Small Classrooms are Limiting Learning Potential

78% of our current classrooms are too small for the needs of modern education. They were built during a time when students faced the teacher at a blackboard for the vast majority of the day—a passive style of learning that has been on the decline for decades.

These days, students at all levels of education are involved in more ‘active learning’ activities which has been shown to increase test scores and performance in STEM.

Cluttered, small classrooms are impacting learning potential in Cape Elizabeth

Mrs. Ramsbotham, a 6th grade ELA and Social Studies teacher at CEMS, describes the day-to-day challenges of working with cramped classrooms:

What would she like to see instead?

Designated areas of the classroom for kids to simultaneously engage in classwork at once: an area for mini lessons, another for reading and writing, another for small group collaboration.

A larger classroom would also allow her to redirect students from their desks to a floor meeting area for group reading—without the noisy interruption of requesting students to move desks in the middle of their lesson (and back again at the end).

Right now, it’s easier for our teachers to not offer collaborative, hands-on experiences as part of their everyday lessons because it is so disruptive to set up and break down. There also isn’t enough storage to house the materials needed to offer more hands-on learning.