Classroom Twitter Feed

One of the best things I've done in the past couple of years as a teacher has been to add a classroom Twitter account after a suggestion at Monterey Bay Aquarium's teacher training. It's helped me connect to parents, students, administrators, our librarian, and other teachers. Social Media like Twitter and Pinterest have a vibrant teacher community that if you haven't tapped into yet, I highly suggest you do.

One great thing about Twitter is that even those not on it can see your current posts in a Twitter feed--no "following" required (though it is nice when they do and "like" content). It's good if in general you take larger group photos, take photos in which students' faces are not close-ups, avoid using names if student's faces can be easily matched up, and especially with younger students consider taking photos from the back of their heads if engaged in interesting tasks or images of the work itself. Note: Our school requires students and parents to sign an image release. If your school does too, make sure to check with your administrator in case there are students who should not be in photographs. Anyway, here's mine:

Tweets by @LEroomI3

Designing a Flexible Seating Classroom

Perhaps after noticing that our middle school students tend to spend a whole lot of time working on the floor (by choice) and moving furniture around to accommodate our lessons, our administrator told us that we'd have the chance to remodel our classrooms to allow for flexible seating. I was so excited and ready to jump right in to reimagining my space. I wanted intentional spaces set up for students to choose from based on regular uses (gathering area maybe to be named "The Campfire" or "The Family Room," Maker Space, Reading Nook, etc.). After reading some articles on the topic, I thought a semi-private area might also be useful for individuals or very small groups to focus in (I'm going to call mine the "fish tank" since my aquarium will be incorporated). Of course, all this will be subject to change with the students' input and in consideration of their needs. However, just trying to wrap my head around what type of space new furniture would take up left me with the need to visualize via diagram. So far, here's what I've come up with using the website Floor Planner's free mode.

My Next Year's Classroom Ideas Diagram (with my notes):

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3D View:

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Will it stay like this? Definitely not! But at least I have a starting point. Need more info? So, do I! Here are some great resources on the topic I've found are a great place to start (please, let me know in the comments if you've tried the switch to flexible seating or have some good resources to share):

 Classroom Eye Candy (Cult of Pedagogy)

Flexible Seating and Student-Centered Classroom Redesign (Edutopia)

The Cemetery Method (Anne Shaw)

Albemarle County Public Schools (Edutopia Video)