Page 10 - spaces4learning, Summer 2022

spaces4learning
A/V TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFORMING CLASSROOMS INTO ACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS Q&A with a School
Principal
By Matt Jones
MARK HESS IS CURRENTLY THE principal at Mary Helen Guest Elementa- ry School in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District in Walled Lake, Mich. Hess has served in a variety of roles since he was hired by the district in 1993, including ex- ecutive director of instruction, technology, and assessment, director of technology and data analysis, middle school principal, assis- tant principal, middle school teacher, and elementary school teacher. As principal, he recently led the school through a new remodel that included transforming class- rooms into active learning environments.
How did the idea to transform each classroom into an active learn- ing environment come about?
This remodel actually started about six years ago when the district standardized classroom technology. The second part of the process was updating classroom learn- ing spaces and modernizing school build- ings so the learning environment harmo- nized with the updated technology. Before we started to look at options for new fur- niture and products, it was important for us to identify what we wanted to accom- plish. We asked ourselves, “What should a classroom look like in order to maximize
teaching and learning opportunities for all students?” Our goal was to give teach- ers more flexibility and address different learning styles.
Our district did extensive research when determining what direction to go in for the renovations, including attend- ing school furniture design conferences, visiting neighboring districts, and deep- ening our knowledge base through lit- erature and journals. We also provided opportunities for educators to test differ- ent options and provide feedback on what they thought would be best.
Ultimately, we decided to go with the flexible learning environments to best ad- dress the different learning styles among students. Not every student learns from a desk, and not all teachers teach best from their desks. We saw how technology transformed our approach to instruction, and it was time to have furniture that in- tegrates and supports this transformation.
In your opinion, how have you seen these environments support teaching and learning at your school? My biggest takeaway I have noticed is the furniture is no longer stagnant. What I see in a classroom at 10 a.m. might have a completely different look and feel than when I visit at 2 p.m. Classrooms are much more mobile and can easily be ad- justed throughout the day to align with the teacher’s instruction. Teachers can have the class set up to do whole group in- struction in the morning, and by the after- noon, students are working in cooperative groups. The physical layout of the room changes in a matter of minutes.
This has really allowed us to be able to break down physical barriers in the classroom. With a much more open con- cept and comfortable learning environ- ment, teachers are spending less time at the front of the room and more time around the learning space.
Can you tell us about the technolo- gy in each classroom, and give a couple examples of how teachers & students might use it on a day-to-day basis?
We provide Chromebooks for all of our stu- dents, but we also have a BYOD program. Each classroom is set up with Epson Bright- Link interactive displays, Epson document cameras, and FrontRow Speakers. Some of
the key programs that ground our curricu- lum include i-Ready assessment and person- alized instruction, Google Classroom, and SAFARI Montage. Teachers can easily share content to students’ devices, and students can be on their device anywhere accessing the lesson or activity.
When teachers want to display content at the front of class, but also walk around and help students, they can use the Micro- soft display adapter dongle and wireless- lyprojectfromtheirlaptoptotheEpson BrightLink display. This has been helpful for teachers, since they are no longer feel- ing tied to their desk or computer to mon- itor the content students are working on. Instead, they are able to walk around and interact with students and provide feed- back in real time as students are working. Having this interactive whiteboard space is also great to have students easily go up and annotate directly on the content.
Can you give an outline of the project's timeline?
Six years ago, a bond passed in the dis- trict that was made up of two main parts: technology and furniture. The district standardized its technology throughout the district as the first part, and the sec- ond part was focused on remodeling the schools and updating furniture.
With 19 school buildings in the dis- trict, the remodel was divided into four phases so not every building was updated all at the same time. My school building’s turn to complete its remodel was set for the summer of 2021. The time leading up to it we spent doing the research, planning and scheduling so that when it was time for implementing the reno- vation in the summer, everything could run as smoothly as possible.
10 SUMMER 2022 | spaces4learning.com