Thank you so much to all who took part in this CreateSpace classroom giveaway! We really appreciate the time and energy that went into all the amazing entries and you sharing with us some of the challenges you are facing, what you are looking for, and which furniture...
This is a really interesting time in education right now. There are some big questions being asked and powerful discussions being had. Personally I’m delighted, particularly because so many educators and change makers are directly asking and listening to students for...
This year’s Green Schools Conference and Expo I’ve found to be the most impactful. There was a strong acknowledgement between all attendees that furthering the green schools movement is imperative in helping to address the climate crisis we’re in, and it’s only...
‘What Does It Mean To Be A Citizen In The 21st Century? – Fostering Civic Engagement Among Youth in K-12 Schools’. “[T]he young are idealistic, have an underdeveloped sense of their own mortality, and are afflicted with an exaggerated thirst...
This week we’d like to introduce James Edward Mills, explain how and why he’s such an education hero, and give a few great reasons to join him and the panel discussing ‘Sustainability & Social Justice in K-12 Schools’ at SXSW EXU.James’s career spans over 20 years...
As an educator it’s highly probable that one of your top wishes is to have your students meaningfully engaged in their learning. It’s probably the reason you went into teaching, to experience that sense of fulfillment that comes from witnessing a child’s mental and...
I first fell in love with biomimicry while attending a county-wide science leadership meeting in February 2017. I was there in my capacity as science department chair at Oak Park High School in California’s Oak Park Unified School District. It was toward the end of...
Our design team and account managers are spreading their wings over the next week as they attend and present at two very different education and thought leadership conferences.First stop is the EdSpaces conference, held this year in Milwaukee, WI. This is one of the...
This brief essay isn’t intended to reiterate the long history of design thinking as best expressed by the brilliant David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, as there are numerous resources readily available for educators. Instead, it’s meant to...
A ‘Green New Deal’ (GND) has been proposed in the US by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Edward Markey. It has many facets, but one of the main aims of the proposal would be to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by creating millions of green jobs and investing...
You may have heard the term ‘Green Ribbon Schools’. The Green Ribbon Schools prestigious awards program was created by the U.S. Department of Education in 2011 with the aim of recognizing select K–12 schools, K–12 districts and postsecondary institutions for a deep...
When it comes to being an authority on transforming learning spaces you may have heard of Dr. Robert Dillon. He’s worked with many teachers on how to make their classrooms more student-centred and learner friendly and has co-authored a book about the subject:...
Researchers intentionally set out to discover whether classroom displays affected children’s ability to maintain focus during instruction and to learn the lesson content. “Young children spend a lot of time — usually the whole day — in the same classroom, and through...
Why when there’s so much focus on the benefits to children of being outside in a natural environment, is there so little focus on extending those same benefits within classrooms?We recently visited a school that had a beautiful amazing outdoor space with trees and...
When educators were asked how intentionally planned school construction or renovation projects were evaluated, the largest percentage groups of note, at 30%, said they were evaluated most often for whether they attracted more students. An additional 30% of teachers...
‘Intentional design’ means taking into consideration how students learn when designing learning environments to enable their success. The following research looks at whether there should be learning goals associated with planned projects; if pedagogical...
Teachers who work in schools where recent construction or renovations were completed were asked to grade the outcome of the changes through various focus areas: the impact on school culture, student retention, student engagement, staff relationships, classroom...
For a classroom to foster 21st-century learning styles, it needs a 21st-century classroom design with multi-purpose spaces and connected learning areas that support movement, student choice, and a collaborative environment. Educators were asked to rank the importance...
Recent research has been examining the connection between learning environments and learning outcomes: A team consisting of a pioneering designer, a design educator, and a researcher have worked to ‘prove’ that the design of learning places matter. Mounting...
Research surrounding how we interact with the spaces we spend time in is not a new concept. In recent years, studies have shown that the work environment can impact certain factors like stress levels. Similar studies are beginning to examine educational environments,...
Turning Care into Change: Natural Pod at Champions Retreat 2026
