Teacher desk ideas
Calm the Clutter with Teacher Desk Organization Tips
Teacher desks often become chaos by the end of the week—or sometimes even by the end of the school day! These teacher desk organization tips are easy to implement and will help you control the clutter! With a range of solutions, you’re sure to find one that will help keep you sane.
(Note: WeAreTeachers may collect a small portion of the profit from links within this article. We only showcase items we love!)
1. Start a teacher toolbox
Not enough drawer space? Keep all of the essentials at your fingers tips with a multiple drawer toolbox kit like this! The best part is you can customize it however you like (even include a drawer for chocolate pick-me-ups).
Source: @teachingprimarywithkatelyn
2. Add a cart for extra storage
Extend your desk with a storage cart for more organization space. The mobility of the cart also allows you to bring it around the classroom if you store items you may want to grab as you teach a lesson.
Source: @thepinspiredteacher
3. Utilize the wall space
Here’s a great solution to the cluttered desk. Using the wall space near your desk is a game changer! If you have a filing cabinet or magnetic surface nearby, add magnetic clips for papers, magnetic baskets for pens, or magnetic round tins for paper clips and tacks. If you don’t have a magnetic area, try command strips.
Source: @teacherinthejungle
4. Lazy Susan to the rescue
Lazy Susans aren’t just for spices in the kitchen! Try one out on your desk and give it spin to pick up exactly what you need.
Source: @marleymegb
5. Pick up a makeup organizer
Acrylic makeup organizers have the perfect little compartments that will fit all of your teacher accessories, too! Not to mention how aesthetically pleasing this one is.
Source: @primary_positivity
6. Add a sticky note tower
Who doesn’t want a sticky note tower? This fun desk addition will keep all of your note papers in one place.
Source: @teachingwithmrgammon
7. Add a pegboard
If your desk is up against or alongside a wall, attach a pegboard. Customize your storage with different hooks or pegboard baskets to fit your organization needs.
Source: @mrs.misjunskindergarten
8. Wall shelving clears desk space
Shelving can be so helpful to remove items that don’t need to be sitting on your desk. Give yourself more space by easily mounting a shelf.
Source: @prayandteach
9. Ditch the file drawer
If you have a desk drawer filled with files, consider moving them to a file storage container to free up space. You’ll now have so much room for more things you need on a daily basis!
Source: @coffeeteachandinspire
10. Put items in pouches
Pouches are so easy to throw in your drawers without having to worry about things being a mess. Grab an array of pouches that you can fill with personal items, pens, notepads to attend meetings, and more.
Plus, clear pouches make it easy to see what’s inside.
Source: @teachinghistoryinthemiddle
11. Add a desk shelf
A desk shelf adds another layer of storage to your space. You can store smaller items underneath, with easy-to-grab essentials on top.
Source: @coloringincardigans
12. Label everything
If you have files or other paper folders in a desk drawer, be sure to label them for easy access. We’re sure you’re already on the label train, but if not, a label maker is worth the investment.
Source: @mrsjonescreationstation
13. Take time to organize drawers
Tired of wasting time shuffling through drawers? Take the time to organize items for easy access. Pick up a set of desk drawer organizers, set aside an hour, and thank us later for having taken the next step of teacher desk organization.
Source: @mrs.craftandteach
14. Downsize what you don’t need
We know you love that teacher mug from the holidays, but does it need to sit on your desk? Cutting down on the number of items you have will make you feel more organized as a whole.
We know teacher desks can often get chaotic like pictured above during busy days, and getting rid of items that aren’t in use is a helpful tip to combat this.
Source: @missgirlingsclassroom
15. Organize your cords
There’s nothing more frustrating than a mess of tangled cords. These cord clips are so helpful and can attach anywhere on your desk to keep pesky cords from running about.
Source: @ispeakorganized
16. Use the sides of your desk
With some command hooks and binder clips, you now have a new area to store student handouts or display a sign
Source: @beccasmusicroom
17. Create a space you love
You should work, grade, and make lesson plans in a space you love. Do yourself a favor and make your teacher desk functional, yet inviting. Add pops of your favorite colors, patterns, or pictures of family and pets. Having an area you appreciate will only make you more willing to keep your teacher desk organized.
Source: @justateacherfromakron
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Loving these teacher desk organization tips? Also check out other classroom organization inspiration.
Teacher Desk Organization Ideas: How to Declutter and Organize Your Workspace in 2022 - Clutter-Free Classroom
If you are looking for teacher desk organization ideas, then you’ve found the right place! This post shares 5 steps for transforming your desk from a hot mess to a systematized, tidy workspace. The first step is to reflect on why it’s important for you to have a tidy workspace. This will give you the motivation to complete the project. Whenever you feel like you are losing steam, think back to why you are taking on this task. The second step is to determine if you actually need a teacher desk in your classroom. This post will talk you through the process of making that decision with reflection questions. The third step is to take action and declutter your desk.
This post will walk you step-by-step through how to do that. The fourth step is the organization phase. The final step is to maintain your newly organized space. There are 20 tips to support you in doing so down below.
This post will equip you with the information you need to declutter and organize your teacher desk and establish systems and routines for maintaining an organized work space. Get all of the teacher desk organization ideas below!
Below are 5 steps for organizing your teacher desk. There are tons of great teacher desk organization ideas imbedded in them as well.
1. Reflect on why it’s important for you to have a clean workspace.
Before we get into anything related to teacher desk organization, think about why you want a tidy workspace and the benefits of keeping a clean desk. Below are some examples to help you start the brainstorm process.
- A clean workspace will improve efficiency.
- It will present an organized, professional image.
- Having systems to maintain your space daily helps protect confidential data and student information.
- It will make you more relaxed and less stressed.
2. Determine if you need your teacher desk.
Again, before we get into any teacher desk organization tips, think about if you even need a desk. Teacher “desks” often become teacher “offices,” which take up a good chunk of the classroom. If you are short on space, you may want to consider doing away with the desk completely. Ask yourself the reflection questions below to help you determine if you actually need your desk.
What do I use my desk for?
If the answer is storage, then think about other places that you could store those same materials (or better yet, declutter the space and get rid of some of them). If you use your desk for planning, grading, etc. then consider alternative spaces that would work better.
Am I the only one benefitting from the space?
Teacher desks frequently monopolize a large fraction of the classroom, yet only one person is getting use out of it.
Consider how you could use the space to maximize student learning.
How does this piece of furniture affect my teaching?
Most teachers report that they don’t spend much time at their desk. When children are present, they are working with them and not sitting alone at a desk. When they are out of the room, there are tables available to work at.
How does my desk area usually look and how does that make me feel?
If whenever you look at your desk you feel overwhelmed and stressed, then that’s a good sign that this is a problem area for you. Another thing to consider is the feeling you get whenever an administrator, colleague, or parent walks in your classroom. You know your desk is a direct reflection of you. If it is cluttered and messy, then that sends a message to anyone who sees it.
Is getting rid of the desk an option? If not, how could it be repurposed?
I currently have a teacher desk in my classroom. I doubt it could be removed because I don’t think there would be anywhere to store it.
However, I am planning to repurpose it as an area that kids can work at. It’s higher than the tables so it’ll be a good option for those friends that like to stand and work.
If you have determined you need a teacher desk, then let’s focus on how to make it organized and more efficient! Read below for the next steps!
3. Declutter your desk.
It’s very easy to accumulate a lot of unnecessary “stuff” in and around a desk. Start by determining what you really need and what you can remove from the classroom.
And remember, the more you get rid of the less you’ll need to organize.
- Gather 2 small sorting containers (labeled keep and donate), a recycling bin, and a trash can. Place the sorting containers on top of your desk. Open one drawer at a time, remove the items and place them into the appropriate container.
- Now go through the container of items you plan to keep, sort and reconsider the items. Place like items together (pens/pencils, stickers/stamps, paperclips/binder clips, etc).
Get rid of anything that is considered excess. You don’t need three scissors or four bottles of whiteout. - If you have a teacher supply closet at your school simply place the excess staples, paperclips, and other items there. It’ll be there when you need it. If you can’t stand to part with it then consider getting a small storage box and placing all of the duplicate and overstocked items inside so that your actual workspace is simplified.
- After you have removed everything from your desk, give it a deep cleaning. Add in organizational systems for sorting objects with labels before returning items to it.
- Designate a space for things that come and go with you each day so they are not left out on your desktop (i.e. cell phone, camera, keys).
- Try putting everything you need into a box next to your desk for a week or two. When you take an item out to use place it inside your desk. Reevaluate the items that are still in the box and weren’t used at the end of the designated time period.
Do you really need them?
4. Organize your desk.
The next step is to organize your desk. Below are 12 teacher desk organization ideas that may be helpful!
Avoid the big desk calendar.
The first teacher desk organization idea on the list is to avoid the big desk calendar you often see on teachers’ desks. Those giant calendars that cover the surface of a desk look like a good idea, but can be problematic for several reasons. Desk calendars are large and awkward. The items placed on top need to be removed or shuffled to access it, and those items don’t always find their way back to the correct home.
A much better solution is a small planner that is portable and easy to use. If you prefer to view the year or month at a glance, consider creating a display next to your desk that you can see, but not bury.
Only put items you actually need in the desk.
Most likely you will never find yourself in a situation that requires you to immediately put your hands onto 24 pens, 13 boxes of paperclips, and 43 elastics.
Use smaller, marked containers to house the surplus of these items and keep only a few handy in your desk.
Create smaller compartments.
The third teacher desk organization idea on the list is to use small boxes or drawer organizers to contain small items in your desk. This will keep your desk not only looking tidy, but will make it easy to find and put away objects that would otherwise be tossed loosely inside.
Label the areas within your desk.
A label greatly improves your chances of returning items to the correct location. It also prevents you from placing items into spots where they do not belong.
Create a bulletin board next to your desk.
You can either invest in a cork board or simply cover the existing wall with paper and border. Use it to display important items like schedules, lunch menus, procedures, etc. If an item is confidential (for example: student addresses and phone numbers), create a “pocket” to hide the information, but still keep it at your fingertips.
A file folder works well for this.
Organize your tasks.
The next teacher desk organization idea on the list is to use stacking trays or a vertical wall system for separating items. Some great categories include: to do (things that need to be addressed, filled out or copied), to file (papers that need filing), and to read (items that need your full attention). Also consider that trash can to be your fourth and most important filing category.
Create a home for your plan book.
Always keep it in the same place when you are not writing in it. Inform a close colleague about where you keep your plan book and teacher manuals, so that in the event of an unplanned absence everything will be accessible.
Store small items into your desk.
This includes paperclips, pens, erasers, and such. Desktop organizers seem like a good idea, but add visual clutter and take up valuable space. They also make it too easy for children to access them.
Clean off your desktop often.
Get in the habit of always cleaning off your desktop before lunch and before you go home. This will ensure that you don’t reach the point of being overwhelmed by the task.
Relocate items on your desk.
Take the items that are typically found on a teacher’s desktop and relocate them to a drawer. They’ll still be easy to access, but won’t be cluttering the area. This includes things like post-its, a stapler, tape, etc.
Use small containers within the drawer to keep things organized.
One of my favorite teacher desk organization ideas on the list is to use small containers within drawers. Labeling the baskets is helpful too. There are some great desk organizer products available, but I prefer to keep everything out of sight.
Always be ready for a substitute.
Strive to leave a clean workspace with emergency sub plans out and visible when you leave each day. Not only will you feel more productive coming into a clean spot, but you will never need to worry about sub plans again.
5. Establish systems and routines.
Once your desk is organized, develop routines to make it easy to stay that way. Get into the habit of always clearing off your desktop at the end of prep, before lunch and before you leave for the day. This will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed or having to spend a ton of time at it at once.
Stop using sticky notes for reminders.
Instead of using sticky notes, keep one notebook designated for reminders and to do lists. I love me a Post-It too, but they make your work area look cluttered.
Limit the family photos and kid art.
It’s nice to have pictures of your family available so that your students can connect with you and know you are human. It’s also great to be able to look at the smiling faces or your loved ones while you are away from them. However, your classroom should not be a shrine to your family. Consider creating a personalized binder cover insert or a page protector with your personal photos. You could also go digital and simply look at your phone when you want to see those adorable little smiles.
Say no to knick-knacks.
Limit the personal items on your desk. They take up valuable real estate, are another thing to manage, and could get damaged accidentally. We want everything on our desk to serve a purpose.
Schedule times to clean your desk.
Make this a routine. My class takes a few minutes to wash their hands and gather their recess things just before lunch. They also take about five minutes to pack up to go home at dismissal. I use both of those times to “manage” my desk. I quickly recycle anything I don’t need, address things in my action file, and relocate anything that has been placed onto the surface. Because it never gets to the “out of control” stage, I am able to tend to it during these two short periods of time. After the kids leave for the day I wipe the desk down and place my emergency sub binder in the center of the desk.
Stick to one type of pen.
Pick a brand and color that you like and use it exclusively. Only keep 2-3 on hand at a time.
Don’t print emails or resources unless you absolutely need to.
Reducing the amount of paper you have also reduces the amount you’ll need to manage. Avoid having unnecessary papers as much as possible.
Keep a clear desktop.
You’ll be amazed at how this makes you feel psychologically. To achieve this goal store things in the drawers, attach photos to the desk or on a nearby wall.
Consider creating a “traveling office.”
Create a traveling office by placing a pair of scissors, a stapler, a roll of tape, a couple pens and some paperclips into a portable tote or caddy that can be stored on a shelf, under a table or in a cupboard when not in use. This gives you so much flexibility!
Have a plan for all those student drawings that are presented to you.
Perhaps you could designate a small bulletin board and rotate the gifted artwork or simply say, “this will look beautiful on my fridge at home.”
Create smaller containers and spaces.
Small containers are a great way to store items within drawers. Use small boxes, plastic containers, muffin tins or draw sorters to keep things organized. Go the extra step by labeling each section. It greatly increases the odds that you’ll put things back into their proper place. As I mentioned earlier, this is definitely one of my favorite teacher desk organization ideas!
Find a method of managing cords that works well for you.
You can use zip ties to tighten them and/or a basket to corral them. You could also cut holes in a box to keep the cords together while in use. Attach a label near the power source to identify the purpose of the cord.
Do not use your workspace as a closet.
Designate a closet or drawer to house your purse, coat, and lunch bag during the workday. Try to refrain from hanging your coat on the back of your chair.
Establish routines for maintaining a clutter-free, clean workspace.
Keep a container of baby wipes in your newly decluttered drawer.
Get in the habit of clearing the surface throughout the day and wiping it down before you go home.
Keep your keyboard clean.
Use the sticky end of a Post-It note to clean between the keys on your keyboard.
Avoid eating at your desk.
It will invite mess. Plus, you need a real break during the day.
Have a designated space for notes.
Having a spot for notes and a method for organizing your Post-Its will help you avoid little scraps of paper here, there and everywhere.
Avoid a generic “inbox tray.”
Raise your hand if you are guilty of this! Instead of using a generic inbox tray, invest in a filing system. Create sections for managing papers (i.e. need response, to be copied, to be corrected, to be filled out, etc). This will keep things current and allow you to have less piles to shuffle.
Go paperless.
Do this as much as possible. Use your iPhone for notes, calendar, etc. to reduce the amount of paper you need to manage.
Keep a paper shredder and a trash can within close proximity.
This will make it easier to purge items in your work area as needed. This is a highly underrated teacher desk organization idea, but it makes life so much easier.
Designate one day a month for a deep desk cleaning.
This is a great routine to get into. Get rid of anything you’ve acquired recently that you don’t need along with items you may have initially saved.
In closing, we hope you found these teacher desk organization ideas helpful. If you did, then you may also be interested in my classroom organization workshop, as well as these posts:
- How to (Finally) Declutter Your Classroom this Year
- 5 Time Savers for Elementary Teachers
- How Teachers can Save Money on Groceries Each Week
The third teacher: how to make furniture part of the learning process My school is in a historical monument on New Holland. We studied the interiors of five different schools to understand how to make furniture part of the educational ecosystem.
A couple of years ago, the director of the Yekaterinburg school "Dots" asked the designers to design one of the classrooms without a teacher's table. Instead, it was decided to put a bedside table for manuals and a saddle chair on wheels, on which the teacher would move around the classroom. “The idea fits perfectly into the format of this school. There, students and teachers were "on you", gave each other nicknames. But will a 60-year-old man, for example, be able to ride around in a chair and do without a table?”, - says the designer, founder of the Arkhbuka 9 studio0008 Evgeny Golovko .
“As soon as we put the desks in a circle and seat the children facing each other, the teacher needs to abandon the frontal position. He can no longer use a regular table and chair. The question arises - how ready are we ourselves to learn new things, and how much we understand the child we teach in this sense, ”says Maria Valganova, founder of the Smart School network of schools.
“You invent not furniture, but an ecosystem, of which this furniture is a part,” explained the head of the Furniture Design Department of the Stroganov Academy, co-founder of the CheburDesign 9 bureau0008 Kirill Cheburashkin live on EdDesign Mag. Because furniture for preschoolers is one thing, but for elementary school it is completely different, because different schools profess different principles and pedagogical systems, because schools have different footage and budgets.
This is a text that school furniture is not an external circumstance that teachers and students have to deal with somehow, but part of the educational scenario, the processes that will take place in this school. The fact that “school furniture” does not exist at all.
Astana Garden School: the interior sets you up for education
Place : Nur-Sultan (Astana), Kazakhstan // Principles : maintaining an "appetite for learning" through the environment, brightness, functional zoning, attention to rest and unloading
Children walk past the classroom and see through the stained glass window what is happening inside.
This sparks in them the desire to practice. We try to make the furniture and furnishings “warm up” the child – we use stylish mobile furniture in rich, “delicious” colors. This creates an appetite for learning.
Nurmukhammed Dosybaev, founder and director of Astana Garden School
About the building: The school building with an area of 13,000 square meters, designed for 900 students, was built from scratch by the Kazakh company Astanagrazhdanproekt. For interior design, customers involved local and foreign designers, including Evgeniy Golovko . The campus consists of three buildings with a variable number of floors - from 3 to 5, sports and laboratory complexes.
About educational interiors: The school program provides for the active cooperation of children during lessons. Therefore, it was decided to purchase personal trapezoidal desks that can be easily connected for group work.
However, designer Yevgeny Golovko, who was responsible for furnishing the classrooms, noticed that some teachers still practice frontal work. “The teachers nod their heads in agreement, but the tables remain motionless. But for group work, teachers use spaces outside the classroom, of which there are many in the school,” says Golovko. Having discovered this, the designer designed a new structure for group work - a large wave-shaped table with drawers for paper, rosettes and cells for flower pots. You can work on it in groups or alone.
About extra-curricular space: Most of the school year in Kazakhstan is cold, so the space for rest and unloading was arranged right in the school - in the basement. Instead of the usual narrow corridors, wide spaces with niches were designed between the classes, in which tubs with real trees were placed. Under them you can sit on a bench or a pouffe. The recreation space easily transforms into a conference area for events.
Photo courtesy of Astana Garden School
About furniture for teachers: At Astana Garden School, all subjects are taught in English. Local teachers work here, who returned to their homeland after graduating from Western universities. The mission of the school is to raise the status of the teacher in the country and respect for him. “Teachers are our locomotive, everything rests on them. They are capricious. But we internally rejoice that they show themselves,” says Nurmukhkhamed Dosybaev. When, when designing classrooms in a new school building, it was decided to make a teacher's room for senior teachers on the first floor, the teachers protested. “They wanted to be able to rest away from children. In addition, there was too little space in the room on the first floor. Then together we chose a quiet place for them on the top floor with a beautiful view,” says the manager. In a cozy lounge with a kitchen, space for relaxation and individual work, we even had to buy new desktops.
The first option - group models for coworking, teachers rejected, citing the need to retire. As a result, everyone has their own separate table.
IKEA care, problems with Europe, how much does a chair cost? Among manufacturers, no more than five players stand out, which cover most of the demand at the expense of their production capacities, says Yevgeny Golovko from the Arkhbuka bureau.
“There are several manufactures of individual products: we work with such in St. Petersburg and Moscow, we are interested in productions in Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk,” he continues. - These factories are ready to do everything according to the working documentation that we provide: sealed edges, rounded corners, and so on. But the power is not always enough. Therefore, a request for a circulation, for example, 90 desks, can cause difficulties.
Illustration: Varvara Arshinova
The departure of IKEA, which bought many custom school projects, as well as problems with the supply of furniture from European manufacturers that arose after February 24, cause the market to turn east: schools with money are looking for suppliers in China, Turkey.
Some players see in this situation the potential for the growth of domestic production of custom furniture. In addition to Maria Valganova from Smart School, Evgeny Golovko spoke about his intention to open his own factory: he and his partners are considering St. Petersburg and a couple more sites in Siberia in order to adapt the cost of products. “We are making a basic list of furniture. Soon we will make the first product drafts. So far, of course, there are a lot of questions, but there are verbal applications, and we see the need of the market,” he says.
About public spaces: Traditional and new approaches clashed in the arrangement of the school library. When designing the building, they drew the usual matrix system for it - the space in terms of footage was allocated only for storing books and reading. Golovko suggested taking into account the different needs of users - not only to read, but also to draw, scan books that are not issued, and give a lecture.
However, at first the customer did not understand why such a complex space should be organized in the library, and the places for all these activities were not laid in advance.
“In a modern library, it is not enough just to place a certain number of books. But the problem of a place for various activities is easier to solve at the design stage of the building, so as not to play “tags” later, - says Evgeniy Golovko. As a result, the customer listened to the designer's opinion.
Photos courtesy of Astana Garden School
Academy of light: studying in the lotus position
Place : Bali // Principles of : balance of activity and passivity, attention to one's own body, different furniture options and seating in the same room
After moving to Bali, we began to observe what was happening in local schools and how ideas were connected with the environment. We saw that in the lower grades, children sit in the lotus position at special small desks.
But since it is difficult to sit in this position for a long time, they constantly change their position. This approach is very in tune with the Academy of light curriculum. Children are taught to write with both their right and left hands, which means they have to lean slightly to the left and then to the right. Relaxation is practiced at school - rest on the floor or sitting straight at a low desk in the lotus position, with your head in your hands. Asia has taught us a harmonious combination of activity and passivity.
Elena Trach, co-founder of the Academy of light school
About the history of the school: Now in the "nomadic" school Elena Trach and Alexei Suslov during the lesson you can not only sit, but also stand, and even lie down. But in 2006, when they equipped their first half-board school in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, without hesitation, they bought ordinary school furniture - desks, chairs, benches.
At the lessons, the children sat "as expected", and did their homework in a variety of poses. “Many worked, lying on the carpet, on their stomachs. Some did almost a headstand,” Elena Trach recalls. The desks at that moment were not changed, but the carpets were not removed either - the position on the stomach with a raised head is good for posture. Academy of light has already experienced several global moves. From the Dnieper, the school moved to Karachay-Cherkessia, then to the Moscow region, from there 8 years ago - to Bali. Together with the founders of the school, its pedagogical staff partly wanders. Now one of their first students works at the school.
About the building: After several moves within the island, the Academy of light settled in a separate two-story building with a personal protected area. It has three separate entrances. Five rooms are reserved for classes, for large events there are two common halls. On the territory there is a swimming pool, a campfire site, training workshops, a medical center and a hall for dancing and physical education.
About extracurricular space: A day at the school (40 children from 7 to 17 study here and 10 teachers work) begins in a room free from furniture with co-setting in a “low position”. Pupils and teachers sit in a circle on the floor on personal pillows (the floor is tiled, so sometimes it is also covered with mats), share their feelings and prepare for a new day.
About educational interiors: Observing students in the new, "southern" conditions, the founders of the school began to better understand which elements they really needed. For example, in elementary grades, where children are very mobile and get tired quickly, they need small desks and a soft carpet constructor, which they can quickly switch to during a lesson with a teacher. At the same time, high school students often get up during the lesson, but it is inconvenient for them to work like that at a desk of normal height. Then furniture was assembled in the classrooms for several seating options - ordinary desks, small tables for sitting on the floor and desks with a lifting mechanism for one and several people.
Furniture for the school is made to order on the island by local craftsmen; the founders brought with them only laboratory equipment and teaching kits from the mainland.
in which schools you can spin in a chair
Before moving to Bali, Academy of light used trapezoidal desks that can be moved for group work. But having moved to the east, the couple realized that such desks can be completely replaced with a designer carpet. Children can perform the individual part of the work at a common large table. It necessarily has a rounded shape and this is directly related to the peculiarity of the school. Children are united in groups of different ages, in which the older ones help the younger ones, and the absence of corners on the furniture facilitates movement.
Over time, it was decided to put not only ordinary chairs in the classrooms, but also stools. “We have noticed that children often prefer the backless option. The stool gives a feeling of freedom and good tone.
In our school, the child has the right to even lie down. The body always feels when it needs to relax,” says Elena Trach. At the same time, the teacher specifically pronounces the situations in which you need to get together. And if the child suddenly “spreads out” on a chair or on a carpet, the teacher offers him to sit on a stool. At school, it is customary to sit or stand if you are participating in a discussion, working in a group or in pairs.
If the teacher needed to spend part of the lesson in a “frontal” position, he sits the students in a semicircle (not in rows and not in a checkerboard pattern, as is usually the case) and distributes tablets for everyone to write. So everyone is in the same position.
Photos courtesy of Academy of Light
Smart School: between the loft and the standard classroom
Place : Moscow and Moscow region // Principles of : emphasis on academic knowledge in a psychologically healthy environment, flexibility of approaches, focus on results
In the process of work, we realized that, just like children, it is necessary to “raise” teachers very carefully.
It is not enough just to love students, you need to adequately perceive your deficits and work with them, develop social-emotional intelligence and communication, but also be ready for group work with children - facilitation. And this is directly related to the furniture.
Maria Valganova, founder of the Smart School network
About the history of the school: The first impulse of Maria Valganova , the founder of the network of schools, was to abandon all standards, including in the design of the premises. In 2016, she was captured by the idea of relaxed learning. The first school was like a co-working space in a trendy loft. Transparent walls, instead of desks - a common round table. “The space was more like a home. The children studied English while lying on the carpet. Parents were shocked by this environment. They were afraid that there would be no study here. It didn’t look like a school,” the entrepreneur recalls.
This approach was ideal for “deschooling”, but not for rebuilding a long educational process. The school staff has learned from experience that a too loose approach does not contribute to the perception of systemic academic knowledge.
Teachers began to strive to create a more serious environment, to pick up children. In order to focus on academic results and the development of not only soft, but also hard skills, we switched to the classic lesson grid and equipped small classrooms with front desks for work. “At that moment, we abandoned the assumption that a good environment helps to “stick” knowledge to any child, and began to practice the selection of children when enrolling in a school,” says Valganova.
About the building: The Smart School network now consists of more than 20 schools located in different cities of Russia (most of them are franchised). It has five own branches, they are located in the regions of Moscow and the Moscow region.
All buildings are rented and look different: some are located in cottages that look like small castles, some are on the first floors of modern new buildings. “We are now trying to synchronize: so that design in all schools looks like a single concept,” says Maria Valganova. “We also sew up the purchase of our furniture into the (franchise) agreement, since at previous stages of development all schools had the opportunity to buy various furniture.”
About educational interiors: The entrepreneur returned from a trip to Finland with a new look - soft, comfortable, relaxing elements should have their place in the school and be separated from the learning areas. The teachers focused on studying the individual needs of the child. It turned out that the furniture in the classroom needed to be moved, but there was not enough space for this. Then Smart School almost doubled the size of the classroom - from 15-18 sq.m. to 30 sq.m. Pentagonal desks have appeared that are convenient for combining autonomous and group work; For students who need to move during the lesson, they purchased special swivel and rocking chairs.
“We realized that furniture can be our helper,” says Maria Valganova.
Some time ago, Smart School began to produce desks and chairs of its own design for its schools. Valganova took the idea from the Finnish Isku, by trial and error, determined what size of the table top for the school is optimal. Their main quality is lightness, stability and strength, so that the child himself can pick up and rearrange. Now Maria has decided to register the brand and is launching mass production.
About parallel imports and the business culture of Turkish factories: expand Elena Aralova's comment
Domestic school furniture has made an aesthetic breakthrough over the past couple of years. Now these are not heavy Soviet desks, but quite nice mobile tables and chairs. However, their ergonomics and functionality still suffer greatly. This fact "opens" the doors to European factories that maintain their presence on the Russian market. The diving rate of the euro has made "foreigners" even more accessible.
Some of these players left the market for ideological or ethical reasons, but many remained, including the main "school" players - the Germans and Finns. After all, “education is out of politics”.
We continue to actively import foreign school furniture and equipment, we do not use any gray schemes or parallel imports. The production and delivery times have not changed radically (plus a couple of weeks to the old terms). But a lot of paperwork, administrative work and fear from the uncertainty of the new rules were added.
We have made test purchases in China and Turkey. Prices are 30-40% cheaper than European factories, but more expensive than domestic ones. But there is a specificity here: the factories practically do not have their own school collections, but there are many, delicately, “replicas”. The guys will make you any chair-table by analogy, with a more attractive price. But not every conscious customer is ready to buy a product whose design is so similar to well-known brands.
The ethical bar is different for everyone. And you need to prepare for a specific business culture: not all Turkish factories are able to translate invoices into English, every second one can afford to change prices even after making an advance payment. But the quality of the furniture is quite decent. It is not for nothing that the vast majority of private schools in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have long preferred Turkish furniture, and their equipment looks quite decent. I suspect they have their own alternative language of communication and a huge reserve of patience, equanimity.
About furniture for teachers: Over time, the school has achieved a balance in the interior. They learned how to divide large rooms into several cabinets with the help of sound-absorbing curtains made of foam rubber and fabric. The class space was divided into zones - for learning, playing, storing things.
Teaching materials should be available and easily replaceable within a year.
At Smart School, subject teachers use IKEA material carts. While the children do not change classes, teachers move around the classrooms.
Photos courtesy of Smart School
European Gymnasium: sports and reading in one space
Place : Moscow // Principles : openness, horizontality, eclecticism, rejection of standards everyone puts furniture that they follow this standardization. In fact, it's good when all the furniture in the classroom is different - like at home. In the gymnasium, you can find desks, and desks for standing work, and pouffes, and ordinary chairs at the same time. We want to transform the school as an institution and take our values as a basis: and design is just one of the facets of this transformation.
Ivan Bogantsev, Director of the European Gymnasium
About the building: The school received the main building of the private European Gymnasium from the state in 2014.
This is a typical four-story panel box, a former sports school that was empty for some time. The school is changing this space gradually: in parallel with changes in the educational process and the emergence of free money.
Pro spaces for teachers: The eclectic educational environment of the European Gymnasium combines with a standardized approach to executive furniture. In the administrative block, Bogantsev arranged an open space without walls with identical tables. The director's desk is the same as the others. And not everyone will be able to determine where he is. This, according to the director, facilitates communication with children. “I can work at any free table. And at this moment, a student can calmly come up to me and show my project on a computer. He will not have any psychological obstacle,” Bogantsev explains.
In striving for openness, the director of the gymnasium sometimes stumbles upon the "boundaries" set by the teachers.
For example, Bogantsev tried for a long time to unite the space of an elementary school into a single whole and make it open to outside eyes. The teachers opposed, the project did not take place. “I was very surprised when we designed the furniture in the teachers' room, and it turned out that it is very important for teachers to put a large closet right at the entrance. They explained to me that it is very important for them to have a place protected from children's eyes,” the director recalls. This time he also went to meet the teachers.
About public spaces: “What could be cuter than a child sleeping on a couch in a library. Everyone says it's not possible. But that's good!”, says the director of the European Gymnasium Ivan Bogantsev . In the school library, you can not only sleep, but also engage in outdoor activities. A few years ago, it was an ordinary library with bookshelves, but elementary school teachers came to the director with a request to change the space.
They wanted to lure novice readers into the library.
Founder of PLAYPLY Maria Karasik and designer Ekaterina Rikhireva , who took on the project, proceeded from two needs - children need a lot of movement, but at the same time they sometimes need a place for privacy, and such places in educational institutions, as a rule, are a little. The school designed a "climbing" library. In the lower tier - mobile furniture for classes and meetings with interesting people, as well as shelves with books. At the top you can retire and read. “I still communicate with the librarian, and I know that the popularity of the library has increased. It's a point of attraction in elementary school,” Maria says.
Photo courtesy of the European Gymnasium
"My School": awareness in the development of space
Place : St. Petersburg, New Holland Island // adult responsibility. After all, it is much easier to put a child at a regular table and give him a pen.
It is important that the school and the teacher initially agree on the principles of work, in particular, on a flexible approach to work, a harmonious balance between freedom and rules.
Elena Smirnova, founder of the school 'My School'
About the history of the school: For the first couple of months after the opening of “My School” school, chaos reigned in the coworking space, says founder Elena Smirnova . The students didn't understand how space really works: how to use poufs, armchairs, carpets and compartment areas. “Children just rearranged everything randomly, randomly dragging furniture. Then the teachers got involved. They explained which elements are suitable for solving different tasks. There must always be a reason why you do it. You don’t need to roll the pouf like a ball, you need it to relax or read,” says Elena Smirnova. In a month and a half, the children adapted, and work in coworking entered a meaningful direction.
About the building: The school opened in 2021. It occupies a three-storey building with an area of 700 sq. meters (historical monument) on the island "New Holland". When designing a space for 48 students, Elena decided to divide the rooms into two types - classic and flexible (they just include coworking, where classes can be held for children of different ages).
Pro educational interiors: “Make the school space a free canvas with neutral furniture. Don't impose a particular aesthetic. Do not build a closet in the shape of a space rocket. It is better to give free space where a child will create space today and a forest tomorrow,” says Maria Burtseva , the founder of the Moonk design bureau (the company designed part of the furniture for the school).
Each class has its own "island of stability" - a room with tables, shelves, a teacher's place and a seating area with a carpet and pouffes.
It's like the same do-it-yourself kits, from which classes collect their own spaces, breaking the class into zones. Through this process, a team is formed. This is organically combined with the educational principles of the school: a set of subjects for study, except for compulsory ones, all children choose on their own.
Lesson in "My school" consists of individual work at the desk, lessons in pairs and groups. Trapezoidal desks were installed at the school, which the children easily rearrange themselves during the lesson (the school started with triangular desks, but they turned out to be not spacious enough - the elbows of the students did not always fit).
“Furniture rearrangement develops spatial intelligence. The teacher always emphasizes this. The child learns to decide for himself how to rearrange the furniture so that it is convenient for the body to perform this or that task. For example, one child always reads at the table, while another prefers to sit in an easy chair or on a pouffe.
By adapting the space, the child learns himself, ”says Elena Smirnova.
About public spaces: Furnishing the space, Maria Burtseva proceeded from a conscious attitude towards it. In science classrooms where concentration is required, storage areas have been closed off to avoid visual noise. In the creative and experimental classes there are open shelves for storing works and chemical and physical instruments. “Our goal is to make sure that the child does not just throw his things into the box, but determines for himself what order should be in his things, regulates the convenience himself,” says Elena Smirnova.
Cabinet furniture is used in the classroom not only as a place for storage, but also as a space for relaxation - for this purpose, special podiums are located at the bottom of the shelves.
Photo: Catherine Nikitina
August 2022
ideas and decisions are born in dialogue-teacher newspaper
It seems that the unprecedented revival, which reigned more than two months in the teacher's environment, has finally slept First Moscow Pedagogical Forum.
The discussions that took place on its platforms stirred up a lot of people. The questions raised by the teachers even formed a kind of information trail, continuing on the pages of newspapers and social networks. Uchitelskaya Gazeta also paid a lot of attention to the grandiose event - we talked about the work of the forum in No. 8 of February 23 and No. 13 of March 30, and, of course, even more often in the publications of our online publication. But it continued and did not cease to amaze, and therefore give rise to reflection and analysis.
The forum managed to cover all subject areas
- Such a large-scale pedagogical event is held in the capital for the first time: for two months, Moscow teachers were involved in the discussion of the issues of the modern content of school subjects and the use of new pedagogical technologies. A distinctive feature of our forum was the opportunity to look at the lesson as a colossal resource for the formation of modern skills in schoolchildren: critical thinking, communication, the ability to work in a team.
It was this approach that made it possible to make the conversation on the sidelines of the forum as practice-oriented as possible, and therefore useful for the participants, - said Andrey Zinin, director of the City Methodological Center.
“Now it is extremely important,” emphasizes Natalia Kiseleva, Deputy Head of the Moscow Department of Education and Science, “to analyze the experience of 2020 and find a common solution in dialogue on how to build our education in the future.
School subjects determined the direction of the discussions each week. But even within the mathematical, humanitarian, and natural science disputes, larger-scale interdisciplinary questions arose. Thus, the discussion of working moments and problems gave rise to a new reality. A reality in which it is quite natural to share practices and our own vision of solutions on a large scale, and digital technologies can only help us.
The magic power of art
The forum discussed both teaching schoolchildren in promising IT areas and their artistic and aesthetic education.
The forum participants talked about the media skills necessary for a modern teacher of music, fine arts and a teacher of additional education. The forum program was full of practical exercises that interested a wide audience. Thus, the head of art school No. 548, Honored Teacher of the Russian Federation Gennady Sokolov, held a sketching master class. Director of the center for creative development and musical and aesthetic education of children and youth "Joy", executive director of the citywide program "Children of Moscow Sing" Honored Artist of Russia Tatyana Zhdanova spoke about choral education (more on this can be found in "Teacher's newspaper-Moscow" No. 15 dated April 13), and the head of the continuous art education department of the Moscow Center for the Development of Personnel Potential of Education, People's Artist of Russia Boris Nemensky taught to understand the easel painting. Some even made it!
- The first Moscow Pedagogical Forum is a significant event not only for Moscow, but for the whole of Russia, - says Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Sergey Andriyaka.
- Art and aesthetic education is of particular importance, because it helps every person to see the beauty and harmony of the world.
The Moscow Pedagogical Forum was held online, and teachers from all over Russia joined it.
Anatoly Lyubavin, Rector of the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after VI Surikov, noted that there are a lot of opportunities in the capital for young people interested in getting an art education. According to the rector, not only is the interest in artistic creativity among young people growing, but also the level of training of yesterday's schoolchildren.
President of the Memorial Fund for Cultural and Creative Heritage S.I. and A.S. Rostotsky Marianna Rostotskaya reflected on the educational and educational possibilities of cinema as a special kind of art. These opportunities are already being actively used in the project of the City Methodological Center "Moscow Cinema at School". As part of the project, the children get acquainted with the classics of Russian cinema, actively discuss films with their creators - directors, screenwriters, actors.
- The subject area "Art" in the system of modern metropolitan education successfully combines aesthetic and technical components. Both in schools and art houses, electives and sections are especially popular, in which children can get real skills in the field of painting, design, media industry, because these skills help to successfully communicate in the multicultural space of the city, country, world. I think this is what makes professions related to the artistic and aesthetic sphere so popular and relevant, - says Nadezhda Kuranina, director of the Palace of Children and Youth Creativity named after A.P. Gaidar, member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.
Larisa Nemenskaya, the author of curricula, a member of the All-Russian Association of Art Critics and the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation, was thinking about the peculiarities of a modern lesson in fine arts: how should a lesson be structured, what content should it have? Tatyana Chernova, teacher of school No.
1383, spoke about innovative technologies and tools in the work of a music teacher of the 21st century. Teachers from Moscow schools shared practical advice at a series of exciting workshops on infographics, digital painting, teacher artistry, and vocals.
The question about the role of the teacher also logically arose: what human qualities and professional skills should a teacher have in order to become a real mentor for his students? This is exactly what Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov, confessor and senior priest of the Alekseevsky Convent, a teacher of the highest category, a member of the Writers' Union, spoke about. He noted that the most important law of pedagogy was formulated by Blaise Pascal - this is the law of communicating vessels. The qualities of a teacher, his psychological state, according to Fr. Artemia are certainly passed on to students, and therefore teachers need to remember how important their words and deeds are for schoolchildren.
Oh sport, you are the world
The participants of the forum also paid attention to the issues of teaching physical culture and sports disciplines in the educational institutions of the capital.
“Physical culture and sports are important components of the educational process,” emphasized Anton Molev, deputy head of the Moscow Department of Education and Science. “Therefore, the Patriot.Sport Moscow Center, together with the City Methodological Center of Moscow, prepared an extensive program for the forum, which covers various aspects of the formation, maintenance and promotion of a healthy lifestyle among children and youth. Within the framework of discussions and round tables, the forum participants discussed the role of physical culture in everyday life, mechanisms for maintaining and strengthening health, the impact of physical activity on schoolchildren's academic performance, and much more. At master classes and webinars, experts, methodologists, trainers shared their experience. Educators were able to get acquainted with successful best practices in order to use them in their work in the future.
Within five days, 58 panel discussions, lectures, round tables, webinars and master classes were held on various aspects of physical culture, school sports and the basics of life safety.
The forum was attended by representatives of the executive authorities of the city of Moscow and the federal level, as well as subordinate institutions, the Commissioner for Children's Rights in Moscow, representatives of universities and research institutes. In addition, the forum was attended by representatives of healthcare institutions, educational and sports organizations of Moscow, coaches and titled athletes.
Experts touched upon the development of the All-Russian TRP Physical Culture and Sports Complex and school sports clubs in the capital, discussed current areas for improving cybersecurity and the specifics of school sports league competitions, and emphasized the exceptional importance of developing a healthy lifestyle culture among young people.
The key ideas of the whole week were the need for an individual approach to sports education, focus on the interests of students, their needs and characteristics of physical development.
More than 12.5 thousand participants registered for the forum events.
Recordings of all broadcasts are available for viewing on the official YouTube channel of the Patriot.Sport Moscow Center.
One of the topics of the forum was the challenges that Moscow education faced in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. In a short time, the already existing educational programs were adapted to the online format. New projects were implemented taking into account the introduced restrictions.
Conducting online lessons, competitions, competitions and distance learning programs has become the main trend. At the same time, many additional education classes were suspended. In addition, sports competitions were canceled, which led to a decrease in the physical activity of students.
School sports league competitions are the most important element in the system of promoting a healthy lifestyle and maintaining an appropriate level of physical activity for children and young people. Therefore, experts noted the urgent need to resume mass physical culture and sports events for Moscow schoolchildren and college students in compliance with all epidemiological safety requirements.
Systematic physical culture and sports are also facilitated by the All-Russian GTO Sports Complex. Compliance with the TRP standards requires good physical shape, which must be maintained constantly. In 2020, the Patriot.Sport Moscow Center held more than 700 events to meet the standards, in which more than 50,000 Moscow schoolchildren took part. And this academic year, more than 32,000 students in Moscow became owners of TRP marks. In the future, it is planned to provide even more children with the opportunity to fulfill the TRP standards. This will be facilitated by the opening of the own site of the Patriot.Sport Moscow Center on the basis of the Peter the Great Maritime Center.
The experts noted that the subject "Physical Education" is the only discipline that is included in the programs at all levels of education. It has an integrative effect on the formation of a person's personality, contributes to the development of other disciplines and plays an important role in the future self-determination of a person.
At the same time, practice shows that the motivation of students for physical education is significantly reduced by the senior classes. To involve them in systematic physical culture and sports, it is necessary to use modern personalized approaches.
One of them is the creation of sports clubs based on educational organizations. Currently, this is a priority state task for the development of physical culture and mass sports. Also, the Lesson Section project of the Patriot.Sport Moscow Center is designed to increase the motivation of students for classes. It allows schoolchildren to choose an individual trajectory of physical development, and teachers to improve the level of pedagogical skills and qualifications in specialized sports. In 2019, the project started in 18 educational organizations and attracted more than 5.5 thousand students. Today, the project participants are 122 organizations and more than 25,000 people.
Speaking about the education of schoolchildren and students with disabilities, the speakers noted that an individual approach contributes to recovery and adaptation to modern living conditions, and if the teacher has the appropriate competencies, it provides the possibility of correcting the physical condition.
In addition, the experts stressed that in the modern world the demand for teachers of the subject "Physical Education" depends on their versatility. For the qualitative organization of the educational process and the full realization of the pedagogical potential, they need to have a set of competencies that allow them to conduct both lessons and classes within the framework of additional education, as well as organize physical culture and sports events.
In the near future, including taking into account potential legislative changes, it will be important for physical education teachers to receive coaching skills for working in sections, as well as the competence of event organizers, including the implementation of the TRP. In addition, the skills of a referee in various sports will help teachers expand their arsenal of professional skills and abilities.
In general, an increasing number of children and young people perceive physical culture and sports as a useful, fashionable and positive hobby, so the role of a specialist in this area will continue to shift towards mentoring in the future.
Such a specialist should have additional knowledge in the field of rational nutrition, general and sports psychology, sports management and marketing.
The forum showed that Moscow teachers are interested in constantly improving their professional competencies and actively use the advanced training courses of the Patriot.Sport Moscow Center. In additional vocational education, the popularity of directions in sports is noted: basketball, chess, tag rugby, e-sports and aerobics. In the 2020-2021 academic year, more than 550 teachers studied in these areas. The direction "Education and development of students of cadet classes" is also popular, in which more than 500 teachers have successfully mastered various programs.
Programs related to the provision of inclusive education and aimed at organizing modern physical education classes for students with disabilities are in demand by the pedagogical community. The School Sports Management program is also relevant, aimed at developing managerial and organizational competencies among leaders and representatives of school sports clubs.
Also popular are programs related to volunteering, organization of youth activities and patriotic education in Moscow schools.
Experts recommend that physical education teachers in the near future focus on programs that develop skills in organizing sectional work, preparing and conducting sports events, as well as methods for involving parents, working with fans and promoting products on social networks.
As a result of the week of physical culture and sports at the Moscow Pedagogical Forum, all experts noted that an educational institution is a special space within which not only the formation of a socially adapted personality, its professional and civic self-determination takes place, but also the most important, basic characteristic is formed, ensuring the implementation of all the rest - health.
“Without physical culture in its global understanding as a part of culture, it is pointless to talk about a modern person, his success,” said Olga Yaroslavskaya, Commissioner for Children's Rights in Moscow.
- And this is not about professional workloads, but about the need to bring your body into tone in order to fulfill the tasks that today sets before us. And any culture, including physical culture, is discipline and self-development. If we do not teach the child to listen to music correctly and understand paintings, it is pointless to take him to the conservatory and to exhibitions. If we do not teach the child to perceive his body correctly, it is useless to talk about physical culture.
Within the framework of the forum, a round table “The impact of sports on the formation of a child's personality” was held, in which famous athletes took part. Among them are two-time Olympic silver medalist, two-time world and European champion, Honored Master of Sports of the Russian Federation, Moscow school sports ambassador Yekaterina Gamova, winner of the UEFA Futsal Cup, two-time European Championship silver medalist, six-time Russian champion, head coach of the Russian national teams in futsal, Honored Master of Sports Konstantin Mayevsky and Olympic champion in basketball, Honored Master of Sports Elena Baranova.
– Lack of sufficient level of physical activity is a big problem that can negatively affect the health of children in the future. We have plans to resolve this issue, thereby raising the level of school sports in Moscow. We hope that this will attract new young players who, perhaps, will move from school to professional sports in the future, - Ekaterina Gamova is convinced.
According to her, today it is also important to create school teams that will compete and hold their own championships, which will be able to attract both parents and fans to sports projects.
During the round table, the participants told how they chose a sports career, what personal qualities helped them achieve success. They also spoke about their school life and participation in the development of school sports in Moscow today. In addition, questions were discussed about whether educational institutions need projects to promote a healthy lifestyle and how to increase the level of interest in physical culture among children.
Athletes also thanked the physical education teachers of the capital for their contribution to the formation of a new healthy generation, wished them good luck in achieving their professional goals.
Romance of the roads and exploring the native land
A round table "Active children's tourism in the education system of Moscow" was held within the framework of the forum. The experts talked about how to make school tourism a mass phenomenon and a significant part of the educational process, discussed organizational mechanisms and the role of school leadership in its development. In addition, the speakers noted the uniqueness of the experience that schoolchildren get during expeditions and travels.
– The traditions of Moscow and, in general, Russian and Soviet education include the unique practice of hiking, mountain, water and other tourism in all its diversity, – said Anton Molev, Deputy Head of the Moscow Department of Education and Science.
- And if there are people in schools who have bright eyes, who devote themselves to this, understand why they are doing this, and attract children, then tourism can become an integral part of school life. Our task is to create the necessary conditions for a school that wants to develop this area to be able to do it without restrictions.
Anton Molev said that the department is working on simplifying the mechanism for organizing and coordinating school tourism events. This will allow principals, class teachers and other school staff involved in the field trips to spend less time on paperwork and focus on interacting with the children.
The audience highly appreciated the Patriot.Sport Moscow Center's project "The Hero's Way": students from schools and colleges develop and pass tourist routes through the places of life and deeds of people who have made a significant contribution to the history of Russia.
– The Hero's Way project is an excellent example of how a deep tradition of studying and respecting the memory of the Great Patriotic War can be combined with the tradition of active hiking and research tourism, Anton Molev emphasized.
Ekaterina Taydakova told about the services operating on the basis of the Moscow Children's and Youth Center for Ecology, Local History and Tourism, which help organize outdoor events outside of Moscow. And Matvey Shparo shared the plans of the Travel Laboratory to launch advanced training courses, in which they plan to teach principals of Moscow schools how to organize and conduct weekend trips on their own.
And at the expert session "School sports club - the center of attraction for children and adults", which was attended by the President of the Moscow Basketball Federation Alexander Novozhilov, Executive Director of the Russian Student Basketball Association Sergey Kryukov and General Director of the International Student Football Union, President of the National Student Football league Andrey Stukalov, experts discussed the importance of an organized sports life for children and adults and shared their vision of the prospects for the development of school sports clubs.
Born in childhood
At the forum, the experts discussed the continuity of preschool and primary education, the role of preschool teacher and primary school teacher in the school education system.
– It is pre-school and primary education that makes a significant contribution to the development, education of the child and his achievement of success at a later age. This week, the participants of the First Moscow Pedagogical Forum will find out what research is being done on childhood in Russia and how the preschool and primary education environment is developing in Moscow schools. They will get acquainted with the effective experience of managing the development of the content of pre-school and primary school education programs, as well as learn interesting technologies and ways of conducting training sessions, organizing school life so that the talent of each child in school develops, - says Mikhail Borodin, First Deputy Director of the City Methodological Center .
Ensuring the continuity of pre-school and primary general education was the subject of a discussion moderated by the director of school No. 1788 Alexander Ezdov.
Associate Professor of the Faculty of Social Psychology of the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, psychologist of the Center for Social Assistance to Families and Children in Difficult Life Situations "Family" Olga Danilenko has been studying the adaptation of children to learning in the first grade for many years, so her observations are based on serious research:
– It is important not just to take a child to school on an excursion once. He must visit this building several times in order to form a sense of security in him through the recognition of those places, routes that may be useful to him. All this in a modern format can be solved in the form of games, quests, and not just excursions. It is very important for children to feel that there are other children here in this space and they are safe here.
Director of the Dmitrovsky School Vera Nilova during the discussion focused on the interaction between parents of future first-graders and teachers of the school:
– It is very important when building interaction with the parents of future first graders to conduct joint strategic games, during which it becomes clear what the parent himself expects from the elementary school, from the teacher who met him, from the environment where the child will get. And when we figure out these expectations, of course, it is much easier to work with parents. We understand what the family expects from the school, how to act so that the child is happier when he comes home, because it is important to increase the level of happiness in the family that comes to us.
Teachers should also interact with educators, says Svetlana Tulaykina, educator of school No. 236, winner of the Moscow Educator of the Year contest. Together it will be more effective to establish end-to-end rules for their wards. And if a child has learned these rules in kindergarten, then it will be easier for him to adapt further:
– A child in kindergarten is under the tireless supervision of a teacher. Getting into the space of the school, where there is no longer such control, he begins to commit rash acts. And here teamwork is important, the attention of the educator, so that the rules that we put into the child pass into his internal motivation. That is, this is not the rule “adults are nearby, I must comply with them,” but the rule “I understand why I must comply with them.” And here we do a lot as teachers to ensure that when moving to a new level, children are safe.
Together, the experts came to the conclusion that the adjustment period for future first graders will be painless if they attend school as often as possible. At the same time, they must remember the routes of movement that are relevant to them before they begin to fully learn. And it's good if on this route they will meet not only adults, but also children who will be ready to help.
