Educational

Classroom Design for STEM and STEAM Education

Over the past decade or so there’s been an increased focus on STEM education in America. There are several reasons for the trend, primary among them a continuing shortage of personnel for technology jobs, as well as the increased popularity of competitive robotics.

Even if students choose not to pursue a career in a technology field, a STEM curriculum teaches important skills like critical thinking, innovation and problem solving, and STEM concepts are now being incorporated into other educational disciplines as diverse as music and languages.

STEM, of course, stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Sometimes “arts” is added to the equation, changing the acronym to STEAM. For our purposes, we’ll stick with STEM, because when it comes to classroom design the principles for arts and technological pursuits are very similar.

What are those principles? First, flexibility. A STEM curriculum is not a “sit still at your desk and learn” environment. Considering seating alone, students might need to stand, sit at desks, sit on stools, roll from one place to another on chairs, or flop on a comfy couch to collaborate, all in the same day.

To accommodate all that, both high and low desks/tables are desirable, and they should be able to easily reconfigure for different circumstances. Tables that taper front to back can be used individually or combined in a tight formation for group work (like pizza slices). Surfaces need to be especially durable, also, to stand up to paints and chemicals or the heat of a soldering iron.

Often overlooked in planning educational settings for STEM is the need for storage. STEM is more than just coding and classroom learning; there’s a lot of hands-on work, and projects that may span multiple days or weeks. Just as with art projects, there must be space to safely store this work in between sessions, clearing the room for the next group.

Finally, remember to plan for the technical requirements of a STEM classroom. As students embrace technology, the environment must do the same, and it’s impractical to demonstrate coding techniques on an old-school chalkboard. Requirements will vary according to the curriculum, but electronic whiteboards and projectors are often parts of the solution. And there should be plenty of outlets or power strips so students can charge and power their devices.

Flexibility, durability and technology are three of the main keys to designing a successful STEM (or STEAM) learning space. We’re here to help.

Helpful Tips to Getting Back to School for Educators & Teachers

Transitioning back to early childhood programs or school— or starting them for the first time— can create extra challenges during a pandemic. Learn what parents and teachers can do to help children make a successful transition to in-person learning and care.

https://tools.cdc.gov/medialibrary/index.aspx#/media/id/424704

Douron has listened to your needs and want to help make the school furniture purchasing simple and easy for you. Some questions we have heard:

What kinds of desks does a collaborative classroom need?
What kinds of desks does a knowledge transfer schoolroom need?
How can we make it easier for educators to use technology in their classrooms?

Here is a starting place for you to pick some quick options for school furniture.

If you have additional questions, please call us. We have the answers for 21^st Century classroom furnishings.

Student Well-Being in the Classroom

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought more than its share of challenges, to be sure. Even with all the changes forced upon businesses and the economic impact, few would argue that the greatest disruption has come in education. Parents and teachers alike continue to grapple with exactly what’s best for students at any given time: in-person learning, remote learning or a combination of the two, and plans continue to change from week to week in many places.

There’s no single correct answer to what’s best for the well-being of our students, of course, and the physical presence of students will vary from place to place as guidelines are adjusted to the current situation. But there are some common threads that educators can turn to in order to help ensure student well-being to the greatest degree possible.

Ask. To get where you want to go, you need to know where you’re starting, and regularly checking in with students can help here. A few simple questions, ranging from “How are you feeling today?” to “How included did you feel in class today?” to “What made it harder to learn today?” can assist you in understanding your students’ emotional well-being and making sure you’re addressing the proper issues for them at any given time.

Be flexible. In the pre-COVID era we wrote repeatedly about the benefits of flexible education spaces. The challenges of the past two years have made flexibility even more desirable. Adaptable settings can help with physical distancing, accommodate hybrid situations where some students are joining remotely while others are in person, and – just as before the pandemic – encourage much greater engagement. Further, a flexible space can adapt to whatever the future might bring.

Move. Another thing that hasn’t changed is this: movement helps with learning, and with mental and physical development. To the greatest degree possible in an in-person setting, regular periods of movement should be scheduled. And for students learning from home, regular breaks (with encouragement to move around) will help with focus when they’re back in front of the webcam.

The irregular schedules brought about by the pandemic, and the need to sometimes re-teach forgotten material, leave our students at risk of falling behind. There’s no magic wand to fix the situation, but making sure students are emotionally ready to learn, and giving them appropriate spaces and time for movement, can go a long way.

COVID-19

Douron is fully operational to provide service to our employees, clients, partners and community. We have received required status for distribution to essential companies per state and federal guidelines.

We are continually monitoring the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for daily updates to provide our employees a safe and healthy working environment.

We have established a continuity plan that relies on email, virtual meetings and remote connectivity as our primary contact and response method. With our software phone application, our employees can be reached at their normal extensions. Messages left on team members’ work phones are monitored and answered as quickly as possible.

Our showrooms in Baltimore, Rockville and Delaware are open. All of our facilities are being cleaned and disinfected regularly to ensure a safe work environment.

MANUFACTURING PARTNERS

Douron is monitoring the operational status of our manufacturing partners and we will provide updates, as we receive them, via email.

SALES

Account Executives will continue to be available by their standard email addresses, phone extensions and mobile phone numbers. All responses to projects from our Account Executives will be via email or phone.

CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT

Douron headquartered team members are in office and fully operational. Our continuity plan has been tested to make an easy transition as not to delay our ability to serve you.

WAREHOUSE, DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION (WD&I)

Currently, Douron is accepting all shipments and making deliveries, while safely completing projects. There is restricted entry for delivery drivers to our warehouse and paperwork is being delivered to the door. Our warehouse team has been provided rubber gloves, masks and disinfecting spray to utilize upon receipt of product and to use as necessary. All WD&I employees have proper documentation of the nature of their delivery being essential to the operations of our clients.

After installation, all furniture surfaces and cabinet are sprayed and disinfected. We want to ensure a safe installation process. Our employees are aware and following (CDC) guidelines of daily cleaning of tools and building materials; washing hands as often as possible; covering coughs and sneezes with tissues and avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

WARRANTY AND CLAIMS

Our Corrective Actions Department is reviewing all claims made by clients and reporting information to the appropriate manufacturer.

If you are experiencing any warranty or service related issues, please fill out a warranty request form at https://douron.com/warranty-request/or email correctiveactions@douron.com.

We are working together with you to provide safe and healthy environments.

Educating in Safer Spaces

The only certainty in education during the pandemic has been uncertainty. Some schools remain closed, others are educating in person and still others have embraced a hybrid model to accommodate students both onsite and at home.

For those with students on site, educators and administrators know that the same old ways of doing things won’t work in a pandemic environment. Changes in both procedures and the physical environment, including administrative offices, have been necessary.

For teachers, principals and other administrators readying for a return to the classroom, here’s a look at some components of a safer educational space.

Flexibility: We’ve written many times here about the various benefits of flexible education spaces during normal times, and the ability to adapt has become even more important during COVID-19. Not only does it make sense to have different configurations to support different types of learning, having flexibility makes it easier to accommodate physical distancing.

Sanitizer stations: Clean, sanitized hands are the goal under any circumstances, and never more than now. Touchless sanitizer stations located prominently throughout a school will help achieve that goal.

Desk partitions: We’re seeing a lot of demand now for divider partitions for desks and tables. These are typically transparent to allow eye contact and communication when collaborating on projects, but provide a physical barrier against sneezes and other droplet transmission.

Cubicle walls: For settings that already have cubicles, wall heights are increasing for those same reasons. Many cubicle systems can be retrofitted with higher walls for greater safety in multi-person spaces.

Countertop sneeze guards: From reception to teachers’ desks to cafeteria settings, sneeze guards are also in high demand. Like desk partitions, they’re transparent and offer a physical barrier to reduce the risk of transmission.

With proper planning and design modifications, classrooms can be a safer space for students and educators alike.

Questions about furniture or design for education? Contact Douron.

The Flexible Classroom

If you have school-aged children, chances are that you’ve suddenly found yourself in the home-schooling business … in addition to trying to get your own work done at home. We’ve written quite a bit in this space about successful classroom environments. Does any of that translate to the home, and how can it help?

Probably the most important thing to know about trends in learning environments is the move away from the traditional teacher-up-front, everyone-facing-forward classroom and towards flexible spaces to support different types of activities and different types of learning.

This definitely applies at home. If your child or children need to participate in online classes, a quiet, private area as free from distractions as possible is best. The fewer things going on around them to take their eyes and ears off the screen, the better. They’ll be more engaged in what’s being presented and better prepared to participate. Consider having them use earbuds, which will help block outside noises and also keep the session from distracting others.

For these sessions, you don’t want them flopped on the couch somewhere. Sitting up straight at a desk or table will be more conducive to maintaining the focus they need.

Group activities with siblings, on the other hand, will want larger, flexible spaces to the greatest degree possible. A large table suitable for educational games or jigsaw puzzles is great if one is available, and if it’s in a room that can be closed off so the inevitable noise doesn’t disturb your home-working, so much the better. And there are plenty of educational shows and activities that can be served up via your smart TV while the kids are comfy on the couch.

(As noted in this post, the colors used in a learning environment can make a big difference too, but we’re going to guess that you’re not up for redecorating right at this moment.)

No one knows your child and the way he or she learns better than you do, but if you have the ability to provide multiple spaces for different types of learning, you’ll find that it breaks up the day into manageable chunks and helps with attention spans.

Maybe you can even get some of your own work done.

Question about learning environments? Contact us at Douron.