Classroom upgrade turns interactive
Arow of Macbook Air laptops sat on a table against one side of the room, where a taller, arch-shaped table stood with tall, wheeled chairs. Instead of the gray top found on the desks, the tall table had a whiteboard surface to allow students to write down and solve their math equations.
Three of the four walls also had whiteboards, while a large interactive television rested on the remaining wall.
Abdelkader said the classroom was created as a learning environment that allows language and math instruction to be presented simultaneously.
“We know there are students who have to learn English, but [they] also have to learn content and earn critical credits to graduate,” Abdelkader said.
The Algebra I course is required for graduation, she said.
Schools spokesman John White said students learning English are at risk of “aging out” of the school system because of the high enrollment of English learners and the time lost when educators teach the language first and content second. Once students are over age 21, state law says they can no longer be enrolled in the school system.
Enrollment growth of non-Englishspeaking students has increased in the Howard County public schools, White said, with 2,700 students learning English in kindergarten through grade 12, including 67 students at Oakland Mills High School.
White said the Howard school system enrollment has an average of 5 percent of non-English-speaking students, fallingbelow the state and national averages of 7 and 9percent, respectively.
William Reinhard, director of communications for the Maryland Department of Education, said school systems across the state are looking for the most effective way to provide services to a growing number of students who don’t speak English.
“We have over 100 languages spoken in Maryland public schools and English learners are part of the population in virtually all of our schools at some point,”
Reinhard said.
To address the issue in Howard County, Abdelkader said the international and ESOL, secondary mathematics and instructional technology offices worked together to re-examine the classroom’s layout and its tools to incorporate math and language into a lesson.
Early stages of the classroom project began last fall when the International and ESOL Office received $12,168 through an English Language Acquisition Immigrant state grant. White said the classroom’s redesign was then adapted from Edutopia’s model, “Remake Your Class: Building a Collaborative Learning Environment.”
Edutopia is part of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit founded by filmmaker George Lucas, that works to improve classroom experiences and develops new learning methods through Lucas Education Research.
Julie Wray, coordinator of digital learning innovation and design, said this is the second classroom redesign completed in Howard County public schools; a math class at Bonnie Branch Middle School was done last March. Schools were selected based on the student population and their need for assistance in the classroom.
Using data collection, including teacher and student interviews, the project design team presented its Oakland Mills plan to building services staff, and those plans were finalized in February.
On March 22, Wray said, students and the co-teachers cleared out the math classroom’s furniture, wall decor and materials, and painted and assembled new furniture the following two days. All other classroom materials were set up through March 28.
Sweigart said her classes have many different types of learners and diverse students, which requires their lessons to have individualized learning environments.
Her previous classroom allowed students to break into groups, she said, but it was more difficult with the arrangement.
During the design process, Sweigart said, students were asked to give input for classroom improvement, including what they’d like to see and what amenities would benefit their learning.
“It’s really easy for students to record their thoughts, for us to see their work [and] for them to collaborate,” Sweigart said. “Because this was designed by them, I think there’s this sense of personal satisfaction that comes from being in this class every single day and being able to be engaged with others.”
New resources, such as the interactive TV, also aid English learners, she said. Ninth-grade student Valentina Idore, 15, said she loved the new classroom, and particularly appreciates the many whiteboards.
“I like the whiteboards because we can use them to solve things,” Valentina said.
“When you go around the room, it’s hard to do everything on your paper. If you get it wrong, then you have to erase it. If you have the whiteboards, you can erase everything and then start over.”
Valentina’s classmate, Jaelan Mathews, 14, said the classroom is much brighter than its predecessor — which also had issues with equipment.
In the new space, “we don’t have to worry about the projector breaking down, getting calculators and new batteries for them or everybody rushing to do their work because there’s something wrong with the calculator,” Jaelan said. “I feel like it’s a better experience. … The classroom before was like a D-minus; this is like an A-plus.” anmichaels@baltsun.com
Three of the four walls also had whiteboards, while a large interactive television rested on the remaining wall.
Abdelkader said the classroom was created as a learning environment that allows language and math instruction to be presented simultaneously.
“We know there are students who have to learn English, but [they] also have to learn content and earn critical credits to graduate,” Abdelkader said.
The Algebra I course is required for graduation, she said.
Schools spokesman John White said students learning English are at risk of “aging out” of the school system because of the high enrollment of English learners and the time lost when educators teach the language first and content second. Once students are over age 21, state law says they can no longer be enrolled in the school system.
Enrollment growth of non-Englishspeaking students has increased in the Howard County public schools, White said, with 2,700 students learning English in kindergarten through grade 12, including 67 students at Oakland Mills High School.
White said the Howard school system enrollment has an average of 5 percent of non-English-speaking students, fallingbelow the state and national averages of 7 and 9percent, respectively.
William Reinhard, director of communications for the Maryland Department of Education, said school systems across the state are looking for the most effective way to provide services to a growing number of students who don’t speak English.
“We have over 100 languages spoken in Maryland public schools and English learners are part of the population in virtually all of our schools at some point,”
Reinhard said.
To address the issue in Howard County, Abdelkader said the international and ESOL, secondary mathematics and instructional technology offices worked together to re-examine the classroom’s layout and its tools to incorporate math and language into a lesson.
Early stages of the classroom project began last fall when the International and ESOL Office received $12,168 through an English Language Acquisition Immigrant state grant. White said the classroom’s redesign was then adapted from Edutopia’s model, “Remake Your Class: Building a Collaborative Learning Environment.”
Edutopia is part of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit founded by filmmaker George Lucas, that works to improve classroom experiences and develops new learning methods through Lucas Education Research.
Julie Wray, coordinator of digital learning innovation and design, said this is the second classroom redesign completed in Howard County public schools; a math class at Bonnie Branch Middle School was done last March. Schools were selected based on the student population and their need for assistance in the classroom.
Using data collection, including teacher and student interviews, the project design team presented its Oakland Mills plan to building services staff, and those plans were finalized in February.
On March 22, Wray said, students and the co-teachers cleared out the math classroom’s furniture, wall decor and materials, and painted and assembled new furniture the following two days. All other classroom materials were set up through March 28.
Sweigart said her classes have many different types of learners and diverse students, which requires their lessons to have individualized learning environments.
Her previous classroom allowed students to break into groups, she said, but it was more difficult with the arrangement.
During the design process, Sweigart said, students were asked to give input for classroom improvement, including what they’d like to see and what amenities would benefit their learning.
“It’s really easy for students to record their thoughts, for us to see their work [and] for them to collaborate,” Sweigart said. “Because this was designed by them, I think there’s this sense of personal satisfaction that comes from being in this class every single day and being able to be engaged with others.”
New resources, such as the interactive TV, also aid English learners, she said. Ninth-grade student Valentina Idore, 15, said she loved the new classroom, and particularly appreciates the many whiteboards.
“I like the whiteboards because we can use them to solve things,” Valentina said.
“When you go around the room, it’s hard to do everything on your paper. If you get it wrong, then you have to erase it. If you have the whiteboards, you can erase everything and then start over.”
Valentina’s classmate, Jaelan Mathews, 14, said the classroom is much brighter than its predecessor — which also had issues with equipment.
In the new space, “we don’t have to worry about the projector breaking down, getting calculators and new batteries for them or everybody rushing to do their work because there’s something wrong with the calculator,” Jaelan said. “I feel like it’s a better experience. … The classroom before was like a D-minus; this is like an A-plus.” anmichaels@baltsun.com
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