I am flying home today (or last week because it took some time to post) from Kansas City and the EDspaces conference. After touring facilities, listening to speakers, interviewing vendors and testing furniture, it is time for a little reflection. Mostly conference reaffirms and adds detail to things you already know. For the most part, this conference did just that. Top Topics Flexible Seating – Yes! have more than one type of furniture in a school and in a room. Floor seating, soft seating, wobbly chairs and standing height tables were all over the floor show and discussions on implementation and the educational reason behind the switch were in the sessions. Movement – While integrated with flexible seating, this concept was so prevalent that it needed its own bullet point. Beyond the wobble bottom stools, there were various mechanisms for students to rock, tilt and swivel. Moving bodies created active minds and classroom management would be reduced by
Reflections on the built environment, how we interact with it and the process of planning and designing from someone who grew up with educators, goes on assessments and tours and facilitates the planning process for many schools and other organizations.