This upcoming fall, students will come back to St Dominic’s English classrooms and enjoy new furniture such as couches, desks with wheels, and standing desks. This new furniture will help students collaborate, as well as prepare them for their futures.

The 200’s hallway is looking to get an upgrade with new furniture designed to improve student collaboration. English teachers like Mrs. Goins are very excited about this new change, and are confident students will love it too.

“I am excited about this change because it will make our learning environment even better. Students will have a variety of seating choices that are more comfortable than our current seats. We can also add a greater focus on students learning to communicate with each other,” Goins says.

The decision for new furniture was made to prepare students for their future. This is one of the reasons teachers are so excited about this change. It will help students collaborate and help them get better at working with others.

“As a school, we are working to prepare our students for their future. Our society needs individuals who can work together for a common goal. Arranging our classrooms that allows for collaboration will help meet these needs,” Goins says.

Teachers are also excited because this will allow them to work with their students more effectively. Rather than checking in on their class as a whole, they will be able to work with their students in small groups.

“Teachers will be able to improve teaching strategies and helpfully improve student learning by being able to interact with students on another level. The teacher will move from the front of the room and engage students in smaller groups,” Goin says.

Mrs. Goins isn’t the only teacher excited, though. Another English teacher, Ms. Robbins, can’t wait to get new furniture in her classroom next year as she struggles with the current layout.

“I’m not a fan of these desks right now. You can’t do a lot, and it makes it really hard for group work. It’s hard to get together and I like to do things where you have to move desks a lot. I feel like it will open up the classroom more and make them more spacious,” Ms. Robbins said.

Ms. Robbins also thinks students will love the new furniture because it will allow them to move around. She thinks this will lead to a better learning environment for her students.

“I think they will love it. They always want to sit at the teacher’s desk or even stand. One of my students now always wants to stand up for the whole class. Being able to choose your own seat and being flexible with it will make such a better working environment,” Robbins says.

Students and teachers are all looking forward to the new furniture in the 200’s hallway. More active students will have chances to stand up or move around, and calmer students can relax on couches. Teachers are excited about the new furniture because they believe it will lead to a more effective student learning environment, and more effective student collaboration.