One of the things I use for decorating and also is a valuable tool, is maps.  We have a world, US, state, county and township maps hanging up with a small sign "YOU ARE HERE" .  Whenever someone comes to our site who has lived in another country, state, etc., we find it on the maps.  I also keep a list of all the different counties represented by the people we service.  We learn from each other.  
 
The local maps also help in finding the location of jobs advertised.  
 
Carol

________________________________

From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov on behalf of David J. Rosen
Sent: Mon 7/16/2007 7:26 AM
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1420] From decorating ideas.....tocurriculum development



PD Colleagues,

I have recently been re-reading _Understanding by Design_, 2nd ed. ,a 
fine book by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe on curriculum 
development.  So, through that lens, I think that classroom 
"decorating" misses the point of adult education.  I would ask, 
instead, as Wiggins and McTighe do, "What are the Big Ideas and Core 
Tasks?" of the curriculum, and how can the classroom (walls) help 
students understand those?

There are lots of ways to use the physical environment of the 
classroom for learning and assessment, once the Big Ideas/Core tasks 
are clear.  Each week the classroom walls could have questions, 
pictures, drawings, key words, hanging objects and two-dimensional 
sculptures that reflected just one Big idea or Core Task.  Or, if 
there were 20 weeks and 20 Big Ideas/Core Tasks, each week a wall 
area could be developed with the new Big Idea/Core Tasks so that by 
the end of the 20 weeks the walls had them all.  For classes where it 
isn't possible to put something on the wall, each week there could be 
a digital slide show of images that the teacher and students have 
found that exemplify the Big Idea/Core Tasks for that week. The best 
images could be saved for future classes.  Students' selections of 
images could also be a good formative assessment to help the teacher 
and the students determine how well students are understanding the 
Big Idea/Core Task.

Of course, there are other approaches to curriculum development, a 
Freirean approach for example, or a theme-based approach.

Since I have mentioned the UbD book, I wonder if other adult 
educators on the PD list have read and use this book, and/or what 
other books and approaches adult educators have found useful in 
curriculum development.  Jackie, perhaps if others are interested, 
"How to Do Curriculum Development Well" could be a discussion topic 
on the PD discussion list.  Some might argue that the topic is more 
program development than professional development, but from my 
experience some of the most profound and lasting professional 
development takes place as teachers are trying to solve the problems 
of creating or improving their curriculum.  If others are intersted, 
perhaps this discussion could be an in-depth curriculum development 
"shop talk" week, where those whose passion is curriculum development 
are encouraged to talk about their approaches, books that help 
teachers understand curriculum development processes, satisfying 
experiences and frustrations helping teachers developing curriculum, 
and more. The goal would be to help adult education curriculum 
developers share and improve their approach/es to curriculum 
development. Anyone interested in participating in such a discussion?

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net


On Jul 16, 2007, at 2:57 AM, Bonnita Solberg wrote:


> Speaking of decor---one thing I learned from veteran teachers when 

> teaching High School subjects to adults, many of whom come to us 

> with learning challenges, is that having a rocking chair in the 

> room is a huge asset.  Encourage students to use the rocker when 

> they designate their own time out, feel stressed and want to relax 

> or just to think and get the gears going again.  The calming effect 

> is extraordinary.  By modeling use of the rocker, students know 

> that teachers also have time out needs.  Adult classes in our 

> district also have pets---animals and fish.  Students take turns 

> being responsible for care and cleaning of pens/tanks.  Rabbits are 

> especially warm and relaxing, as are fish.  We have also had 

> hamsters and rats, snakes and ant farms.

>

> Bonnita Solberg

> Teacher On Special Assignment

> Oakland  Adult and Career Education

>

>

>

> Barbara Garner <b.garner4 at verizon.net> wrote: Reading this question 

> reminded me of a "Focus on Basics" article from the Literacy and 

> Health issue. The article was about the Women, Violence, and Adult 

> Education project, led by the late Elizabeth Morrish. Project Hope, 

> in Massachusetts, runs a homeless shelter as well as running ABE 

> classes. (For the full article, go to http://www.ncsall.net/

> index.php?id=244) They did far more than put posters on the walls, 

> and the impact was profound:

> ...we were thinking, "How

> do we create positive conditions for learning?" My partner teacher 

> looked around and said, "Why don't we change the room?" So she held 

> a "visioning day" in her class. She asked her students to draw 

> pictures of what they would like the room to look like. She asked, 

> "If you could have anything you wanted in this room, what would it 

> be? No restrictions!" So the students drew these incredible 

> pictures, and we worked on the room all summer based on what they 

> told us they wanted. We painted the walls, added plants, put a 

> little fountain in, got halogen lights instead of the fluorescent 

> ones, bought new, more comfortable chairs. We hung a stained glass 

> panel in the windowÃ- . By the end of the summer, the room looked 

> totally different. And when the year began, we noticed a complete 

> change in people's attitudes. They were much more relaxed, much calmer

>

> Barb Garner

> Editor, "Focus on Basics"

> =====================

> From: Daphne Greenberg

> Date: 2007/07/14 Sat PM 09:18:06 CDT

> To: professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

> Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1409] decorating ideas?

>

> This is not a purely professional development question, but I think 

> that those interested in professional development may have good and 

> interesting ideas about my question.

> If an adult literacy program asked your advice about decorating it, 

> what would you suggest? For example, would you suggest posters that 

> show people reading, or some other educationally focused poster? Or 

> would you suggest something else? Any ideas where one can get 

> posters like the ones you would suggest?

> What types of decoration on the walls do your programs have?

> Thanks,

> Daphne

> Georgia State University

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David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net



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