The change in seasons (we’re still hoping in Minnesota) or spring break is the perfect time for educators to reassess their classroom space and prepare an active environment that supports the best learning outcomes. After all, you’ve come this far with your students. Inspire them to shake off the winter blahs and finish the school year strong.
Consider three strategies for spring refreshment in your classroom:
- Get them moving
To refresh your classroom and encourage students to move more, consider:
- Rearranging desks into unique formations to inspire the best learning. Be open to quickly shifting the active classroom furniture into new formations for each lesson plan.
- Brainstorming ways to incorporate non-disruptive activities and brain boosters into the classroom.
- Building movement moments into class periods to ensure students are not sitting for extended periods.
- Removing half of the chairs to ensure that students rotate between sitting and standing throughout the day.
- Clean up
Involve your students, put on some music, sort through and dispose of unnecessary paper (including those in your file cabinet), broken supplies and old project corners. Urge students to purge their desks and wipe them clean. Make space for new displays and spring projects. If you’re a bit more ambitious, plant some spring flower bulbs to brighten up the window sills. Check out TeachHUB.com for more spring cleaning ideas.
- Rejuvenate display boards
Providing fresh display boards helps wake up students’ imaginations. Not sure what to post? Consider inspirational quotes. Here’s one to get you started:
“In winter, I plot and plan. In spring, I move.” – Henry Rollins
We hope these strategies help you transform your spring classroom into an engaging, active space that supports student focus, well-being and academic performance.
