The physical environment of a class or school is extremely important and often overlooked. Batsheva Frankel is the host, writer, and producer of the Overthrowing Education podcast and tackles this issue in her latest episode. The show began with conversations surrounding what works and what needs to be changed in education and is all about creating discussions involving everyone who cares about education. The latest exchange on how to improve involves different ways to enhance student engagement and provide true equity by focusing on the design of the classroom. Kevin Stoller joins the conversation and gives lots of tips for educators even with no budgets, and in an interview update, talks about what to do now, and why there are better options than plexiglass

How The Physical Environment Can Enhance The Entire Experience

Currently, most classroom spaces have a ton of distraction that can take away from students ability to learn effectively. The idea of "decorating" classrooms is more for the teacher and how they would like their classroom culture to be perceived. But as educators begin putting themselves in the shoes of the student, more and more teachers are finding that it is an added distraction then anything else.

Kevin Stoller, CEO of Kay-Twelve and author of the book Creating Better Learning Environments, explained a terrific starting point on how to enhance the learning environment with absolutely no cost involved. "The best place to start is literally pull everything out of there. One, it's going to immediately change what the students perception is of the space. Students still have this idea that they have to raise there hand, they can't speak unless they are called on, there are only certain places in the classroom that they can go, and if you start with something that just shocks them, that is a really good place to start. Students will then begin to figure out how they learn best whether that is sitting on the floor, standing up, or some other personal techniques."