Module 3 (Week 1): The Work of Art of Architecture and Interior Design

I thoroughly enjoyed perusing the readings this week. Sarah Susanka's ideas are fantastic and make so much sense to me on both a personal and professional level. In her book A Sacred Space, she discussed the need for adults to have a space of their own for self discovery. I can understand the notion of needing to have a place to think and experiment and feel safe to explore ideas. When I relate this to my students, the importance of the actual physical classroom environment becomes obvious. Students need sacred space as well. It is critical that the layout of a classroom be conducive to learning. I've seen classrooms where the desks are too small to be shared by large adolescents and where there is no visual stimuli on the walls. These two factors, combined with institutional paint colors and harsh florescent lighting, create anything but a sacred space.

Sarah also mentioned the habit that many people have of including multiple unused spaces in their homes. I personally hate wasted space and environments that lack personality. I believe that we should tailor homes and classrooms to our specific needs and that bigger areas are not necessarily better. I was able to tie this idea into my teaching practices in various ways as well. On a physical plane, I hate the idea of clutter, whether it be crowded seating that is rarely used or overloaded book shelves and window ledges. I'll admit that in an actual classroom, space is generally a comodity and used to the fullest. Unfortunately, this is not always the case for the school building as a whole. We have many rooms that are not fully utilized. Additionally, on an intellectual plane, I feel that as an educator, it my responsibility to distill the information and relay it to my students in a clear and concise manner. Furthermore, there is a need to take advantage of the many resources available but to use them in meaningful ways, and not just as a filler of sorts. Afterall, as Susanka stated, "it's the details that delight."