“The winners won’t just be those with more I.Q. It will also be those with more P.Q. (passion quotient) and C.Q. (curiosity quotient) to leverage all the new digital tools to not just find a job, but to invent one or reinvent one, and to not just learn but to relearn for a lifetime” (Friedman, 2013).
This classroom layout embodies my philosophies, passions, and curiosities as an educator. Because this was my “dream classroom”, I was able to skip all constraints of funding, school systems, and the environments we teach in to create the perfect learning center.
I recently read an article titled “It’s the PQ and the CQ as much as IQ” by By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN. He wrote specifically on why it is important for individuals to not only have a high IQ, but it is equally important to have as much passion and curiosity to develop new roles in society and create new jobs. This article has shaped the design of my classroom in a few ways.
My Passion Quotient
Passion quotient is the amount of passion a person has about something that drives their knowledge and excitement toward learning something new. My passion quotient definitely plays a factor in the layout of my ideal classroom. One of my biggest passions is creating connections for students not only within the material but also between one another. The seating arrangement is purposely designed to encourage these connections between peers. Students are easily able to group, regroup, and move around the room according to their own passions and knowledge. If one student sees that he/she is at a different part of their learning than another, they can shift their chairs around to find another partner to work with, collaborate with, or even teach a new skill to! We always confine our students to specific groups that WE make. Why not give them the choices to have their individual learning drive passions that will spark connections and collaboration?
Another one of my passions as an educator is to encourage students to be courageous about their learning, step out of their comfort zones, and own their own knowledge. In the model there are three rolling computer screens at one end of the classroom. These computer screens can be moved around the room according to whoever needs them! I really emphasize movement in this model to show that learning is always evolving and changing. These computer screens will act as presentation tools for students. Whether they are teaching another student a concept and just need a larger view, or giving a presentation to a group of 10 students, each student will have the ability and affordances of this technology within their own classroom.
My Curiosity Quotient
Curiosity quotient is the amount of curiosity an individual has that drives them to learn something new regardless of whether or not they have knowledge in this area. Curiosity drives many inventors, researchers, and scholars to find new theories, elements, or products in our society. Curiosity should also be a large part of the learning experience. The curiosity quotient is what keep students WANTING to learn, rather than just going through the motions. In my classroom model you will notice something that you may not see in everyday classrooms – a couch. This couch actually plays a specific role of motivation. Many students feel confined to a desk and a chair in traditional learning environments. They feel they cannot be themselves because of these stringent rules of “staying in your seat” and “raising your hand before talking”. These rules in traditional learning classrooms stifle our student’s creativity and learning. Allowing students to move freely around the room – sitting where they are comfortable, moving where they can concentrate, will increase productivity and encourage learning. The couch acts as a tool to show that learning can be comfortable, learning can be fun, and learning can be collaborative.
The design of this classroom is also for me as an educator to notice HOW students prefer to learn. Without a rigid design, I can observe HOW individual students learn best, in what environments, and also watch learning evolve into a more collaborative process. This serves my curiosity quotient because I am always wondering about how learning is changing over the years and how individual students learn best. Allow more leeway and letting them explore and move freely can help me design lessons and content based on individual learning styles I see within my classroom.
Check out my classroom Design!
References:
Friedman, T. L. (2013). It’s P.Q. and C.Q. as Much as I.Q. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/opinion/friedman-its-pq-and-cq-as-much-as-iq.html?_r=0
Items in Sketchup model were downloaded from Google’s 3D warehouse found at https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com