kathleen.johnston

Last year I noticed that the ICT room with its suite of imac desktops was being used less and less by the children. This played on my mind- this was a knock-on effect of bringing ICT back into the classrooms, with wireless networking and a suite of PC tablets mainly allowing it to happen. I was, of course delighted that we had such technology at our fingertips, but what about the ICT room? Gradually there seemed to be a change of focus. The room does have a dual purpose, sharing space with maths and science resources and gradually children were making more use of the room for practical activities. I must admit I was getting exasperated as ‘my space’ was often a bit untidy, with various measuring tools left lying about for me to put away.

Over the summer, gorgeous big cupboards were installed and all the maths and science equipment found homes and the room was neat and tidy again, but lacked an essential ingredient – children! So I had a wee think to myself. What about a change of focus for the room? How about children using the room for all sorts of reasons? How about creating a learning environment which motivated the children to use and develop investigative and research skills, ask questions, problem solve, take ownership over what and how they learn in this particular environment. Phew!

So, over the past few weeks I have given this room a great deal of thought. I have picked the brains of all my colleagues, and any poor soul that happens to visit. Maggie, our probationer teacher was a scientist in a former life and she has been a great help. My first job was to have a clear out of all resources which were now out of date – start with a clean slate! I want to have ‘ hands-on’ learning, so I am creating themed areas within the room. Today I created a display to do with plants, with posters, plants, books, CD Roms, websites, a microscope, plants and magnifying glasses. I have also displayed key questions for the children to answer, should they wish to. The children will be encouraged to interact with the display, adding to it what they find out. I will also be looking for feedback from staff and pupils about what will make the room better, and what themes they would like for next term. The intention will be that gradually over the next few months, staff and pupils can take responsibility for themes within the room – a sharing of good ideas.

I am aiming to create areas within the room which will cater for all learners, with a tv and video corner and an area to listen to different types of music on headphones. We have also painted one of the pinboards white so that it can be used for video-conferencing – we are going to call it our communication wall.

It’s early days yet and I am still at the developing stages for the overall layout of the room. It seems to have a mixture of the past, present and future about it. I am constantly reminded of ‘interest tables’ and ‘hands-on learning’ from when I was a wee girl. But it also hopefully will have the focus that A Curriculum for Excellence will bring to our learning and teaching. We are all looking forward to see what happens in the room over the next few months. I think I just want to feel the way for a wee while and observe what works and what doesn’t, and I’m sure the children will keep me right!

By the way, if any body has any suggestions, I’d be glad to hear them. Also, I’m trying to think of a name for the room – not a vital component but it is nagging at me. Any thoughts?