It's Been A Millennium

 It's Been A Millennium

D.B 

GCE Lab School, 2021

About what feels to be forever, we're finally back in-person at GCE, which we have started off with orientation week. During this orientation week, we as a school all went to Millennium park to go enjoy a little soundscape of musical pieces performed by Kioto Aoki that played on the speakers, taking notes on what we enjoyed about a piece we heard, along with other requirements such as illustrating what we heard or what we imagined while listening. With this orientation action project, we are simply asked to reflect on what we've learned from this experience. Below you'll find my reflection of the experience.

An Observational Challenge

The first thing I noticed was the connection between our internal and external investigations. Originally for our internal, we had to figure out what a classroom is and what we'd want our specifically designed room to look like in order to maximize its utility and space. Imagine a classroom designed as if only for watching videos or theatrical displays. An upward slope leading up the back of the room with pews for seating, and a flat flooring on the front for the audience in the pews to be pointed towards to observe. 

We'll get back to that later, but it'll come back up soon.

As we entered the soundscape space at Millennium park, I finally decided to take a look at the sheet we were all handed out. Everything looked pretty standard, describing what we've heard, illustrating, writing our likes and dislikes. Only one thing stood out like a sore thumb on the sheet was the question on the back: "How did this learning experience compare to an indoor classroom?" 

Our original look at what classrooms could be never spanned quite literally outside the box that students are placed in, according to the examples shown. Only now was it brought to my attention that it had been left out until now. My initial response to that question was noting it as superior. The wind was perfect, sun was clouded out so nobody was cooking alive in the summer heat, and really to even sell this whole frolicking in the flowers idea even more, we had a whole grass field to lay down and relax in. 

There are of course the downsides to being outside that at the time were not experienced, but in the given moment it was essentially perfect. 

Once we all got back to school the next day, we had to reflect on what we enjoyed about the experience and what overall moods it gave to us. Our group's primary recognition was that it was peaceful, relaxing, on one occasion stressful. I began to think about how I would incorporate that into our assigned classroom's design. 

Here's a quick sketch of what I'd imagine the layout to be. 

I'll explain what everything is really quickly: 

Striped lines: Cushions, primarily around the stairs as they'd be comfortable to occupy with their additional but convenient back support, along with cushioning around the open walls and where I felt fits. I specifically left the area in the front open for a teacher to still have a stage of some sort to teach. This was incorporated into the design due to one of the students enjoying sitting on the floor/under a desk, and to also fit our position while at the park, where we only could sit in the grass.

Big circle in the front: Where a computer and desk has space to be and the primary source for the audio on the speakers.

Shaded in circles by the corners: Speaker placement.

Tiny circles: Lights that only use non-invasive (as I describe it) colors, colors that resonate with the music being played and aren't too blinding if you look straight at them. Primarily dark colors.

Rectangle boxes near center/back: Pews. One of the students in my group didn't enjoy the church-like seating as that environment discomforted her, so one of the reasons behind the cushioning on the floor is so the pews could easily be covered up with black covers or something similar in order to rid them from the space mentally to some capacity. 

On the speakers, the teacher would be allowed to play whatever they like through their computer around the room. The lighting allows them to set the tone they want their students to feel while listening to the music. This gives them the ability to hone in on what they want students to take away from the song a little better. 

Would I recommend this set up for the classroom? Maybe for particular settings or lessons, but not all. It does not set into the theatrical potential of this room, more of the musical side and immersion, which not all lessons are attuned to do. Nonetheless, still an experience I would imagine sets the same tone of voice that our Millennium park experience had given us along with those that hadn't been there.