loved their new setups. Some of them had started small and then evolved their classrooms gradually. A few had come to flexible seating after many years in traditional spaces. "I am in my 13th year of teaching, but this is my first year to incorporate flexible seating into my classroom," said first-grade teacher Ashley Rice Broomfield, before expressing a common sentiment: "I will never go back to traditional seating."

Here's a look into the classrooms of four high school teachers who we reached out to.

Emily Polak

Classes: English 9 and Freshman Composition
School: Bob Jones High School, Madison, Alabama
Students/Room Dimensions: 27-31 students; room is 780 square feet, about 30 feet by 26 feet

Setting It Up: My goal for this project was to make students feel at home in my classroom. I had a very small budget, so I relied heavily on donations and bargain hunting at thrift stores. The PTSA at our school provided me with a grant of $200, which allowed me to purchase a couch, a love seat, a rug, two small tables, and about eight folding chairs. A friend donated a coffee table, while a parent donated a second area rug. I added my own soft lighting, additional bookshelves, and Harry Potter decorations to make the room feel additionally cozy. Some of my students actually prefer to sit in desks, which surprised me, while others tuck themselves away in the Harry Potter reading nook.

Benefits: Discipline issues have significantly decreased. My students seem to feel more relaxed and more motivated in a setting that honors their choices. I have not had to assign seats for the majority of the semester because my students know that if they cannot get their work done on the "fun seats," they will be moved to a desk. I make sure to explain to them that this isn't a punishment; I am here to help them be successful, and sometimes that means making hard choices.

Josh McDaniel

Class: 11th-Grade English
School: Ronald Reagan High School, San Antonio, Texas
Students/Room Dimensions: 30 students; room is 780 square feet, about 30 feet by 26 feet

Setting It Up: I used hanging lights, Christmas lights, and Edison lights to give the room an atmosphere of relaxation. I added a recliner, love seat, and sofa-and even a disco ball to the ceiling and black lights around the Smart Board for special days and assignments. I installed a charging station for phones and brought in a mini-fridge and microwave. Students have a stake in the comfort because they donate coffee and tea for the Keurig. Each grouping of desks has its own supply tub for the week: scissors, glue sticks, note cards, and sticky paper. There's even an official class pet called Bruce the Beta Fish. I let the students see my personality a bit through the inclusion of family pictures and a wall of college and sports memorabilia.

Benefits: The students have responded with better attendance and written work, improved grades, and a more positive culture in the room. If students are worried about their phones, their stomachs, or being tired, they can't pay attention and focus in class. Now I have removed those issues from the equation.

Kendra Caralis

Classes: 9th-Grade World History
School: Grosse Pointe South High School, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Students/Room Dimensions: 30-32 students; room is 750 square feet, about 30 feet by 25 feet

Setting It Up: A major hurdle was making sure the school could still use my room for state testing, so twice a year the students help me move the desks back into the room. We pile all the furniture up in the front of the room to make space. I funded some furniture purchases through a DonorsChoose campaign, and I did a fair amount of garage sale shopping over the summer. Some was old furniture I owned, and a few pieces were donated from families in the classroom. I don't implement a seating chart. During the first week, I make students choose a new seat each day so they get a chance to try out different spots-and they are aware that I reserve the right to move them at any point.

Benefits: Most of the examples I've seen were for little kids with little bodies, so it wasn't easy to make the adjustments for high schoolers. Students tell me they can focus better in my room because they aren't uncomfortable, and I have not had any issues of kids falling asleep. I think there are probably fewer kids falling asleep this year than in previous years, when I just had desks.

Nichole Murray

Classes: Spanish 3 and 4
School: Marina High School, Huntington Beach, California
Students/Room Dimensions: 25-37 students; room is 784 square feet, about 28 feet by 28 feet

Setting It Up: I changed seating formats during the year. For the first four months of the 2016-17 school year, my 153 Spanish 3 and Spanish 4 students had a traditional seating classroom. They all sat in student desks facing forward or moved the desks into group configurations. After that the same students had a flexible seating classroom with a layout that included a wide variety of furniture types. We have four standing desks, two cocktail tables with stools, two armchairs with ottomans, a sofa, four gaming chairs, and two beanbag chairs. For the first two weeks of the new seating, students had to try a different seat every day to experience each of the 10 "zones." After that students could choose where they wanted to sit on a first-come, first-served basis.

Benefits: I conducted a survey (there were 143 participants) to test the results of the new flexible seating model. Here's the basic summary: Students transitioned to the new seating style easily, strongly favored the change, and made their daily seating selection with a desire for success in mind. Students were less sure that they were "retaining information better" than that they "were not distracted," but the overall results were very encouraging.

This article would not have been possible without the contributions and/or photography of the following educators: Kendra Caralis, Josh McDaniel, Nichole Murray, Emily Polak, and Mylène St-Cyr. Their classrooms are amazing, and we're grateful they shared them with us.

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Interested in switching to flexible seating? Get funding ideas, helpful tips, and how-to photos from the pros-your fellow high school teachers.

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Youtube Playlist

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Flexible Learning Environments - YouTube

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Our classroom, room 235D, is an open door classroom. Anyone is allowed in to see us learn together at any time. Our classroom is nothing fancy. We have tables covered in whiteboard paper, that has seen better days. We have chairs. We have yoga balls. We have ratty old beanbags that are definitely on their last leg. A few pillows of varying sizes. And we have books, many, many books.

That's what you might see, but if you stayed awhile, you may notice something else; freedom. Shared control. Freedom to sit where we would like. Freedom to choose who we work with. Freedom to move the furniture around. A sense of shared control over our shared space so that we all can feel comfortable together. It is nothing much but is ours and you would think that the students would realize just how unfancy it is. And yet, every year when I ask my students how I could change our classroom, the answers are similar, "It's fine, Mrs. Ripp. Perhaps a few more pillows. We like it the way it is..."

While I have a milelong wish list of furniture I wish we could get, I find comfort in their answer. The room is working for us, as well as it can. The control that they have over what the room looks like is working for them. The flexible seating that has been a part of our learning for years, works for us.

And I see it spread across the globe; the push for more innovative seating. For yoga balls and wiggle chairs, pillows, and getting rid of desks. On Pinterest I drool over classrooms I will never be able to recreate, and yet, I wonder; how often does the furniture actually match the teaching? How often does the furniture match the educational philosophy that needs to be in place for this to truly be flexible?

Because the reality is that while many districts are gladly spending money on new furniture in order to promote innovation, the educational philosophy in many of those same districts is not changing. The students are still sitting through a scripted curriculum, where teachers have limited choice in how to teach and the students are expected to learn through the same process.

This is the problem in education; we so gladly throw money at new educational initiatives that look great, but then do little to think about our thinking. And yet, our educational philosophy is what really determines the experience that everyone has within our schools, not the fancy new chairs. Buying new furniture is easy, changing the way we educate is not, and then we wonder why the furniture ends up being used in the exact same way as the furniture was before.
So I wonder; what good is flexible seating if we don't also have flexible thinking?
One of the central questions of our year together is for my students to explore how they learn best. This includes the room manipulation and where in the classroom they need to be to access the learning. They cannot do this if I am constantly telling them where to sit, how to sit, and also with whom to sit by. There has to be room for experimentation, bad decisions, and reflection on what works best for them.

So before we invest more of our already limited funds into newfangled furniture, let's look at what flexible seating should really encompass, here are a few questions to help.
Can the kids move the furniture?
Flexible seating should be flexible both in function but also in where it is used. If students need to explore how they learn best then deciding where to sit is just as important, if not more so, than what to sit on. Do they need to move tables into a corner so they can think or will being in the middle of the classroom work better for them? Will they learn best sitting on the floor in the front or pacing in the back? Where in the classroom can they access the learning best?
Do they always need permission?
When permission is tied into flexible seating, we often tend to say "no" to the same kids; the kids who may have made poor decisions in the past. And while there certainly can be different guidelines at times for some kids, they need to, at some point, go back to having the same blanket permission as everyone else. Schools are meant to be safe places for kids to experiment with learning, to try new things, to learn about who they are and what they need. If we constantly limit that for some kids, think of what will happen to their self-advocacy and also their sense of belonging.
Is it choice for all or just for some?
Are kids earning their way into the flexible seating or is it an automatic yes to all? While there are times I have doubt about some of the choices my students are making, I will tell them to prove it to me. If they do, then great, if they don't, then we discuss further. We have to be careful that flexible seating choices do not become one more way to segregate the kids. After all, it is often some of my most challenging learners that benefit the most from having a different way to work in the classroom, but we won't know that if they don't get a chance to choose.
Does it encourage new ways of working?
I have seen beautiful classrooms with lots of flexible seating where students work through traditional lessons; teacher-centered, and one process for all. Where is the innovation in that? One of the things I love the most is how my students move around the classroom and try new configurations when needed. Not at all times by any means, but when they need to. They know they have the tools at hand to move their group onto the floor or a table in the team area. They know they can make the furniture support their learning rather than work around its limitation. They know to use each other as writing peers, reading partners, or project collaborators because they know that with their choices in seating also comes the choice in who to work with most of the time. They think about how to work, rather than always look to me to make all of the decisions, thus growing their independence and once again their knowledge of how they learn best.
Is there choice throughout?
Flexible seating should truly just be the outward indicator of the choice-driven learning that should be happening. We operate under the five tenets of choice at all times, meaning that I try to give my students as much control and power over how they learn, what they learn, who they learn it with, and how they are assessed. This is what matters most to me. Not the yoga balls, not the pillows, not how they can move things around, but that the students feel like they have a shared power and responsibility for what happens in our classroom. It is a work in progress every single year, yet, at the end of the year, I am always amazed at how far we have come.

So as a new year begins, it is time for us to really reflect on the educational innovation we are pursuing. If we are looking at adding more flexible seating to our schools, are we also having the educational discussions that need to go with it? Are we asking ourselves how this will change the way we teach? The way our students learn? Are we asking ourselves how this will be better? Or is it just an outward show of supposed innovation that does not really change the educational experience our students have?

The choice is ours; it is not enough to have great new furniture if we don't also have new ideas.

PS: If you are wondering what the research says, here are a few great articles to get you started. One that discusses the need for our classrooms to match the type of learning experiences we would like to have, so once more focusing on intentionality within our environment. And another that is a conglomeration of research that discusses the need for students to feel empowered within our classrooms. And here is another that while lengthy discusses how the way we have students sit can help them learn deeper depending on the activity they are engaged in.
If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers - The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017. This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block. If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first book Passionate Learners - How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

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Our classroom, room 235D, is an open door classroom. Anyone is allowed in to see us learn together at any time. Our classroom is nothing fancy. We have tables covered in whiteboard paper, that has seen better days. We have chairs. We have yoga balls. We have ratty old beanbags that are definitely on their...

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At the heart of Future Ready is a framework for digital learning visioning, planning and implementation with a focus on personalized student learning. The 7 gears are:
- Curriculum and Instruction
-Personalized Professional Learning
-Robust Infrastructure
-Budget and resources
-Community Partnerships
-Data and Privacy
-Use of Space and Time
-Collaborative Leadersh

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Step 1:  A Shift in Mindset
Step 2:  Creating the Classrooms
Step 3:  Connecting the Components for Future-Ready Learning
Step 4: Reflect and Gather Feedback
Step 5:  Determine Next Steps to Move Forward

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~ROOM DESIGN which includes seating to accommodate different learning styles and flexibility for different types of lessons and learning.
~INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES that are adjusted to meet the needs of future ready learning that includes the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity)
~TECHNOLOGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE which includes multiple points of presentation, easily accessible tech for students, programs, wiring, and hardware.

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There are plenty of studies that isolate the effects of light, acoustics, or air quality on learning. But the research on flexible classrooms is frustratingly scarce.

There are good reasons for the apparent lack of interest. Variables like natural light and acoustics lend themselves to single-factor experiments that can be conducted in a laboratory setting. Give subjects a task to complete in a room with ample windows, for example, and then administer the same test in a room without them.

But flexible classrooms are complex, living systems. One flexible space looks nothing like the next, and often dozens of children and one or more teachers operate within them, pushing and pulling furniture into novel configurations, dimming or turning up lights, and otherwise reshuffling things to suit an almost infinite variety of personal preferences. Studying flexible classrooms, it would seem, means circulating among real children.

Despite the challenges, an ambitious effort to study the design of lived-in classrooms, including looking at hard-to-define factors like flexibility, was completed in 2015 by the University of Salford, in the United Kingdom. Researchers put in the legwork, visiting 153 classrooms in 27 schools across the country-from small, remote village schools to much larger suburban buildings on the outskirts of metropolitan London. In the end, the effect of classroom design on academic performance was studied across 3,766 British children aged 5 to 11.

"We were trying to take a holistic perspective," explained Peter Barrett, the lead researcher and now an honorary research fellow at the University of Oxford. "In other words, we were trying to look at spaces as experienced by people. So this isn't just air quality, this isn't just temperature, or an effort to measure the factors separately. This is the whole lot together."

The Findings

The study looked at three dimensions of classroom design: naturalness (factors like light and temperature), stimulation (factors like color and visual complexity), and individualization (factors like flexibility and student ownership).

The big insight? Optimizing all of these physical characteristics of primary classrooms improved academic performance in reading, writing, and mathematics by 16 percent. The personalization of classrooms-including flexibility, which Barrett defined as "student choice within the space"-accounted for a full quarter of that improvement.

Another way to look at it: When isolated from other measured factors, classroom flexibility is about as important as air quality, light, or temperature in boosting academic outcomes.
Katherine Madden
Barrett's team singled out the effectiveness of learning zones-"a reading area, a wet area, usually a carpet area for whole-class activity, tables usually in blocks of four or six"-and made special note of unique classroom shapes, which seem to allow for easier partitioning of the space. But the study doesn't prescribe fixed solutions, setting out loose guidelines instead. When I described American flexible classrooms, which are even more individualized than their British counterparts, Barrett agreed that the Salford findings applied.

A few insights surprised even the researchers. Flexible, welcoming spaces had a startlingly large effect on learning in math- 73 percent of the students' progress that was attributed to classroom design was traced back to flexibility and student ownership. The reasons are a mystery, but Barrett and his team hazarded a guess: Academic subjects that provoke anxiety-in math, that's a known issue -are better addressed in classrooms that feel comfortable and familiar to students.

And some of the air quality data came as a shock. Despite a 2015 Harvard study that showed steady declines in higher-order thinking when carbon dioxide levels exceed 500 parts per million-the gas is a by-product of human breathing, for those who've forgotten their biology-the researchers consistently recorded levels over six times that high in a classroom they observed. That's alarming-and fixable.

"If air quality is OK at the start of the class, it won't be by the end unless you do something," according to Barrett. "It's an absolute fact. So you have to open a window or a door. But you have to do something."

Form, Function, and Flexibility

So will lugging new furniture into your room improve student outcomes? Do Hokki stools and throw pillows drive up test scores?

The answer is no.

Barrett thinks it's the old dictum that form follows function at work: Flexible classrooms are successful because they go hand in hand with a change in pedagogy. That conclusion never fails to emerge in teacher-led discussions on Edutopia. Flexible spaces, educators agree, alter the fundamental dynamics of teaching and learning, giving students more control and responsibility, improving academic engagement, and undermining the typical face-forward orientation of the traditional learning environment.

In other words, it's not the inert fact of the furniture itself-the new couch in the center of the room or the standing desk near the window-but the dynamic use of the space by the teacher and students that pays, in the end. Changing the layout of your classroom will almost certainly have no impact at all-if you don't change your teaching too.

The takeaway: Flexibility, combined with characteristics like acoustics and air quality, has a real impact on student achievement. If used properly, flexible classrooms produce better academic outcomes among primary school children than more traditional, static classroom designs.

The author of this article is the chief content officer at Edutopia. You can follow him on Twitter @smerrill777.

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Flexible Classrooms: Research Is Scarce, But Promising

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An ambitious study of 153 classrooms in the United Kingdom provides the best evidence that flexible spaces can boost academic performance.

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Talks about flexible classrooms and library spaces

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Listen to my interview with John Spencer (transcript):
Sponsored by Peergrade and Microsoft Class Notebook

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.

For as long as I've been aware of makerspaces, I haven't quite understood them. I have seen plenty of photos on social media, with the towers made of marshmallows and toothpicks. I've walked through exhibit halls at conferences where the coding and robotics displays cause me to stop, stare, and try to look like I have some idea of what I'm looking at. I even stumbled into a Twitter chat one night where a group of school librarians was throwing around some pretty great ideas about building makerspaces in their libraries.

And yet, I still feel like I don't get it. I have this picture in my mind of kids kind of messing around with Legos instead of, I don't know, reading primary source materials that would shed light on some period in history. Or taping together some cardboard strips to make them into a car. Or attaching some kind of wire to a banana. I don't know...the more traditional, stodgy, control-freak part of me says it looks like a bunch of hooey.

But some of the smartest people I know are pretty into makerspaces, and the part of me that's not a stodgy control freak, the part that knows there's a lot about tradition we need to question, that part of me wants to find out once and for all what's so great about makerspaces.

So I asked one of those smart people, my friend John Spencer, who was a classroom teacher for a number of years and currently teaches at the university level. He's also the co-author, with A.J. Juliani, of the books Launch: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student, and Empower: What Happens When Students Own their Learning.

Spencer teaches online courses about Project-Based Learning, Design Thinking, and Makerspaces, and I really trust his thinking, so I knew he would be a great person to help me demystify the makerspace: What it is, why we would want one, and how to get started.

What Is a Makerspace?

Spencer's definition of a makerspace is much broader than my mental image of Legos and cardboard.

"I see a makerspace as simply a space designed and dedicated to hands-on creativity," he explains, "and the key thing there is they're actually making something. Creativity is sometimes idea generation, it's sometimes problem-solving. But (in) a makerspace, you're actually going to create some kind of product. Now it could be a digital product. It could be a physical product. But there is an actual product, so you're not going to, say, design an event or a service project. That's not what a makerspace is for, so it's a space devoted to and differentiated and set up for making."

That space would look different in different classrooms, and even within one classroom, the materials might look different throughout the year, depending on the type of learning that's happening at the time. Sometimes it might include things like cardboard and duct tape, and other times it might consist of items like laptops, microphones, and green screens. A makerspace can take the form of a mobile cart that can be shared between classrooms, a set of stations that students rotate between, or a variety of materials and equipment that live in various parts of the classroom, accessible to students when the need arises.

Why Would Teachers Want a Makerspace in Their Classrooms?

Once we understand that a makerspace isn't limited to certain materials, it gets easier to see how a makerspace could be incorporated into any classroom. Spencer explains that the value isn't subject-specific; it's more about engagement and mindset.

"We know that students learn at a deeper level and they retain more when they're engaged in creative thinking connected to the subject, right?" he says. "So to begin with, just within the content area, (making is) going to allow for deeper learning."

And more making in the classroom leads to a maker mindset, which Spencer believes is essential to living a full and successful life in the 21st century.

"There was a time when you could follow the formula: Work hard at school, go to college, and climb a corporate ladder. But because of the complex global economy, because of the creative economy, the information economy, our students are going to have to navigate a maze. The ladder is now a maze. And because it's a maze, what do they need in order to navigate that? They need to be able to engage in iterative thinking, creative thinking, critical thinking, they need to know how to pivot, how to change, how to revise, how to persevere. They need to solve complex problems. They need to think divergently. All of those are involved in that maker mindset. And so if you can embed that maker mindset inside of the curriculum, and you tap into the standards that you're teaching, then they're able to develop that maker mindset. The space is just the platform that facilitates it."

A Few Maker Project Examples

To fully understand what making can look like in action, let's look at some sample maker projects and how each one can align with academic standards.

Documentary Film
To get a deeper understanding of a particular time period or event, and to gain an appreciation for the challenges faced by historians, students could create their own documentary films. This would incorporate social studies and English language arts standards, as students would need to write a script for the documentary.

Design the Ultimate Roller Coaster
Using a marble, duct tape, cardboard, and popsicle sticks, students must design a working roller coaster. This gets them working with the science concepts of force and motion. Taken one step further, students could also create a website for their roller coaster that requires them to write ad copy and combine text and images to attract visitors, which would draw on English language arts standards.

The Tiny House Project
In this project, students design a tiny house, which gives them practice with the math concepts of volume, surface area, and proportional reasoning. More importantly, it also helps them understand math in a real-world context.

To see more examples, visit Spencer's maker challenge playlist on his YouTube channel.

Managing a Makerspace

Teaching with a makerspace presents some management issues: Popsicle sticks and styrofoam can make a mess, projects are more likely to take place over several days, and the active work has the potential to be noisy.

Before sharing his management tips, Spencer is quick to point out that classroom management can actually be easier when teachers add more making to their instruction. "(When a task is) meaningful to students, and they're engaged in creative thinking, and they're solving problems, and it's hands-on, then in those moments, there's not an incentive to rebel and act crazy."

To prevent some of the problems that can come with active making in the classroom, Spencer offers these suggestions:

Talk with students ahead of time about the expectations for the task or the makerspace. Rather than wait for problems to happen, establish procedures and guidelines ahead of time. "I need a certain level of calmness and quiet built into where I am, otherwise I personally get anxious," Spencer says. "It feels unsafe to me, even if it's not unsafe. If that's true of me, that's probably true of certain students. So for that reason, I always have some rules and procedures."

Co-construct guidelines and procedures with students. If you can get student input about how to handle breakable materials, for example, or what to do when class time is almost over but you're not finished with your work, you'll end up with a set of rules that everyone is invested in.

Build in moments of silence. To keep his own classroom focused, Spencer would provide opportunities for quiet reflection right in the middle of class. "I would have some times where I would say, 'Hey guys, we're moving into silent mode for two minutes so that you can process and think about what you're working on,' or 'I'm going to give you a prompt. You don't have to write it down, but I just want you to think through this question about what you're learning,' and that would allow them to kind of recenter. It was just two minutes of silence; enough to kind of restore certain students who were getting tired of the noise, and then they could come back in."

Starting Your Own Makerspace

Instead of trying to set up a whole makerspace, Spencer recommends that teachers who are new to making should begin with a single maker project, then gather the materials necessary for that project.

"Decide what you're going to have kids create that's hands-on. You might do multiple maker projects in different locations, or you might have the entire class do one thing. Either option works."

Once you've done a few projects, you'll start to get a better idea of what kinds of materials work well in your classroom, keeping in mind that a true makerspace is constantly evolving.

If you want something more general to get started, Spencer offers these ideas for a first-time makerspace: "I would have some kind of physical prototyping items, like duct tape, cardboard, packing tape, that type of stuff. I would have circuitry, because it's so inexpensive and easy to do...like one or two Snap Circuits. I would have a couple computers devoted specifically to using something like Hour of Code or Scratch, and then I would probably have a podcasting area and a green screen area."

The Makerspace Master Course

Teachers who are ready to get serious about adding a makerspace to their classroom should check out Spencer's Makerspace Master Course. This online course covers everything from the pedagogical foundations of makerspaces to how to set up and manage a makerspace in your classroom.

If you're not quite ready for the full course, but want to learn more from John Spencer, check out this free, on-demand webinar:

You can find John Spencer on his website at spencerauthor.com, on Twitter at @spencerideas, or on his YouTube channel at spencervideos.com.

Come back for more.
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Listen to my interview with John Spencer (transcript): Sponsored by Peergrade and Microsoft Class Notebook This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.

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Libraries across the country are creating makerspaces for students to tinker, experiment, try/fail/try again, invent, expand their minds and help them to become lifelong learners. I have visited some of the local school libraries to see their makerspaces in action and can see that students really enjoy this space! It gives them freedom to explore other types of learning in school whether it is a board game that expands their mind to thinking outside the box to creating something entirely of their own making. I began on a smaller level in the library with board games, jigsaw puzzles, circuits, makeu maker kits, 3D pens etc. All the items have been well received by the students,which is why I am seeking to expand into the computer lab with a more formal makerspace. I am looking to have the space be utilized by students during free time as well as having times that the space can be utilized by classroom teachers and their students. Having flexible seating as part of the space will allow for collaborative work with classes as well as smaller groups of students who share a passion for a particular type of project.

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We do a lot of group work in groups of varying sizes. I love the idea of a mobile teacher station. This would provide access to all of my materials to support learning while allowing me to get into the groups and “swim with the sharks” as Dave Burgess describes in Teach Like a Pirate.

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Since this past January, I've been the Elementary Principal of T. Baldwin Demarest Elementary School (TBD) in the Old Tappan School District. And, as I've previously detailed in my blog post - Flexible Learning Spaces: The Start of Our Journey - one of our first initiatives involved flexible learning spaces. In short, every teacher was given money to spend on furniture for his/her classroom.
Why Every Teacher?
Yes, every teacher had the option. This idea probably sounds a bit unconventional, as most initiatives begin with a pilot group that paves the way, making it easier for late adopters to follow. However, in this instance, due to certain constraints (timing, budget, etc.), I believe it made more sense to let everyone jump on board, which has its upsides. As Prakash Nair announces in Blueprint for Tomorrow, "Indeed there is evidence that reform efforts focused on improving the capabilities of individual teachers are less effective than those that engage teachers collectively." There is value in everyone moving in the same direction at the same time while learning from one another and continually refining their work (or learning spaces) as necessary.
Why the Classrooms?
I also played with the idea of taking a look at other parts of the school, such as (1) furniture that would allow for students to more comfortably work in certain sections of the hallways, and (2) rethinking the area right outside the main office, which is what is first encountered when entering into the building. However, it didn't take long to realize all of these changes would have been too much too soon. And, if we're going to start anywhere, it makes sense to start with the classrooms, as this is where students and teachers spend the majority of their time. In The Third Teacher, John Stanford, the late superintendent of schools in Seattle, tells us, "The victory is in the classroom."

Now let's take a look at four reasons why we prioritized flexible learning spaces.
1. It Supports Current Teaching and Learning
As a school, Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop serve as the basis for our literacy instruction. And, the majority of workshop time is spent on conferring - students working independently (occasionally, in pairs) while the teacher provides small group or one-on-one instruction. As students read and write on their own, they generally enjoy doing so from all parts of the classroom: sitting up against a wall, laying down on the carpet, tucked in a classroom corner, etc. Our teachers deserve so much credit for being open-minded and allowing for our students to get comfortable, as opposed to telling everyone they have to work from their desks. And, many teachers have even brought in outside furniture, such as couches, to give their students more options. Now, with our increased emphasis on flexible learning spaces, we hope to further encourage and support these student-centered environments.
2. It Supports Future Teaching and Learning
As we move forward as an elementary school, one curriculum-related change involves the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), as we'll look to explore new science programming and adapt/write science curriculum. Another change involves Genius Hour; teachers have been encouraged to incorporate this approach into their teaching on a routine basis. (For support, 30 copies of Genius Hour by Andi McNair were purchased and distributed.) In general, both the NGSS and Genius Hour promote learning experiences that emphasize student inquiry, exploration, voice, and choice. Since the learning will be student-centered, we want the classrooms to reflect and support this mentality. As Rebecca Hare and Bob Dillon assert in The Space Book, "We are not decorating learning spaces. We are designing them to amplify learning." In short, our spaces and our practices must go hand-in-hand. And, perhaps, the spaces can also be "a catalyst for pedagogical change" (Nair, 2014).
3. Breaking Down Classroom Walls
Several teachers are already breaking down classroom walls by: having students working in the hallways, incorporating our raised beds into student learning, bringing in outside experts, etc. More and more we want to continue to chip away at the "cells and bells" model of students learning in "boxes" and transitioning from one subject to the next at specified times. Taking a harder look at specific parts of our hallways could very likely end up being a natural next step. As Nair provocatively announces and then questions, "Hallways...are single-purpose spaces...they remain unused for the majority of the day...What if hallways could be turned into a space used for teaching and learning throughout the day?" And, through conversations, I have found that at least a handful of our teachers are already thinking about how they could further extend the flexible learning space approach beyond the four walls of their classrooms.
4. Comfortable Students
In Blueprint for Tomorrow, Nair writes what many of us probably already assumed, "When it comes to the physical aspects of schooling, there is perhaps nothing more important than the student chair." And, in The Third Teacher, Dr. Dieter Breithecker, a sports and physical scientist, explains how many schools are failing in this area when he claims, "More than 80 percent of students are not sitting at a workstation that is adjusted to their body size." Countless schools and districts have continued to rely on the traditional model of student desks because "that's the way it's always been done" and this idea is rarely framed as a problem that needs fixing - so it stays the same. (As an adult, think about how it would feel to spend even one day in a desk.) Thankfully, many of our teachers decided to purchase supplies that can serve as chair/desk replacements (such as this, this, and this). And, based on what I've already seen, many of our students have been clamoring to try out these alternatives.
In the End
According to Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft in , "Shaping attitudes and the behaviors they inspire is the 'holy grail' of space design."

In other words, flexible learning spaces is an approach and mindset that encourages change, but it isn't the change in and of itself. Our spaces should promote more of the good that's already happening, while also laying the foundation for future work.

For any school or district that is tackling flexible learning spaces, if the only thing that changes is the furniture, then a whole lot of effort has been spent on nothing more than making students comfortable - which isn't bad, but we can do better.
Why do you think we should tackle flexible learning spaces?
Connect with Ross on Twitter.

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Four Reasons to Tackle Flexible Learning Spaces - Cooper on Curriculum

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Since this past January, I've been the Elementary Principal of T. Baldwin Demarest Elementary School (TBD) in the Old Tappan School District. And, as I've previously detailed in my blog post - Flexible Learning Spaces: The Start of Our Journey - one of our first initiatives involved flexible learning spaces.

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Flexible Seating Creates Student Ownership

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Flexible Seating Creates Student Ownership

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What began as an experiment to help with behavior difficulties, turned my classroom into a completely different environment. Yes, difficult behaviors dramatically improved very quickly, but to my surprise, I observed students communicating about their learning needs in positive ways. Students began asking politely to try someone else's seating choice and received polite responses back. There was never one argument over seating options. Students quickly learned what kind of arrangements worked well for themselves and time on task improved.  Students had greater ownership of their learning and behavior due to their personal choices in seating arrangements. My students truly impressed me as I watched them manipulate seating and utilize different surfaces  in ways that I had never considered before. Eventually, I asked them what types of additional seating they wished we had, which led me to create a Donor's Choose project. Flexible seating positively impacted my classroom environment and I can no longer imagine my classroom without it.

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Create a new survey on your own or with others at the same time. Choose from a variety of survey types and analyze results in Google Forms. Free from Google.

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1. What does the term culture of innovation mean to you? How can school leaders create such a culture? How can it then be scaled? How can you ensure that you're not simply following the latest fad yet deeply rooting decisions in evidence-based practices?

2. What characteristics must school leaders possess to lead schools that will best prepare students for their future?

3. Reflect on the LEADERS acronym: Learn, Empower, Adapt, Delegate, Engage, Reflect, Serve. Where do you see room for improvement not only for yourself but also for your team?

4. Take a moment to reflect on your own personal strengths and needs as well as those of your team. Are you and your team Leaders by Title (LBT) or Leaders by Action (LBA)? What steps can you and your team take to become more like LBA?

5. Sheninger and Murray highlight the importance of moving from vision to action. What is your vision for teaching and learning three to five years from now? How are you taking action steps today to make that vision a reality in the future?

6. Reflect on the "roadmap for change" questions on page 39. Take time to discuss your thoughts with your team. Begin to lay out a plan for implementing a learning culture change in your school or district.

7. The authors share that a culture of yes can be cultivated through the following drivers: strategic thinking, communication, meaningful work, key stakeholders, and a commitment to learning. Take some time to reflect on each driver. How can your school or district better cultivate each area?

8. The section "Empower Your People" begins with this quote by Jon Gordon: "Great leaders don't succeed because they are great. They succeed because they bring out greatness in others." How do you empower those around you? What strands of your legacy will be seen years after you're gone due to the greatness you've helped build in others?

9. In "Change Agents Build Relationships: A Key to Culture," Sheninger and Murray write, "Challenges should not be seen as insurmountable obstacles to change but rather opportunities to do things differently and better." What current challenges are you and your team facing? What are your highest hopes for the outcomes? What plan do you have in place to make it a reality?

10. This chapter makes clear that relationships are the foundation of a school's culture and climate. Which of your relationships are currently strong? Which ones need to be strengthened? How will you build better relationships with staff, stakeholders, and students in the future?

11. What role does digital leadership currently play in your school or district's culture? When reflecting on the pillars, where do you see opportunities for your personal growth and improvement?

12. Each chapter in this book focuses on one of the keys to transformation and ends with one or two Innovative Practices in Action. In this chapter, you hear from a superintendent in California whose district demographics are 100 percent free and reduced-price lunch and an elementary principal of the year from Minnesota. Both have worked to transform learning in their districts and schools. What is one takeaway you have from reading their stories? What's one thing you can build on in your own school or district from what they shared?

Chapter 2. Redesigning the Learning Experience

1. What learning experiences take place in your school or district that you'd deem personal and authentic? Are these experiences the norm or the exception? How can more of these types of experiences be designed?

2. Sheninger and Murray allude to the fact that today's educators are teaching the so-called Netflix Generation of students who consume and create digital content, daily. As such, how do your instructional resources and practices mirror these prevalent practices that occur outside of school? Where should or shouldn't they align? Why?

3. The authors point out the educational technology fallacy is a mindset that technology will be a silver bullet to increase student achievement. Does this fallacy exist as a perception in your district? If so, where and why?

4. Sheninger and Murray provide evidence to show that the "digital drill and kill" shows little to no effect on student learning, yet they are one of the most prominent technology-based practices in schools. Where in your school or district is this the primary technology-infused practice? How can these low-level experiences be transformed into learning that is authentic, personal, and high level?

5. The authors also cite research on the effective use of educational technology, pointing to three key characteristics: (1) interactive learning, (2) the use of technology to explore and create, and (3) the right blend of teachers and technology. Where are these types of uses occurring in your school or district? Where are you seeing evidence of technology amplifying and accelerating great pedagogy? What do these types of student experiences look like in practice?

6. Review the Rigor/Relevance Framework (pp. 66-74). How can rigor, relevance, and relationships be accelerated by the dynamic use of technology? Identify verbs, products, and student actions.

7. Does your school or district use a framework to promote high levels of learning both with and without technology? How can the Rigor/Relevance Framework be used to improve teaching, learning, and leadership in your school or district?

8. Is the technology in your school or district primarily used for active or passive use? Which side of the digital use divide does the technology use in your school or district fall? How can it be improved?

9. Sheninger and Murray highlight the necessity of student agency as part of a meaningful learning process. Where is student agency strong in your school or district? Where and how can it be improved?

10. This chapter's Innovative Practices in Action give glimpses into two districts, one in California and one in Alabama, that have transformed learning for students and have evidence to back up their claims. After reflecting on these stories, what's one takeaway you have? Share your thoughts with a colleague.

Chapter 3. Ensuring a Return on Instruction

1. Each year, billions of dollars are spent across the globe on educational technology. What evidence do you have to illustrate how ed-tech and innovation has improved learner outcomes in your school or district?

2. What evidence do you have that illustrates a return on instruction (ROI) for the money you are currently spending? What steps will you take to improve these qualitative and quantitative measures?

3. How has assessment changed in your school or district? What role does technology play in the process? How can it be improved to better support a return on instruction?

4. Review the Lockport Case Study on pages 87-91. Why do you believe their transformation has been successful? How does the data back up their claims and ultimately prove a return on instruction?

5. What does the supervision and evaluation process look like in your school or district? Is it an effective tool to support high-quality teaching and learning? What can be done to improve feedback and accountability? In what ways do your teachers think it can be improved?

6. What metrics for evidence-based growth do you have for those you supervise? In what ways do you document and share your own learning and professional growth?

7. Reflect on the strategies shared to drive evidence-based instructional leadership (pp. 97-100). In what areas do you and your team still need to grow the most? How will this be accomplished, and what criteria will be used for accountability?

8. This chapter's Innovative Practice in Action highlights a high school turnaround in Florida, led by the 2015 NASSP Principal of the Year. Students' success was grounded in evidence and derived from ensuring a return on instruction. Take time to reflect on this story, and discuss the various characteristics and learner-centered decisions that made it possible. What is one takeaway you have?

Chapter 4. Designing Learner-Centered Spaces

1. Do most of the learning spaces in your school or district resemble the outdated "cells and bells" model, or are they modern, flexible, and empowering for learning? Discuss and reflect.

2. What space(s) in your school would you consider the most traditional and outdated? How about the most modern and flexible?

3. How can you leverage the cited research to alter spaces to become more learner-centered in your school or district?

4. Sheninger and Murray address the fact that much of the research behind learning space design point to changes that can be made for little to no money, removing the myth that redesigning learning spaces has to be a costly endeavor. What changes could you make in your school or district, on a limited budget, to design better learner-centered spaces?

5. Are most of the spaces in your school or district created with the interest and convenience of teachers or learning in mind? Why?

6. "Today's educational paradigm is no longer one of knowledge transfer but one of knowledge creation and curation." How could the spaces in your school or district empower such learning?

7. Do the learning spaces in your school or district complement or inhibit the desired pedagogy you're looking for in the classroom? How so?

8. Sheninger and Murray highlight eight "designing for ..." sections. Which one resonated with you the most? Why?

9. Visual stimuli and messaging play an important role when intentionally designing learning spaces. What thought have you given to the various colors used in your spaces? How do the symbols used in your spaces reveal what you believe about teaching and learning and who can be successful? How do you consider gender, racial, and cultural differences when making these decisions?

10. Where in your school or district are spaces dedicated for students to tinker, design, and create?

11. What considerations have you given to technology needs such as power and ubiquitous connectivity?

12. Sheninger and Murray outline eight ways to design on a budget. What other ways have you come up with to redesign spaces to become more learner-centered without spending much money?

13. This chapter's Innovative Practice in Action gives you a glimpse into a district in western Pennsylvania that has made learning-space redesign a priority. What is one takeaway you have?

14. Where will you begin? What space(s) need the most significant overhaul? Who can help?

Chapter 5. Making Professional Learning Personal

1. Does the professional learning model in your school or district more closely resemble the sit-and-get, hours-based model, or is it one that is ongoing and systemic?

2. How does the research presented in this chapter confirm or challenge your understanding and mindset regarding high-quality, meaningful professional learning?

3. Sheninger and Murray outline five takeaways from the various research studies presented in the chapter. Which one resonates with you the most? Why?

4. The authors make the case for a shift in nomenclature from professional development to professional learning. What verbiage does your school or district use when discussing this type of growth? Why?

5. In the chapter, 15 approaches to making professional learning more personal are shared. Has your school or district leveraged any of these approaches? What other methods have you used to make the approach more personal for those you are supporting?

6. Would your teachers consider your professional learning model more driven by hours or outcomes? Why?

7. Does your school or district value nontraditional forms of professional learning? If so, how? If not, how could you?

8. Sheninger and Murray make the case that professional learning is an embedded part of a school or district's culture, and they outline key evidence of both a traditional model and one that is more personal and relevant. What evidence for each can been seen in your school or district? Where can progress be made? What would teachers say?

9. Would teachers in your district consider the school leaders as ones who model the way? What evidence do you have? How can school leaders better model the desired outcomes for professional growth?

10. Teacher voice, choice, and ability to lead are a common thread throughout this chapter. How are teachers empowered through these opportunities in your school or district?

11. Balancing districtwide initiatives and the need for personal growth is imperative. How does your school or district manage the balance between those things that all teachers (even in a particular area) need versus the recognition that teachers are learners first and need a personal approach?

12. Sheninger and Murray outline 10 ways to foster a learning culture of ownership and empowerment. Which steps are evident in your school or district? Which steps are not? Why or why not?

13. The Innovative Practice in Action in this chapter highlights a district in Arizona that, while up against tremendous losses in state funding, made redesigning professional learning a priority. What takeaways do you have after hearing this story?

14. What immediate steps will you take to make professional learning more engaging, relevant, ongoing, and personal? What is your vision long term?

Chapter 6. Leveraging Technology

1. From the beginning of this chapter, Sheninger and Murray focus on putting learning first and technology second. Do you find technology-related conversations in your school or district to focus more on devices, software, apps, and so on, or on the instructional pedagogy and learning? Why? What shifts need to occur?

2. The authors make the case that in order to properly leverage technology as an accelerant for student learning, the infrastructure must be reliable and the connectivity ubiquitous. Is this the case in your school or district? What steps are being taken to improve access and connectivity to support student learning?

3. The authors point out that the notion of a digital divide has been a popular topic of conversation since the turn of the century. How does your school or district support those students on the "wrong side" of the divide?

4. With what's been coined the homework gap, research shows that 5 million school-aged children in the United States do not have a high-speed Internet connection while at home. Simultaneously, research indicates that approximately 70 percent of teachers require students to do some sort of work that requires digital access outside of school. Do you know who the students are in your school or district who don't have access? How do you support them?

5. What is the protocol for procurement in your school or district? Who has a voice in the process? How do you ensure the highest return on investment? How can it be improved?

6. The authors offer a comprehensive, 10-step process for designing a rollout and selecting devices. What is your school or district's current practice? How can it be improved?

7. What is your school or district's refresh plan? Does it adequately support your long-term vision for teaching and learning. How?

8. Multiple times in this chapter, the authors make the recommendation to beware of one-time funding. How much does one-time funding (i.e., grants, bonds) dictate technology purchases? If often, how will you ensure sustainability so the learning vision can be realized long term?

9. How does your leadership team ensure student (and employee) privacy? What protocols are in place?

10. Besides the federal laws of COPPA, CIPA, FERPA, and PPRA that are referenced in this chapter, what state laws and local board policies are relevant to your privacy decision making? What understanding of these laws and policies do employees at the various levels have?

11. How does your school or district promote dynamic digital tools and avoid a "lock and block" approach yet simultaneously ensure student privacy? How do you decide if parent permission is needed when implementing digital tools? What protocol is in place for teachers to ensure adherence to governing laws and policies? Are the protocols both effective and efficient?

12. What conversations regarding cybersecurity has your school or district had? What needs to be done to ensure a robust infrastructure where information remains secure?

13. Does your district utilize an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) or Responsible Use Policy (RUP)? How meaningful is the current practice? Is the policy written in language meaningful to those signing it? How could it be used as a more effective learning tool?

14. Sheninger and Murray highlight six characteristics of the most effective technology departments. Which of these characteristics are evident in your district's technology department? How can your technology team be great supporters of innovation?

15. Has your district considered leveraging the talents of students in the technology support process, such in the example of Student Tech Teams? Why or why not? How could students become a more integral part of this process and further support teaching and learning?

16. This chapter's Innovative Practices in Action highlight two award-winning districts that have pushed the limits in redefining large-scale digital learning implementation and at-home connectivity. What are two takeaways you have from hearing from the Superintendent and CTO of the Year?

Chapter 7. Collaborating and Engaging with the Community

1. How would you summarize the main methods and modes of your family engagement at this point in time? In reviewing the research, what else could you do to strengthen the collaboration and engagement with families and community?

2. One of the studies cited indicates "that even though family communication and engagement is often strong in the early years, it tends to decline over time so that by the time students are in high school, family engagement has often fallen off tremendously." Is this true in your district? If so, how can you disrupt this trend?

3. The authors state, "Community collaboration works to challenge the perception of traditional school-community partnerships and is something that is ongoing, systemic, and part of the very fabric of a school's interwoven culture." Reflect on your school or district's current practice and discuss.

4. Sheninger and Murray cite six key strategies from the Center for American Progress on developing community schools. Which of these are areas of strength for your school or district? What areas could improve?

5. Building trust and transparency are critical to developing long-lasting relationships. In what ways does your school or district intentionally build trust with the community?

6. In your school or district, are parents and the community viewed as partners in the learning process? Regardless of the level of collaboration, how can this be improved?

7. Sheninger and Murray make the case that community collaboration and engagement is an equity issue. How does your school or district ensure a collaborative approach with traditionally underserved communities?

8. What businesses are located inside your school or district's boundary? What partnerships currently exist? If a relationship were developed, in what ways could students benefit from dynamic business partnerships?

9. What are the local colleges or universities in your region with which you could partner? Do authentic relationships already exist? How could these partnerships be further developed?

10. How does your school or district leverage real-time opportunities to communicate with your community? What digital tools are used to meet families where they are? What feedback do you have from your community in how they want to communicate with you?

11. The authors quote Sanfelippo and Sinanis in saying, "In the absence of knowledge, people make up their own." Describe a time when the community only understood portions of what was occurring inside the district, and it led to misinformation and negativity. How could this have been prevented, and what was learned through this experience?

12. Sheninger and Murray encourage school leaders to become the storyteller-in-chief to take control of public relations while creating a positive brand presence. In what ways do you do so? Who else takes on this responsibility, and how can you collaborate?

13. In what ways do you share your school's story? What methods have been most effective to date? What improvements could still be made in this area to highlight the great works of your students and staff?

14. Chapter 7's Innovative Practice in Action allows you to visit South Carolina and hear from its Superintendent of the Year that has made community collaboration and engagement a priority. What's one takeaway you have?

Chapter 8. Leading the Charge

1. Take a few moments to reflect on the outlined Process of Change. Begin to identify your what, why, and how. (Note: It's okay to start small.)

2. The section on Actions over Opinions starts with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: "Action expresses priorities." After considering the statement, reflect on your school or district's recent actions. Do they align with your current priorities? Why or why not?

3. What is a recent time that you took opinions and moved them to action? What struggles ensued? What success occurred? What did you learn in the process?

4. Review the Against the Flow leadership questions on page 230. Choose two. Discuss your thoughts with a colleague who is willing to challenge your thinking.

5. Identify an educational leader whom you respect and consider an Against the Flow leader. What characteristics does he or she possess that make this possible?

6. Is your school or district guilty of initiative overload? If yes, how can your team avoid this struggle in the years to come?

7. Is your plan of transformation financially sustainable? Pedagogically sustainable? Politically sustainable? How do you know? How can the sustainability of each be improved?

8. Sheninger and Murray emphasize the point that relationships are foundational to transformative change. Which relationships are strong in your district? How will you further nurture them? Which relationships need to be strengthened? What can you do to make them stronger?

9. What's your first step in guiding the needed change in your school or district? What do you commit to do in the next week? The next month? The next six months? The next year? Write down your commitments, and place them somewhere they can be a daily reminder.

Eric and Tom hope you have enjoyed your journey through Learning Transformed. Together, we can do this. You are part of the solution. The authors encourage you to use the hashtag #LT8Keys to continue the discussion online.

Learning Transformed: 8 Keys for Designing Tomorrow's Schools, Today was written by Eric C. Sheninger and Thomas C. Murray. This 260-page, 7" × 10" book (Stock #117034; ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-2389-2) is available from ASCD for $25.56 (ASCD member) or $31.95 (nonmember). Copyright © 2017 by ASCD. To order a copy, call ASCD at 1-800-933-2723 (in Virginia 1-703-578-9600) and press 2 for the Service Center. Or buy the book from ASCD's Online Store.

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An ASCD Study Guide for Learning Transformed: 8 Keys for Designing Tomorrow's Schools, Today

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What does the term culture of innovation mean to you? How can school leaders create such a culture? How can it then be scaled? How can you ensure that you're not simply following the latest fad yet deeply rooting decisions in evidence-based practices?

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Chapter 1

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Google Forms - create and analyze surveys, for free.

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Create a new survey on your own or with others at the same time. Choose from a variety of survey types and analyze results in Google Forms. Free from Google.

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Chapter 2

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Pocket Points: Mobile app that rewards you for staying off your phone

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Our Mission

We remember being very alarmed in college by just how many students were not paying attention in class. We set out to create a product that we'd want to use everyday. That inspired us to be advocates for students from day one. Ever since launching in 2014, that has been our focus.

Create healthy learning environments

Cell phones are #1 distraction in class for students and teachers

Make our roads safer

Texting and driving is #1 killer of teens

Improve mental health

Heavy technology usage is 5x more likely to cause anxiety and depression

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Pocket Points: Mobile app that rewards you for staying off your phone

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our Mission We remember being very alarmed in college by just how many students were not paying attention in class. We set out to create a product that we'd want to use everyday. That inspired us to be advocates for students from day one. Ever since launching in 2014, that has been our focus.

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Unconference
Birds of a Feather
Pick Your Passion
Ignite
pp.14-160

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IT to work on SOP's

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The Trusted Learning Environment (TLE) Seal is a mark of distinction for school systems, signaling that they have taken strong and measurable steps to help ensure the privacy of student data.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Why is the TLE Seal Important?

Student data are key to personalizing learning and outcomes today. School systems, however, have an inherent responsibility to protect the privacy of student data.

About the Seal

What is the TLE Seal Framework

The seal signifies that the school system has implemented strong, measurable and publicly available practices to help ensure the privacy of student data.

Learn About the Framework

Who is Eligible

The TLE Seal is open to K-12 school systems of all governance structures, including public school districts, private schools, parochial schools and charter schools.

See TLE Seal Recipients

Learn more about the TLE Seal Recipients who have made the commitment to protect the privacy and security of student data.

Schools should not just say they are committed to securing a 21st century learning environment. They need to take the steps to do it, and these schools have demonstrated that they're doing the work.

Linnette Attai, CoSN Project Director, TLE Seal, and President, PlayWell, LLC

The Butler County School System has taken great strides over the past year to educate our employees and our community on the importance of data security. It is an honor to be recognized by CoSN for our efforts, and we will be proud to display the Trusted Learning Environment Seal.

Cindy Wilson, Data Manager, Butler County School System

Cambridge Public Schools has strived for many years to protect the privacy of our students. We are honored to be recognized by CoSN for our diligent work in this area. We are also proud to display the CoSN Trusted Learning Environment Seal as evidence that we have created an environment that balances both classroom innovation and student privacy.

Steve Smith, Chief Information Officer, Cambridge Public Schools

Fulton County Schools is pleased to be named among the nation's top leaders in student privacy and security. Our parents entrust their children's information to us daily, and we take our charge seriously to be responsible stewards of that data.

Serena E. Sacks, Chief Information Officer, Fulton County Schools

We are so excited about achieving this distinction. Earning the TLE Seal provides evidence to our school community that the district is committed to protecting student and staff data privacy and security. The application process was incredibly valuable for us, and we are still using the TLE framework to guide us as we continue to work toward improving our practices. Data privacy is a critical issue, and we greatly appreciate the work that CoSN has done to offer guidance and leadership in this area.

Bryon Kolbeck, Executive Director of Technical and Information Services, Lewisville Independent School District

In Miami-Dade County Public Schools, prioritizing security to safeguard our students, their information, and our systems has always been of paramount importance. We strive to keep our finger on the pulse of the threat landscape to continually refine our approach and to strengthen security protocols.

Deborah Karcher, Chief Information Officer, Miami-Dade County Public Schools

As a school district, we are trusted with the safety and security of our students. This does not stop at just physical safety; we must also take measures to ensure the security and privacy of our student's data. Raytown Quality Schools has made data privacy a priority through our policies and practices, which are evident in our Data Governance Manual. It is an honor to be a part of the first cohort recognized for this effort.

Dr. Allan Markley, Superintendent, Raytown Quality Schools

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Trusted Learning Environment | Data Privacy Standards for Schools

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CLICK HERE TO APPLY Why is the TLE Seal Important? Student data are key to personalizing learning and outcomes today. School systems, however, have an inherent responsibility to protect the privacy of student data. About the Seal What is the TLE Seal Framework The seal signifies that the school system has implemented strong, measurable and publicly available practices to help ensure the privacy of student data.

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About The Student Privacy Pledge | Pledge to Parents & Students

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The Student Privacy Pledge was introduced to safeguard student privacy regarding the collection, maintenance, and use of student personal information.

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NYSED is committed to promoting sound information practices and policies that will ensure the security and privacy of student data, improve academic achievement, empower parents with information, and advance efficient and effective school operations.

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Christin MacPherson Artifact 2 Model Classroom Proposal Summer 2019