Brilliant Classroom Furniture Ideas for 2019
As the new year approaches, educators are looking for innovative ways to use classroom furniture to help their students learn more effectively and become more invested in their projects and school work. In the past, schools gave little attention to classroom design, but this matter has changed greatly over the last few years.
Educators and school board members are now realizing that they way that they use space in their school and classrooms has a major impact on student learning. Students are more focused and productive when they can work in a learning environment that is comfortable and allows for movement and collaboration.
Strong emphasis is being placed on technology, group projects, and STEM curriculum. For this reason, many educators have switched to more modern and flexible classroom furniture such as comfortable seating, mobile workstations, and makerspace tables. Below, we’ve highlighted some unique and creative classroom furniture ideas that educators can use to improve their learning space in the year 2019.
Makerspaces & Literacy: How Makerspaces Facilitate Storytelling
Technology is an important part of our world. With an increasing number of jobs developing in the tech industry, it’s important that schools prepare students by teaching them how to use technology in class. And teachers have seen incredible results from using technology to teach important STEM concepts, including an increase in student engagement and performance.
But where does that leave literacy and the arts? Are students missing out on fundamental skills as they’re swept away in the tech world? This is the concern of many educators and parents.
However, some teachers have found a new method for bringing the arts and literacy into classroom projects. By using makerspaces as a hub for hands-on activities and group assignments, teachers have found that they can easily incorporate writing, and literacy into STEM lessons by immersing students in the imaginative process of storytelling.
Exploring Modern Trends in Coworking Spaces
No longer just a growing trend, the coworking movement is now in full swing. It’s hard to believe that coworker offices first showed up on the scene in the business world almost ten years ago. Since then, the number of coworking spaces has increased tremendously, and offices have evolved in inspiring ways.
Creativity runs wild through today’s coworking offices. One can walk into a coworking space and encounter everything from employees doing yoga during the workday to indoor gardens, game rooms with foosball tables and ping pong to fun seating options like bean bags and indoor swings. Owners of these spaces have taken innovative approaches to addressing their design, flow, and layout. Coworking furniture is carefully selected and spaces are designed with employee well-being being the highest priority.
How Coworking Improves Employee Health, Happiness & Productivity
In the past few years, coworking offices have grown tremendously in number. Many businesses have transitioned from traditional office designs with cubicles to more open layouts where people can work together, converse, and collaborate.
For people who are unfamiliar with the concepts behind coworking, there may be some confusion about why these changes are happening. Cubicle office designs have existed for so long, so why fix something that doesn’t seem to broken? Well, the truth is that, in a way, it sort of is. Many of the jobs that are now in high demand like those in the engineering and technology industries involve many tasks that require collaborative work.
Additionally, businesses are now seeing that employees actually work better in coworking environments and become more invested in their jobs. New data shows that 89% of workers report experiencing improvements in their mood and happiness when switching to a collaborative work space. In addition to improving employee happiness, an abundance of research shows that coworking also improves workers’ health and productivity. All of this translates into larger profits for companies.
How Makerspaces Can Be Used to Teach STEM & STEAM Curriculum
In recent years, STEM and STEAM curriculum has risen in popularity due to an increased need to prepare students for positions in the industries of technology, medicine, and engineering. STEM programs stress concepts related to science, technology, math, and engineering while STEAM programs add the arts into the mix.
Whether your school uses STEM or STEAM curriculum, the goal is generally the same – to integrate concepts from multiple subjects into one activity or learning experience. This means that schools need equipment and space that accommodates hands-on projects. That’s why many schools are starting to add makerspaces to classrooms and libraries so students can more readily engage in these types of projects and effectively grasp concepts that are part of STEM and STEAM curriculum.