About Us“An addition to Belle Terre Elementary School’s already award winning lineup of intuitive, hardworking learning spaces is the Hive. Just like our other active learning ecosystems, this space concentrates on collaboration and flexibility - with a side of well being ;) The Hive is a very unique learning environment, not because of how well it’s decorated or how many amenities are offered to our students to ensure a productive, diligent day of learning but because of the reasoning behind the build of the space. For the first time at Belle Terre, two teachers will be team-teaching in the same room at the same time. Will they be speaking at the same time? Of course not, but while one educator is instructing the lesson, the other will be facilitating questions and assisting to the students’ needs. This brings our classroom size momentarily “up” but for all the right reasons, which brings up a few questions - What do we know about hives and how do they behave? We do know a lot of hard work and devotion go into a hive’s very existence. We also know sometimes they are relocated to pollinate crops in other areas, but what does that mean[…]”
“The Hive is actually two separate rooms that methodically work together to maximize student achievement. 731 Hive is our large group instruction room. This is where one instructor delivers the lesson and relies on the other for student support. During these large group sessions, approximately 45 paperless students, using iPads, occupy the room at one time. What we’ve observed as the education paradigm shifts, traditional pedagogies can be detrimentally limited, causing unintentional - and maybe unnoticed, negative impacts on learning per square feet. We then found ourselves asking each other how could we create a space that could comfortably accommodate two classes while effortlessly absorbing academic resilience? We need things to be lightweight, maneuverable and mobile. We need things to be accessible from all angles and we need to encourage well being and activeness within the environment. ” |
“In an active learning space, we feel to create truly effective students you must have truly effective leaders; this is why educators must move around. We call this our EMMA practice. Active learning must start from the facilitators of the room and it must be encouraged not only by instruction but also by example; we need teachers who are mobile and willing to maneuver around the lesson. To ensure this practice is part of daily instruction within the HIVE, we have strategically placed televisions throughout the room. Students now have a choice as to which display they would like to view, allowing a 360 degree learning mode. Facilitators are now able to mirror material to all displays or they may pick and chose which ones they would like to use. When large group instruction is over, students will be able to AirPlay their devices to their corresponding display by utilizing the Apple TV’s attached to the rear of the TV. This is also how HoneyCombs are made ;)” “To foster a collaborative presence and facilitate optimal learning, Steelcase education solutions were utilized within the spaces. Because of the flexibility offered by the product, we are able to efficiently maximize our student learning per square footage. Each student within the HIVE, along with an iPad, has been assigned a Steelcase Node chair. Not only does this create a sense of ownership, it allows the large group instruction to rapidly and precisely dismantle into HC’s (HoneyCombs) for small group breakout. Thanks to the adjoining room, 724 HIVE, students can work on specific projects with specific members of the HIVE population and by having so many opportunities due to class size, diversity can actively play a role in social development.” Excerpt From: “Flagler Schools.” iBooks. |