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Ruth Nathan gave us an introduction to the use of space as a feature of Lesson Design, showing us that beyond a doubt serious discussion of the use of space is not only intellectually interesting but productive of student results. Without the graphics (Marcia, are you there?), much of the impact of her presentation will be lost. Nevertheless, let try. First, Ruth presented a year-long developmental theory for the design of space in an elementary classroom. At the beginning of the year, the space design looks pretty traditional, chairs tables in a row facing the teacher.
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At this time, Ruth is introducing the class to how the class functions and starting them with familiar materials. The students are not encouraged to move around. Later in the year, Ruth appears to be doing less direct instruction (the pace modified to fit the class), and a different arrangement of space is introduced (something like the following----in which two tables face each other—and the pairs of tables are oriented in rows):
As the class gets rolling, Ruth begins to move to yet another arrangement (if that seems right for the class) with three Circles, one Circle along the walls, an inner Circle, and a third inner-inner Circle. In the Circle along the walls, she has a science center in one corner, a poetry Center in another corner, a math center on another wall, a writing center next to it---both of these last two near her desk and computer. On another wall is a computer for student use and a Data Bank. In the inner circle of the room, she has 5 clusters of 5 desks/tables in a Circle around the room. These are numbered, and the students in each cluster are carefully selected. Finally, in the inner-inner Circle of the room, Ruth has what she calls No Man’s Land. This space is used for teacher conferences, demonstrations. Or sometimes for students who want to sit alone. No Man’s Land is a Quiet ZONE for student work. The outer Circle allows more noise. Each of the Centers has its own organization. The science center has a sink and a cupboard nearby. The Poetry area has books available. And so forth.
Then, Ruth has a door leading outside, and at this point, we enter a garden the children are planting, a table where they can sit. In this development, the students have more choices about where to work, have more resources to select from. But these are slowly introduced, giving the students time to understand the overall structure. My own response---in addition to my amazement at the insights Ruth had about a topic, was that this kind of developmental approach to structure was what the Moffett Interaction series needed when it was introduced.
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