31 Awesome Teachers Who Tried To Make Their Socially Distanced Classrooms Look Less Scary And Succeeded
The new school year is right around the corner for a large chunk of the world’s students. While some pupils are excited to be back in the classroom with all of their friends (I know that my sisters can’t wait for September!), parents and teachers are naturally a bit anxious about Covid-19.
Schools are officially enforcing brand new guidelines to reduce the chances of students catching the coronavirus, but teachers are coming up with their own great ideas to protect everyone’s health even further.
From creative social distancing measures to other innovative ways to reduce contact and the spread of germs, these playful methods prove that some teachers go above and beyond the call of duty. Our scholarly Bored Panda team has collected some of the best classroom ideas for the new school year, so scroll down and upvote your fave ones.
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Clean Hands Will Be Ready To Go Whenever We Get Back Into The Classroom!
Social Distancing
No Playing. Masks All Day. Six Feet Apart At All Times
"School seems like a frightening place, when you read about all the safety measures kids will have to adhere to this year.
Thankfully, there are educators, like Jennifer Birch Pierson, a Kindergarten teacher from Texas, who are making lemonade from some very sour lemons and making their classrooms as welcoming and comforting as possible for our littlest learners.
Check out how she set up her classroom desks to look like a bunch of trucks on the road. She even makes the required desk shields look like windshields.
Those students who enter her classroom may have a tough time, but clearly they are in the hands of a caring teacher, and that's something all parents can be grateful for.
Thank you to the teachers, who, like Ms. Pierson, are doing all they can and more to make our kids feel safe and happy."
According to educational leader and classroom design specialist Robert Dillon, going back to school for the first time after summer is going to be stressful even if students and teachers think they’re fully prepared. Keep in mind that in some places, people have been learning and teaching via the internet since March!
Dillon points out that now more than ever it’s important to get rid of items that fill up space without “any purpose” so as to increase the amount of free space each person gets. After all, if your classroom is cluttered and stuffy, students are more likely to be squashed together instead of being able to socially distance effectively.
"Book Boats"
Beach-Themed Classroom With Dividers
Corona Classroom
He also stresses that this is the perfect time to promote more active learning. So giving students permission to stand or even moving classrooms outdoors can keep students moving (and learning!) better.
“Where we learn matters, and as we consider the launch of the new school year, take time to listen to students, notice their needs and incorporate that in which we can’t control into the design elements that we can control,” Dillon writes.
Fun And Decorative Hats With Social Distancing Sticks
Wooden Stands For Each Of My Plexiglass Trifolds!!! They Just Slide In And Out To Make Them More Sturdy For My Firsties!
Socially Distanced Classrooms
She has to teach virtually from her classroom, students will not be present for a while (socially distancing desks isn't necessary if no students are present). She is using stuffed animals as a "stand in" for her students. Cute idea!
What do you think of all of these anti-Covid classroom measures, dear Pandas? Do you have any ideas on how to make classrooms safer while staying fun? Perhaps you’re a teacher or have kids who are going to be back at school soon? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
While It Was A Bummer To Have To Separate My Students Out, I Still Enjoy This Space. I Want It To Be As Bright And Welcoming As Possible. I Want My Students To Be Excited To Enter
"Even with all that’s going on around us, I’m still excited about the beginning of a new school year like I have for the last 12 years."
In my kids 5th grade class a few years ago instead of chairs the kids sat on yoga balls. Every day of the school year.
Socially Distanced Classrooms
Social Distanced Classroom
That's who they are worried about. There are so many reports about kids being ok and the worst is "them passing it on to teachers rather than each other". We had staffing issues due to this reasoning.
Load More Replies...This looks like a room for older elementary and they can wear masks or face shields. Younger kids will not last an hour with them.
Two Florida Teachers Turned Their Students' Desks Into Little Jeeps To Make Social Distancing Less Scary
This Space Feels Happy
This space feels happy. After measuring and cleaning and decorating and measuring and taping and hanging and organizing and...did I say measuring? This home-sweet-classroom feels happy and worth every bit of work put in this week. I hope my students feel happy when they walk in here in a few soon. I will be sharing more of the details but for now I’m so excited that the bulk of the work is done
This classroom is massive, when I was in school my classroom were at least half this size.
A Rainbow Of Yoga Mats That Will Be Used For Social Distancing In My Classroom!
Make Them Their Own Supply Bags With Their Names On
Hang The Tissues In An Easy-To-Reach Place
Tape Boundaries Around The Classroom
I would have loved having my own square in school that only I could go in
Clean Things And Sanitize Them Without Grabbing The Bottle
Socially Distanced Classrooms
I Found These Lap Desks/Trays At Michaels A Couple Weeks Ago On Sale! With The Idea Of Spreading The Students Out As Much As Possible
Sooooo with no shared supplies this year (which isn’t my preference anyway)... I found these lap desks/trays at Michaels a couple weeks ago ON SALE! With the idea of spreading the students out as much as possible, I will have a few kiddos that will sit on the green chairs (2nd picture) with the lap desk at the carpet. The rest of my kiddos will be at a desk/table with the trays under their seats to hold all the things! (3rd & 4th pic) I actually used these last year and LOVED them!! AND none of them broke They are stackable paper trays from Amazon that I zip tied to the bottom of their chair. Here’s to a very weird classroom set up
Storage Bins For Everyone's Desk
These aren't even close to six feet apart. But, yay, they have crates.
Use Book Covers To Cover The Seats In A Classroom
Not Exactly What I Would Choose For My Students, But The Best I Can Give Them With Our Current Limitations
Not exactly what I would choose for my students, but the best I can give them with our current limitations.
Making kids sit at their desk all day goes against everything I believe about kids learning, so I knew I’d have to get creative this year.
I taped 4x5 boxes for each kid to call their own. It’s not a perfect plan, but it’ll give them space to sit, stand, or lay while also following guidelines!
I’ve also gotten the okay to assign pillows, carpet squares or stuffed animals to each kid to keep as their own for the school year!
I always knew my inability to get rid of pillow pets would come in handy some day
One Socially Distanced Classroom Later . As Long As It Is Safe For Them On 1st June, It'll Be Okay. It Just Makes Me So Sad
My Classroom Is Now Ready For Social Distancing
I love that they didn't put students next to each other like some of the other ones did
Socially Distanced Classrooms
Socially Distanced Classrooms
Socially Distanced Classrooms
lol all of them being slanted made it hard for me to figure out each of them
Individual Chair Pocket
Use Shower Curtains For Classroom Dividers
100% guarantee they did unfortunately.
Load More Replies...It's incredible how negative a lot of people commenting on these photos are. It's not like the teachers want to be put in this position; they're doing the best they can (either with insufficient funds or purely paying out of pocket) to try and make this school year safe, fun, and as least traumatic for the kids as possible. Every school and every state has different safety "protocols" in place, so the teachers have to work around that too. There is no perfect solution as far too many parents have jobs no longer working from home, meaning that they literally can't keep the kids home for virtual learning. We should be celebrating what the teachers are doing to make the most out of a terrible situation instead of nitpicking everything.
A lot of these pictures do show six feet of distance. But how are they handling all the students? I mean, when my kids were in elementary school there were always around 30 kids per classroom. What are they doing with the kids that don't fit?
I'm a high school freshman and at my school only about half of the kids are going back. The other half are doing virtual, like me. So, face-to-face has about 15 students per classroom and virtual has about 25. We also have daily temp. checks, masks are mandatory, assigned seats at lunch, etc. Hope this helps! :)
Load More Replies...So many negative opinions posted. Short of a plastic bubble for each child, ALL the ideas will have limitations and flaws. Teachers are doing the best they can to potect children, using their own budgeted money, limited floor space, active children and a public who sees nothing but the "flaws" in their efforts. You've got good ideas. I'll bet the local school would appreciate the help.
I think it's f up that the teachers have to come up with ways for this and you still have some people saying they need to shut up and teach
A LOT of VERY annoying comments!! These teachers have done the very best they could with what they had, often outta their own pockets, the size of the spaces or fact that schools are reopening isn't their fault, a little appreciation wouldn't go amiss.
As a teacher I have to say these ideas look great however in reality we have 30 kids in our room not 12 and many of the rooms are smaller than what is shown here especially in low income and poverty stricken school districts such as mine. We are often forgten even though our kids are as equally important.
These teachers are amazing!! The amount of effort and thought they put into it is admirable!
I wish I'd had teachers this ingenious back when I first started school. Instead I got this horrible, embittered old woman, a hairsbreadth away from retirement, who really didn't two f**ks about the children in her charge.
Or you could just teach virtually? Why has the US stopped doing that?
Because depending which state between 1/3 to 1/2 of students didn't log in, not to mention higher depression rates with students, etc. The APA said if they didnt do in class schooling this year, they might as well write off the whole year academically and force everyone to repeat. This would essentially prevent low income Urban kids from ever getting into college.
Load More Replies...This is ridiculous ... and we have a lot of traumatized, socially isolated children later who could only learn via media. :/
This depresses me. I look at these pics and wonder how many kids in these classrooms are going to get sick, infect an elderly out at risk relative. I wonder how many of the teachers will get sick. How many will die. I committed educators turning into statistics and the sense of loss is unbearable.
100% guarantee they did unfortunately.
Load More Replies...It's incredible how negative a lot of people commenting on these photos are. It's not like the teachers want to be put in this position; they're doing the best they can (either with insufficient funds or purely paying out of pocket) to try and make this school year safe, fun, and as least traumatic for the kids as possible. Every school and every state has different safety "protocols" in place, so the teachers have to work around that too. There is no perfect solution as far too many parents have jobs no longer working from home, meaning that they literally can't keep the kids home for virtual learning. We should be celebrating what the teachers are doing to make the most out of a terrible situation instead of nitpicking everything.
A lot of these pictures do show six feet of distance. But how are they handling all the students? I mean, when my kids were in elementary school there were always around 30 kids per classroom. What are they doing with the kids that don't fit?
I'm a high school freshman and at my school only about half of the kids are going back. The other half are doing virtual, like me. So, face-to-face has about 15 students per classroom and virtual has about 25. We also have daily temp. checks, masks are mandatory, assigned seats at lunch, etc. Hope this helps! :)
Load More Replies...So many negative opinions posted. Short of a plastic bubble for each child, ALL the ideas will have limitations and flaws. Teachers are doing the best they can to potect children, using their own budgeted money, limited floor space, active children and a public who sees nothing but the "flaws" in their efforts. You've got good ideas. I'll bet the local school would appreciate the help.
I think it's f up that the teachers have to come up with ways for this and you still have some people saying they need to shut up and teach
A LOT of VERY annoying comments!! These teachers have done the very best they could with what they had, often outta their own pockets, the size of the spaces or fact that schools are reopening isn't their fault, a little appreciation wouldn't go amiss.
As a teacher I have to say these ideas look great however in reality we have 30 kids in our room not 12 and many of the rooms are smaller than what is shown here especially in low income and poverty stricken school districts such as mine. We are often forgten even though our kids are as equally important.
These teachers are amazing!! The amount of effort and thought they put into it is admirable!
I wish I'd had teachers this ingenious back when I first started school. Instead I got this horrible, embittered old woman, a hairsbreadth away from retirement, who really didn't two f**ks about the children in her charge.
Or you could just teach virtually? Why has the US stopped doing that?
Because depending which state between 1/3 to 1/2 of students didn't log in, not to mention higher depression rates with students, etc. The APA said if they didnt do in class schooling this year, they might as well write off the whole year academically and force everyone to repeat. This would essentially prevent low income Urban kids from ever getting into college.
Load More Replies...This is ridiculous ... and we have a lot of traumatized, socially isolated children later who could only learn via media. :/
This depresses me. I look at these pics and wonder how many kids in these classrooms are going to get sick, infect an elderly out at risk relative. I wonder how many of the teachers will get sick. How many will die. I committed educators turning into statistics and the sense of loss is unbearable.