Page 34 - School Planning & Management, November 2017

Research is beginning to show how crucial engagement, excite- ment, and even movement are to learning outcomes. In one study, scholars at the University of Chicago found that students who acted out word problems did much better than their peers who simply read them. Schools that have incorporated 15-minute recess breaks throughout their school day saw gains in student attention span and instructional time.
Student interaction is also proven to have a positive learning impact. On average, students tend to retain just five percent of in- formation taught via lecture but 50 percent of a lesson taught in dis- cussion groups. When students teach each other, the retention rate skyrockets to 80 percent.
We strive to embody human-centered learning at Southwest High School in Green Bay, Wis. Our advanced language arts and AP literature and composition classes utilize Ruckus, a reconfigurable
furniture solution from KI. This allows students and teachers to quickly adjust classroom set-ups to best suit a given lesson or group activity. The furniture adjusts for height and comfort and is de- signed to support all the possible ways teens make use of it. I’ll walk into the classroom and see ninth-graders or 12th-graders perched on the back of the chair — or foregoing a desk entirely to use part of the chair when taking notes.
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“Children Need Quiet to Learn, Study and Read”
The headline of this article, as quoted by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., a New York City-based noise specialist, is so obvious, and yet so neglected in schools.
Bronzaft is a strong proponent for educating administrators, plan- ners and architects to the hazards of noise in schools. “The key thing is to educate that noise is a health hazard,” she says. “It diminishes the quality of life. In schools, it robs children of learning.”
Bronzaft says it’s time to quit studying the effects of noise on learn- ing and start implementing techniques to create quieter schools. It isn’t difficult. Here are some starting points for designing a quiet classroom.
1. Install double-glazed windows to keep the noise out.
2. Seal ducts properly to prevent noise from traveling from one room to
another.
3. Install doors that keep the noise out. “If a door is closed, I shouldn’t
hear children walking through the hallway,” says Bronzaft.
4. Install acoustical ceiling tiles to absorb noise made by children inside
the classroom.
5. Likewise, install carpeting to absorb noise made by children inside
the classroom.
6. Beware noisy air conditioning units. “We have to be cognizant of
design issues, but also of appliances,” says Bronzaft. “We have to design for quiet in a broad sense, but also in a narrow sense in terms of specific products.”
“We have to convince people that noise isn’t just an annoyance,” Bron-
zaft says, “It’s a health hazard. It causes stress. If I’m stressed, it’s causing wear and tear on my body. Children can not learn in a noisy environment.”
Bronzaft encourages administrators to speak out and be active when it comes to noise. “They can’t wait for the city to make a school quiet. They have to speak on behalf of the children.”
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34 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / NOVEMBER 2017
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