Redesigning your learning space doesn’t have to be a terribly expensive project. There are lots of opportunities to create unique furnishings that will fit your space by being creative and resourceful. Buying from established furniture companies can cost an arm and a leg but by invoking a D-I-Y approach you can enhance your learning space while encouraging student buy-in.
A sample of a Design Cycle (IB MYP)
Talking to students about the type of furniture you need to enhance your room will give your students a better sense of how to use the space. You may even go so far as to have your students assist in the building of furnishings. Your class will have a new found respect the physical environment given their involvement in creating it.
This is also a perfect opportunity for your students to become engrossed in the maker scene by using a design thinking approach. By using a design cycle your students can deconstruct the needs of your space and design solutions. (See a design cycle I’ve used for my kids’ passion projects)
Some possible hacks to creating your own furnishings:
- Contact your city’s local design college and try to partner with them
- Contact your own school Design and Tech Department about using their equipment
- Contact your Local Middle/High School Design and Tech Department and ask them to pre-cut/bevel wood so that your class can just put the pieces together
- Look to make simple but efficient modifications to existing furniture, such as resurfacing
Looking for great maker projects? Check the following sites:
Other ideas? Drop them in the comments below
Dear Mr. Atherton,
Could you please contact me?
Thanks
Liz