Greetings Homer!
Absolutely! When all of our senses are engaged the entire world "becomes a stage" and learning is more likely to take place. And what's more important is that a love for life-long learning occurs.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED107 Facilitator
Greetings Chris!
Absolutely! I was recently put in charge of a very small, one room library. About the only thing you could say about it was "nothing". First, I cleaned it up and organized the few books and publications then ordered additional resources. Over the next several weeks added a bulletin board with community information as well as academic info while adding colored stars and paper with announcements. From there, I added library type posters, etc. etc. Now, it has become a cheerful, colorful, inviting place to work - and students are using it! None of what I did was extremely expensive.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED107 Facilitator
I teach in a kitchen so it's hard to use music or creative seating but I put out different ingredients when students enter the kitchen. As they are getting their stations ready they can touch, smell and feel the ingredients. When they do this at their own pace it helps them to remember and identify them easier.
We i find that most people are audio and visual. If I have the opportunity i would have music in my lab.I try to move people around the chefs table to get a close look at a demo. I always have cool supplies and goodies for my students. I usually give the class a little something. A tool that i know they do not have. Students usually get more involved and excited when the instructor has taken the time to do this...
Demos and visual aids are so important in a learning invironment especially in the culinary labs. they learn by hands on and visual aid. it helps me to be more specific.
It can set the stage for the culture of the organization and help motivate learning
With the use of proper colors it can make the rom itself a more inviting place to learn
I work as a culinary instructor and one of my dreams is to one day play classical music in the lab while my students are silently cooking. Then record them and show them that even when the environment may seem stressful to them; from a customers point of view it can looks like a beautiful symphony or ballet. I believe this would help them to understand that running a kitchen is like conducting a symphony, it can be beautiful and intense all at the same time.
Colors influence our emotions. Students entering into a room with pictures in blue and green hues may get the feeling of tranquility and calmness. This would be good for getting the class started so that you can efficiently move the class in the direction it needs to go.
In regard to music, this can be paired with the color and visuals you provide to set the learning mood. In the beginning of class with the blue hues on, lower tempo music can also be playing. In a situation where you want excitement and interest, you can speed the tempo up, and change the colors to reds and other bright colors.
I my situation, it would be good to have students in u shaped patterned seating. Students benefit from being able to have dialogue with each other and see what each other are doing. It also promotes proper communication when working in groups.
Greeting Franz!
I always like to encourage instructors to be sure that "All" students work well with musio in the learning environment. Otherwise, I like to use music at the appropriate times and believe it benefits students and the instructor.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED107 Facilitator
I noticed when I used a colored marker to do 2 drawings on the board of a cobra coiled and then extended enabled the students to perk up and enhanced their memory of the term COBRA where it extends health insurance coverage.They even requested more examples to help them retain the information for their certification exam.
I would like to put student work/projects on the walls of my classroom. I've collected some very creative posters and presentations that students have done over the past year. However, the School at which I teach Nursing won't allow anything on the walls. This makes it very hard to decorate the classroom with creative and colorful aides that may help my students learn. I've brought this up with the DON and she just states that it is corporate policy.
I'm fortunate to teach in a technical program that uses color to differentiate between channels recording various biopotentials. I let the students choose the colors of the channels they use.
We don't have much freedom to decorate classroom walls, but I do have students examine large diagrams and posters of materials, when possible.
i play faster music when my students are in lab and have a heavy load of assignments to do in a shorter time. they seem to work faster and happier than in silence.
I really enjoyed the aspects of multi-sensory environment. I plan on in corporating these techniques in a In- Service training program.
Using different colored dry erase markers and seating where the students' backs are not to me help. I like the idea of the inspirational quotes on the walls. We have peripheral learning posters on the wall already that bring color and information.
I have found something as simple as using at least 3 different colors when drawing diagrams on the whiteboard really helps to differentiate ideas, and separate learning topics. I also found certain colors like yellow, and light red to not be easily read by learners in the back rows. I also hang up students posters from presentations for a few days so all the learners can ask questions from each other.
I personnally think some music is just NOT conducive to learning. THat some has a neutral effect and that some does add to the learning ability. The use of mneumonic aids has been and continues to be an assest in learned knowledge- I still know the a-b-c song from the 3 Stooges
Colors are always a re-inforcement in learning- the infamous "Red-F" and equally important "Gold-star" There are so many ways colors can be interrated, but one has to watch not to over due it and not to take for granted how a color may or may not be interpreted
I agree- however I am always concerned that it has some distracting elements- also with music association- sometimes students can not search previously learned knowledge when music is different from when they learned
