When school’s out for summer, it’s time for some new classroom furniture!
The school year is drawing to a close, and while you would probably rather focus on the inbound summer vacation than the looming presence of next school year, now can be a good time to assess what kind of changes you might need to make to your classroom for the next academic year. More specifically, how you can upgrade your room to include modern classroom furniture to benefit both you and your students.
The Teacher’s Desk
Let’s start with your own personal interest. Your desk is your home in your classroom, your fortress, and your (quasi-)personal space. (If you could just get those darn kids to stop asking questions!) In many cases, the whole rest of the room is designed around the desk, giving you a good eye on all the kids and making you easily accessible. So it makes sense that you want your desk to be the best it can possibly be, for you and the class as a whole. When choosing modern classroom furniture, consider a teacher’s desk that:
- Works with technology. Classrooms in 2016, of all grade levels, are multimedia experiences. For starters, think about wire access to get your laptop charger or desktop power cord safely to the top of your desk without posing a tripping hazard. The more tech integration you’re comfortable with, like connection to the room’s projection and A/V systems, the better. Along the same vein, give yourself plenty of room to store all the A/V, power, and other cables you might need.
- Stores everything. Speaking of storage, this is another huge factor. With teaching methods today being so broad and inclusive to reach as many different types of learners as possible, you’re bound to have tons of supplies. Give yourself plenty of room to keep them organized at your home base.
- Can shift with the tides. Another part of modern education is constantly shifting learning paradigms. This could include regular moving about of furniture, in which case a more mobile desk will help you rearrange your classroom, whether between lessons or between school years, with ease.
Modern Classroom Furniture for Students
Education is shifting more rapidly now than it ever has before. There is a wonderful, albeit heavy, focus placed on different learning styles, and a “Universal Design for Learning.” This means creating a learning space that benefits as many students as possible. This can include:
- Fostering collaboration with group seating arrangements and specialized groupwork stations. Working together helps students create important dialogue and exchange ideas, not to mention socialize.
- Multimedia integration just like with the teacher’s desk. Many modern classrooms have full access to tons of tech, and the amount you choose is ultimately up to you and your teaching style. However, young students in 2016 are very fluent in the ways of technology, and many of them learn better with it, so it’s a good idea to include when choosing modern classroom furniture.
- Creating creativity with items like large whiteboards and uniquely shaped or colored furniture to keep ideas flowing and creativity at a maximum.
- Modular furniture is important for student spaces as well as teachers’. Different lessons may require different seating arrangement, or even a wide open space to move around in. Think about your lesson plans and your teaching style and consider furniture that can be multifunctional or is lightweight enough to be moved around for new arrangements.
Find Modern Classroom Furniture at Edwards & Hill
Edwards & Hill Office Furniture is proud to furnish corporate offices as well as providing quality furniture for hospitality businesses, educational settings, local casinos, and healthcare facilities. Tony Hill, Managing Partner, and Hans Edwards, Partner, have been working together since 1998 to provide quality multimedia and furniture products and services to a number of different businesses and industries.
To get started with Edwards & Hill, call us today at 301-317-4250. You can also fill out our online contact form to ask specific questions about one of our specific services.