The 5 Hour Film Project

How do you keep a group of 146 Grade 8 and

9 students occupied for an entire day? This was the challenge I faced this week.

On Wednesday, our school had a number of different activities happening that meant all the Grade 10 and 11 students were off campus doing either drama workshops or attending a pre-conference meeting at another Round Square school. The Grade 12s were given the day to make some serious headway on their ORTO (One Research Task Option) projects which constitute a large chunk of their year work for various subjects. This meant that there were a number of teachers who would be occupied either with the 12s or off campus with the other students and the 8s and 9s needed something to do. Enter Mr Kirk. 

Last year, when the idea was originally pitched, I tentatively used the name ‘iDay’, thinking that I would use the time to do some skills training—you know, 5 ways to maximise the effectiveness of Evernote or 3 ways Adobe Voice can be used as a study tool? However, owing to several factors, not least amongst which is the fact that such skills development stuff is rarely met with any kind of enthusiasm, I thought maybe something else was in order. Furthermore, many of the students, simply by following the ‘what does this button do?’ approach, have figured out ways to use Apps in meaningful and exciting ways. I’m sure I’ve got more to learn from them than they have to learn from me.

So, the question remained, what to do?

While I was wondering about this, I considered all the functionalities and Apps which did not require internet and which would enable me to group students around a common goal. The one that came up again and again was the camera, GarageBand and iMovie. Bearing this in mind, an idea began to form.

Last year, I had the privilege of attending the 48 Hour Film Project in Cape Town. The premise for this endeavour is that film companies gather on a Friday evening. They are then given a list of mandatory elements to feature, and then they are assigned a genre of film at random. After this, they have until Sunday afternoon to write, cast, film, edit and master their films for screening on the Sunday evening. It’s an ambitious project, and some of the end results were really amazing, especially considering the constraints the film companies faced.

Using this as a template, I put together an idea for the 5 Hour Film Project. Students were divided into groups of 15 by going through the Grade list and writing the numbers 1 to 10 next to the students. I mixed 8s with 9s to allow for a bit more interaction between the groups. Also, the 9s completed a section on making silent movies during their drama lessons last year, so I thought they could apply their expertise and simultaneously teach the 8s about what they’d learnt. 

After the groups were assembled, they were given the brief: create a movie that is no longer than 5 minutes long and which features ‘The Great Zamboni, Professional Juggler’, a key and the line, ‘Just a dream away’. The groups were then assigned random genres (drama, action, fantasy, adventure, crime, horror, romance, comedy, superhero, sci-fi) and that was it. The groups also needed to design a poster to promote their film. They had been asked to bring props and costumes with them, but they had no guidelines about thes

e and could use whatever they liked.

For the remainder of the day, the students kept themselves busy with brainstorming, storyboarding, scripting, filming and editing their films, and other students were tasked with getting the poster designed. Just about everyone was engaged and involved in the whole process and there was barely any teacher interaction required at all. People wandering around campus were met with screaming vampire-esque aliens running away from lazer blasters (Free FX for iMovie), wizards wielding their hockey stick staffs, dance offs, mermaids, terrifying school principals and sports stars all just getting on with what they needed to do. 

The day ended with a screening of all the final products which were incredibly entertaining, and considering the time they had to complete the task, pretty well polished. I will be running screenings in the Learning Commons during the week which will hopefully inspire the younger students.

All in all, the project demonstrated that when students have a clear common goal and when they are given the space to be creative, they rise to the occasion marvelously. There were no curriculum standards or lesson plans or marking grids necessary, and not once was I asked ‘Is this for marks?’. 

I feel this is a view into what modern relevant education needs to be: student centred with an emphasis on collaboration, and with teacher input only where it is necessary. They need to find their own way, trial what works and what doesn’t, brainstorm collectively and throw themselves into what they’re doing. If we can find ways to emulate this in all our subjects (to varying extents), then I think we’ll have more engaged students who are able to problem solve and think critically. 

I can’t wait for the next iDay!

Time to power up!

Empowerment is a cultural thing. It depends on the environment in which one is operating. Throughout my life, I have been directly involved with technology. I’ve been interested in it, and it has been something towards which I have always been drawn. As a result, I quickly became identified as a “nerd” or a “geek”. I spent afternoons working on the computer or playing games, and I became very familiar and comfortable with the systems. As a result of having done this, I have nurtured an attitude of giving things a go. You know, the space where you have the freedom to take a shot at figuring something out. I won’t get it on the first attempt, but I’ll give it a fairly good effort. I believe this can be attributed to years of trying to get programs and games to work, to repairing internet connections and on being exposed to new platforms. One has to immerse oneself to become capable and familiar with the material. Without having gone through the trial-and-error process, I do not feel I would be as equipped to work with digital media as I am now.

I think there’s a general assumption that often happens when one observes someone being good at something. I’m certainly guilty of falling into the trap of thinking that someone is just naturally gifted and that their talent comes to them without much effort at all. Really, the exact opposite is usually true: it’s hours and hours of working at the task that creates familiarity and, eventually, mastery and not just raw talent. Of course, talent plays a part in all this—aptitude cannot be ignored completely—but it’s the effort that is made that makes all the difference. 

None of what I’m saying is particularly new or revelatory. This is all stuff that people like Malcolm Gladwell and Ken Robinson have been writing about for years. What I think hasn’t necessarily been spoken about, though, relates directly to what I do for most of my working days: deal with getting staff and students to be more capable and empowered users of technology.

Any of us who work in technology know that much of our time is spent troubleshooting. It can range from something as simple as needing to change a setting on an iPad to needing to rebuild servers to ensure that essential services are running. Almost every day, I have students and staff members coming to see me to get their digital textbooks working, or their wifi configured, or their email set up or to sort out their wireless presentation software etc. While I am always glad to help with this, I’ve begun to realise that this is not actually educationally sound practice. 

I am, first and foremost, a teacher. Our jobs as teachers are to empower others, to help them to see their own potential and to enable them to do things that they did not know they were capable of doing. Often, to do this we must push our students to do new things. We have to provide the space in which they can work things out for themselves, and, in so doing, develop the ability to be more self-reliant in future. Taking over the task for them defeats the purpose completely and often has a negative impact.

Let me illustrate this with a personal example: when I was young, I often wanted to help my father with tasks. I would try to help with the gardening, or sweeping or painting, or washing the car, but always the story ended the same way: he took over and did everything. It was always quicker and easier for him to do the job himself, so that’s what he did. Eventually I stopped offering to help and when I was asked to do things, I deliberately did a bad job so that he would just take over and I could get back to whatever I was doing (usually playing computer games). I learnt nothing. And now when I need to do things around the house, I lament the fact that I haven’t learnt them. Luckily the troubleshooting mindset I have from working with computers means I have a method of sorting out the problem, but it would be preferable if I had a clearer frame of reference. 

So, now I’m starting to employ this in my own day-to-day practice. I don’t just take the iPad or mouse from the student or teacher, I talk them through the process, or I point them in a direction. For many people, computers and technology continue to be sources of intimidation and bafflement; otherworldly pursuits for select individuals who “get it”. The problem with this is that the computer stuff is not going away. It’s not even slowing down. If people want to be equipped for life in the future (and by ‘future’ I mean any time ahead and not some dark Blade Runner-eque world), they are going to need to know how to take charge of this technology and not be trumped by it.

As teacher trainers and teachers, we need to be empowerers. We need to create spaces where our ‘customers’ feel able to take chances, to investigate, to fiddle, to ‘see what this button does’. If we’re not doing that, we are not fulfilling the fundamental purpose of our job, and that is a very sad thing indeed.

We need to ensure that our strategies for staff development are focused on taking the fear away, on helping people learn how to troubleshoot their own problems and to give things a go. Once that culture has been created, those of us who are doing the training can spend more time on extending and showing people how to make technology an even more powerful teaching tool and how to move the curriculum in exciting and meaningful directions. We are all ‘computer people’ now, and the sooner we all start acting like it, the better.

Flow: A dichotomy in two Apps

I have a weekly ritual on Wednesdays: I browse the App stores to see what’s changed. Usually I find something intriguing or worth playing around with, but these are seldom really significant ‘Wow, my life has changed’ Apps. In fact, what often grabs me more about the Apps is the concept they’re exploring rather than the programme itself. Take ‘The Mesh’ for example, which is the current Free App of the Week on iTunes. The beauty and power of the App lie in its simplicity. It’s not complicated, and yet it’s immensely engrossing. I found myself spending hours trying to up my score, and then suddenly I realised I was doing mathematics. To add context to that statement, you need to understand that mathematics and I are like estranged family members: we know we can’t really ever escape one another, but if we never have to engage in conversation, that’s just fine. Nevertheless, at 23:00 last night, there I was, propped up in bed trying to work out how 7, 5, 3 and 2 were going to get me to 4. As it happens, I couldn’t work it out, and my streak ended on a measly final score of 32. I will persevere again tonight!

'The Mesh'

Now, what intrigues me so much about ‘The Mesh’ is the fact that I became completely engrossed in a very short space of time. The nature of the game means there is no ‘undo’ button, and an incorrect pairing can be one’s complete undoing for the levels to come. As a consequence, one must spend time assessing the whole scenario, planning moves and anticipating outcomes. The mental arithmetic is not complicated (well, it hasn’t been for the levels I’ve managed to reach), but having to work out multiple scenarios in one’s head becomes a challenging prospect. For the example above, there are a number of different things I could try:

7 - 3 = 4; 5+2 = 7… doesn’t work

7-5 = 2; 2+2 = 4, 3… doesn’t work

3-2 = 1; 5-1=4; 7… doesn’t work

You get the idea.

Before even starting to play the level, one has to run all these simulations in one’s head. The feeling of triumph when one gets it correct is intoxicating and I’m left utterly engrossed. And it’s maths.

The second App which has caught my attention this week is ‘Flowstate’ on the Mac App store. While I’ve not yet taken the plunge and purchased the App, it’s premise is certainly food for thought. Basically, Flowstate creates the perfect environment in which to create written pieces by preventing the clutter that so often prevents us from actually completing what we’re writing. The creators posit that forcing separation between the creation and editing processes encourages the completion of tasks. The App works by asking users to select a time period to be ‘locked’ into the App. Once the time has been selected, the user must write continuously. A pause of more than 5 seconds will delete everything that has been written during the session. Furthermore, trying to exit the session before time is up will also delete everything. Quite an unnerving prospect for those of us who are used to agonising over just about every sentence we type. I’m certainly guilty of spending ages and ages staring at the screen trying to figure out the way forward. With Flowstate, there’s no time for that—at least not while you’re writing. You have to keep going, even if it’s not going to make it into the final edit. 

And that’s the whole point: it doesn’t have to be perfect. So often we get utterly caught up on ensuring that the end product is a work of perfection that we end up not finishing it, or, even worse, not starting in the first place. Flowstate prevents that from happening by forcing action, but making us let go of the obsession with perfection and simply getting us to write write write and think later. Working on a finished piece and making small tweaks here and there is far less daunting than staring at a blank page for ages, and the prospect of everything vanishing before one’s eyes means we keep pushing onwards until we have something with which to work.

Both of these Apps look at the idea of focus and flow in a different way: the first requires measured, thought-through selection, because there is no going back while the second is almost the polar opposite: go for it without reservation and deal with the aftermath later. I think both of them have a place in education. Our students should know when to apply themselves to one task with utter focus and careful consideration, especially when it comes to dealing with other people, because often we cannot take things we’ve said back after they have been said (or tweeted). Conversely, we should also be encouraging our students to dive into tasks with a sense of abandonment. Increased digitisation means that we can undo just about everything we create within Apps or programmes and our work can be altered if and when it needs to be. We need to give students the freedom to fail and not be too perturbed by this, because refining is often a better learning experience than the initial creation is. I’ll look at the culture of refinement and criticism in another blog, but for now, I think it’s worth pondering how we can use these two kinds of flow in our teaching and indeed, in our own lives. 

Txt msg?

For many of us, the title of this blog harkens back to a period of digital communication where each character we typed matterd (see what I did there?). Much like Twitter posts, each text message we sent was limited to a specific number of characters, including spaces, and we had to cram as much as we could into that space. During an age where each text message cost a portion of our precious airtime (especially if it was sent in peak time), we had to make sure we got as much bang from each keystroke as we could. Thus, the language of text messaging or sms-language was born. Whole new lexicons were developed to figure out how to maximise the communication power of our 160 characters and we still adopt many of them today: “LOL” has become so commonplace that many people use it in ordinary speech, and “brb” is still an expression that many of us will hurriedly type into a chat bubble when we run to make a cup of tea, or answer a phone call. Apart from that, though, with the coming of messaging becoming almost exclusively over the internet (as opposed to via direct cellular), message length is no longer an issue with which we need to concern ourselves, nor is the number of messages we send. As a result, there has been a steady dying out of text language, because it is an unnecessary shortcut most of the time. Instead of worrying about how to make “Please can you come to see me tomorrow” as short as possible, (Pls cm c me 2mrw) we can just type the whole thing. Predictive text has made the process even easier, and even it may be on the decline as sending voice notes and using speech-to-text software is becoming increasingly easier and popular. 

Why am I bringing this up here and now, though? After all, this is meant to be an educational blog, and not simply a nostalgic look at where we’ve been. What point is there looking at an almost outdated method of communication when so many more exciting possibilities exist? 

The reason for my exploring this has to do with the hysteria that surrounded txt msgin. Parents, teachers and academics all over the world deplored the phenomenon saying that it meant people were not going to be able to spell anymore, that language sophistication was slipping and that people weren’t going to know how to communicate anymore. Well, none of that happened really, did it? As far as I can tell, there has been no catastrophic consequence of a generation of people who are unable to communicate with one another any more than there has been in the past. In fact, I would like to argue that precisely the opposite has happened: we are more in contact with each other than we have ever been. And the next generation is even more connected. This is a trend that I do not see changing.

As technology allows us to merge more and more services into one place (currently I have two text messages, an iMessage, three Whatsapps and something on Facebook messenger all waiting on my phone and on my Mac at the same time, oh and I’ve taken three calls this morning and answered a few emails while still having several face-to-face conversations with colleagues and students… and it’s 10AM), connectedness is inescapable. It has become such a part of our everyday lives that we barely register the extent to which we are communicating. If you were to imagine each conversation as a ball to be juggled, I imagine most of us would be walking around with our arms whirling around in a blur. 

Text messaging did not kill communication. Nor has it killed language. It has evolved it certainly, but that’s what’s meant to happen with a living language. Were it not for this phenomenon, then verily, I say unto thee that we would still be speaking like Chaucer did, and wherefore wouldst we wish to make that commonplace occurrence? 

The reaction of people to text messaging is akin to many reactions to any innovation that alters the way we approach things. I remember Facebook being dismissed as a fad, and I know many people did not see the point of the first iPad. This trend of resisting the new is something that is seemingly endemic and it is a huge problem. I do not propose that we all naively accept or welcome every shiny new thing that emerges from Silicon Valley or any associated philosophy, but I think we would all benefit from an attitude that says, “Let’s take a look at this thing and see what it can do.” rather than, “This challenges how I look at [insert variable here]. I don’t want anything to do with it.” Being open to new and potentially revolutionary ways of doing things presents a wonderful opportunity to reflect and consider if what we’re doing really is best practice and, even if we ultimately conclude that tried and tested is the best route, at least we’ve given it some thought, which is always helpful.

Cmnts r wlcm ;)

The Learning Commons, One Year On

It's been just over a year since the Learning Commons opened its doors, and what a year it's been! I'm going to limit the writing here and let the images speak for themselves. I am so excited by what we've been able to achieve and am even more thrilled at the prospect of many more successful years!

Laptops are just some of the new devices that are available.

With all the furniture on wheels, it's easy to fit the whole College in for a meeting.

It's not often that I get a photo with no students in it - clearly the term is almost at an end!

The mural behind the reception desk is meant to illustrate school life in all its facets. We're holistic here, so every pursuit is equally important.

Despite all the technological implements, this white board is probably the most-used resource in the room!

LEGO Mindstorms Robotics

Custom beanbags, affectionately known as Plops

It's been an exciting road and there's only more to come. This year alone we've added over 1300 media items to the collection and it's just going to grow bigger and bigger.

Next stop: 1:1 devices!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

This month I’m trying something new: prompts. I have a nasty habit of getting involved in products with all sorts of verve and enthusiasm and then allowing them to fizzle out fairly soon afterwards. That’s why I’ve signed up with WordPress.com’s ‘Writing 101’ course which is free and which will give me daily prompts to inspire my writing. Now, being me, I’m going to avoid simply writing about the topic that’s prompted. Instead, I’m going to go with whatever associations my crazy mind makes and then go from there.

The first thing that leapt into my mind when I looked at the prompt was GoPro. You see, today the Learning Commons received two brand new GoPro Hero 3+ video cameras. They truly are things of beauty. I say this not just because they look cool (which they do), or even because of the potential they have for our students to generate some truly amazing material. What really amazes me is the attention to detail and usability of the products. Let me explain.

After having opened the box, it took me very little time to figure out what went where and how to get the device up and running for the first time. Then, following the information in the instruction manual (yes, I read them), it was no trouble at all getting the camera to communicate with my iPhone via the app. Using this, I could see what the camera was seeing, start recording, change the mode of the camera and turn the device off. I need to stress that I managed to get all this right in about 15 minutes or so. 

This is something that is truly beautiful to me. I can still remember how arduous it was having to install anything remotely technical. Getting Office to run for the first time took a day’s worth of loading and unloading stiffy discs into a drive and waiting for the files to copy bit by bit. And then, inevitably, when you got to disc 32 of 36, somewhere a gremlin would strike, the process would be interrupted and you would have to start all over again. That is, if your computer hadn’t found itself being hurtled through the nearest window.

As time progressed, things got slightly better, but they were still a hassle. Setting the timing on the video recorder so that you didn’t miss your favourite show while you were out for the evening was a process that required several Ph.Ds from at least two major universities. Well, that or a dad who knew which knobs to twist. I should also point out that getting the video recorder to ‘talk’ to the TV in the first place was a tricky matter too.

Now, everything is infinitely easier. To get any device to connect to another, one simply takes a single HDMI cable and plugs it into an HDMI port. Done. My computer updates and installs programmes often without my even knowing it’s happened. I can present from my iPad while I walk around the room, and the picture appears on the wall in real time. And I can take a tiny piece of previously unexplored tech out of the box, and have it remotely tethered to my phone within minutes. Take a moment to think about that. Then, take a moment to think about where it will still go.

I have no doubt that in 20 years, my children will laugh as I regale them with stories of being excited about the release of the first smartwatches. They will try to contemplate what life was like when we had to have actual hard discs of plastic to listen to music and, horror of horrors, wait for new albums to arrive in the stores. I believe this kind of progress is beautiful and I am so excited by what it holds for us.

There are many others who will not feel this way. They may view technology as invasive, or obstructing and they may see many of the newly-emerged gadgets as fads. And, you know what, they may be right. However, I prefer to see these developments as opportunities to learn, to develop and to grow. Making things more easily accessible opens the world for so many people, including our students and it broadens their capacities to change the way we live our lives; to make them better.

So, ultimately, what the GoPro represents to me is the beauty that is human ingenuity. It represents our capacity for improving, for innovating and for creativity. I have no doubt that the students will be astonishing me with their creations very shortly. Judging by the hours of footage users have uploaded to YouTube of their amazing experiences that have been captured using these little cameras, there are many great things to come. I am so excited to share those with you when they eventually arrive.

You do what?

When people ask me what it is I do, I often find it difficult to respond. The standard answer, though, has been that I run a collaborative learning centre. The focus of the centre is to promote the acquisition of 21^st Century Skills which will enable students to lead more meaningful lives in the ever-changing world. This generally cues the next standard response, which can be summarised as ‘Huh?’

          So, what exactly does all this mean?

          Firstly, it’s important to remember why the centre has been called ‘The Learning Commons’. In a previous post, I outlined the reasons for its name, but, just in case you’re only joining the conversation now, the short and simple explanation is: Learning – more than simply acquiring knowledge. Real learning means engaging with content, making sense of it and using it to generate new ideas that have value and personal relevance. Commons – after the village commons: a place where all could come together to use the space as they needed. A place for meeting, for interacting or simply a place to settle down to some quiet reading.

         The next term that requires delving into is ‘collaboration’. For most people working in education, this term has typically been translated into group work, and this is not entirely incorrect. Obviously, for collaboration to take place, several people will need to work together and they will need to reach some kind of common goal. This is a good practice for students to become accustomed to, because it is one of the most needed skills for the workplace. People need to know how to work with others, to discuss, to throw ideas around, to argue and to come to an agreed solution. Without this skill, students do not know how to draw the best from a group and how to contribute meaningfully.

        However, what has tended to happen with group work is that the whole group does not get as involved as would be helpful. Typically, group work involves a conversation with one person ‘scribing’ and writing down the group’s decision. This means that those who do not want to speak up are not heard, and they can get away with it, because ‘the group’ only has to submit one assignment. There has been an attempt to remedy this by including group assessment grids with the other assessment stuff, but this generally results in two things: the group members, not wanting to be unkind to their peers, rates everyone highly regardless of their input, and the assessment is not actually used in anything substantial, rendering it completely pointless.

         For the practice of working in teams to be meaningful to all those involved, there needs to be some kind of shift in the way that it is conducted. The skills inherent in working with others are invaluable, so it important that students are exposed to it, but there needs to be a way to make it more engaging. This is where collaboration comes in.

       Collaboration – real collaboration that is – means working together in such a way that each individual’s personal abilities are utilised to the best of the group.

           Let’s use an analogy to make this a bit easier to understand.

         Some of you may be familiar with the programme called ‘Extreme Makeover – Home Edition’. For those who aren’t, the basic premise is that a needy family has their home completely rebuilt by a team of constructors and designers. The reason I’m making this comparison is because it is a team who take on the project. While everyone participates in getting the house completed, each member of the team speaks to someone in the family and assigns him or herself this room as a personal project. The rooms are then customised according to the recipients’ tastes and likings as well as having the designers’ personal flair added to them. When this all comes together, the house is completed and each room has its own personality, depending on the occupant.

            The reason I’m making this analogy is because this is what happens when people collaborate: a central goal is completed by combining the skill sets of the members within the group. Real collaboration involves having each member of the team take on a ‘personal project’, an aspect of the task that speaks to his or her individual skills and interests. This means that each member is given the chance to use their talents to the benefit of the group as a whole. Furthermore, the fact that each person is tasked with a different aspect to complete means they are accountable to their peers, because if they do not complete their part, the group as a whole will lose out.

           This is what it is like in the workplace: individuals are assigned different aspects of a task and they are expected to complete those aspects. There are more careers than I have time to mention here which make use of this approach and if we want to equip children to be ready for the world of work, then we need to ensure that they are well acquainted with the idea of working collaboratively to reach a common goal.

          The next aspect to the answer regarding what it is I do involves talking about 21^st Century Skills. This is a term that gets bandied about fairly cavalierly in educational circles, but it is seldom explained in any real depth. I shall try to give an overview now, but many of the terms are going to need further examination at a later stage.

                In a nutshell, 21^st Century Skills are:

·         Ways of thinking (including problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking)

·         Ways of working (including collaboration and communication)

·         Tools for working (including ICT and Information Literacy)

·         Skills for living in the world (including citizenship, career guidance and personal responsibility)

Together, these skills are meant to equip individuals for meaningful life in the 21^st Century, a time of great change in nearly every sphere of the way society operates, and in so doing, change the face and shape of the world in which we live.

Hello and welcome to the Learning Commons

Welcome to what I hope will be an ever-growing collection of thoughts, discussion starters, musings and vents from my desk in the Bridge House Learning Commons. 

I plan to use this blog as a way of communicating the ideas which underpin the way we run the centre and as a means for opening up discussions about developments in the world of education. I'm not going to make any promises about the frequency of posts, but I hope there will be a steady flow of ideas from now on.

To start with, allow me to introduce the Learning Commons:

This is a general view of the space, but there are a number of areas within it that all need special mention.

The first area is the junior reading area. The emphasis on this space is on encouraging students to engage with the space and with the books. While I am all for promoting technology in education, books still have a firm place in our schools, at least for the time being.

Instead of being sorted by author, books are shelved by letter, which helps learning them easier. The boxes at the top are for picture books and there is a sense of organised chaos here in that they are randomly arranged to make a good rummaging necessary.

During lessons, students find books, then grab a cushion and they are read to or they are given time to read on their own. Usually when this happens they go off into another nook somewhere in the Learning Commons, but I'll get to those in a little bit.

Soon we will have some rugs and a greater variety of cushions available and this will enable students to tailor make their learning environment to a certain extent.



The highlight of this area, though, is the 'reading fort':

This unit has been included to add a touch of interest to the area and to create variety of spaces. In designing the layout and furnishing of the Learning Commons, the emphasis has been on making the space as multi-functional as possible and to make it appealing to as many students as possible.

The next area is the senior library.

The shelves are looking a tad bare at the moment because of the expansion of storage capacity from the previous library, but there's plenty waiting to be accessioned, covered and put onto them, so they should look at lot healthier soon.

All the shelves are mounted on casters to make it possible to move them around when we need to or when we feel like a change in the space. The odd splashes of colour are just to add variety and, at this stage, have no more significance than looking attractive.

The senior section also moves away from the traditional library model in that each section is sorted by genre and then by author. This was done for a number of reasons, but essentially it makes it easier for students to find books to read. It also makes recommending books easier for teachers. Now all you need to know is the student's interest, and you can find him or her something suitable in a relatively short space of time.

Among the books, there are a few reading nooks that have been designed for students who want somewhere cosy to cuddle up and read. Again, this ties in with the idea of having a variety of spaces available for the students to go.

Even though the space is full of more senior works, when the juniors are given the space to go where they please, the nooks are also a popular choice for them. 

The name Learning Commons was chosen because it implies a shared experience - one where all are always welcome to do as they please as long as they are considerate of others. This is in a bid to encourage behaviours that will be advantageous in the world beyond school. 

As I mentioned before, while we are working on staying on the cutting edge of technological advancements in education, the book's role has not been forgotten. Hence, the non-fiction section:

You might have worked out by now that I'm not a huge fan of straight lines, so there are as many curved units in the centre as we could get to work.

This space is right next to the desktop computer stations, so students can access the non-fiction work close to where they are working on projects. The shelves are low to allow students to put heavy books on top and work on them without having to carry them all over the place.

As we move down towards the 'bottom' end of the Learning Commons, the emphasis is more on quiet, active study than on the more raucous social behaviour encouraged in the other sections. This is why the colours are more muted. The forest vinyl mural which extends over the windows is meant to create a sense of calm and tranquility. There are also plans to lift the carpet in this area and replace it with fake grass which should make the space a really interesting one.

This last area consists of a collaborative work area and individual working stations with 'visors' to help mitigate distractions:

These bean-shaped tables can be configured in a number of ways depending on how the students wish to make use of them.

At the moment, we are still waiting for the proper seating to come through, but soon this will be a far more functional space.

Incidentally, students have found that the little nooks under the tables are wonderful hiding spaces and many have taken to spending break times hidden away beneath them.

Hopefully these cubicles will be conducive to productive individual work. There is enough space for two students to work alongside each other if they so desire, but single users will be able to spread their books and notes out nicely.

There is a plan to include/add pinboards or whiteboards above each station to aid the studying process. The area also has its own dedicated wi-fi access point to ensure that all students can connect their devices if they bring them. Each desk unit also has its own power point to ensure that charging won't be a problem.

There is also an outdoor area, but that's going to stay under wraps until the plans and development have finished (probably another year or so). Needless to say, it's going to extend the Learning Commons into an even more versatile teaching and learning space for all to enjoy.

When people ask what the vision behind the centre is, I direct them to this quote which has been adhered to one of the pillars:

I hope this has piqued some interest, and I hope to keep you intrigued in the coming weeks and with the coming posts. It's an exciting journey ahead, that's for sure!