Welcome to my blog! I'm Karen Belt, a Deputy Principal, working at Lynmore Primary School in Rotorua, New Zealand. In the past I have taught Years 0 - 4 and used 1:1 iPads to engage and motivate learners and improve student achievement. This blog documents my teaching and leadership journey and my learning processes with iPads in the classroom. I am a Google Certified Educator #SYD17 and I'm proud of having been a member of the inaugural Manaiakalani Digital Teaching Academy(MDTA) program and a Spark Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher (MIT) and an inaugural Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir teacher.

Friday, 10 April 2015

A Modern Learning Environment

After my first term in my own class, one of my Beginning Teacher goals for Term 2 is to redesign my classroom for the 1:1 environment.  Increasingly, my learners want to use their iPads on the floor, or away from the desks and it would be great to have a space that is more accommodating of the 1:1 learning environment.  As an additional challenge, I want to bring some colour into the classroom, and make the space a more inviting, vibrant environment, to invigorate and inspire my five year olds - just a small goal for the term :)

So, without further ado - the "before" photos!  Its always good to have something to "compare"!  Notice the blue walls, and blue carpet - lots of blue :)  (NB:  Furniture is slightly away from the walls in this photo for end of term cleaning.





Today was stage one in the redesign process - attack the walls :)  I hate heights and didn't really enjoy the hours spent up the ladder today, but I'm happy with the result  -  its still a work in progress as I have more displays to add yet (it always takes longer than you think!)



Next step - rearranging the layout of the classroom, including moving the tables and adding a few pieces of different furniture and some accessories!  I'm really looking forward to seeing what feedback I get from my learners next term!




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2 comments :

  1. inneskennard11 April 2015 at 16:36

    Hi Karen
    As always great to get your current reflections, sound like Term 2 will be a real buzz. I found the biggest challenge was to put my eyes at the level of the learner - that's where they see most things. Enjoy the rest of the 'break'.

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    1. Unknown12 April 2015 at 16:31

      Thanks Innes! I'm lucky in that being short, I'm closer to my learners height - having said that I have almost zero wall space at ground level which is an added challenge. I have another week before school is back and a few more ideas that I'm working on. I'm really hoping for some "WoW" from my 5 year olds when they see the new space - time will tell :) Thanks again for reading (and recommending) my blog - I really enjoy blogging but its great to get feedback too :)

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