Support Teacher Wellness; Rejuvenate Your Teachers’ Lounge
September 30, 2024
Today’s K–12 teachers are burning out – and leaving the profession – faster than ever. What can schools do? Show more love for educators with a teachers’ lounge makeover that supports their mental health.
Granted, it may seem counterintuitive for schools to increase their investment in teachers’ downtime, but faculty and staff need a break room just as much as students need calm rooms and safe spaces—maybe even more. Here’s how good design and thoughtful furniture can transform your teacher lounge break room into a welcoming port in the storm.
Universal Design for Learning: How to create UDL classrooms that ‘bust the barriers’ for students
May 31, 2024
For many K–12 students, the path to learning is riddled with barriers, big and small. Universal Design for Learning is an inclusive approach that’s redefining those educational obstacles as valuable opportunities.
Beyond Tree Stumps & Stepping Stones: Tips for Building Better Outdoor Learning Spaces
May 2, 2024
The benefits of outdoor learning for K–12 students are well documented. How to furnish those spaces remains a footnote.
Smith System Announces Partnership with Landscape Forms
March 6, 2024
Smith System Collaborates with Landscape Forms to Launch ‘OpenSpaces’—Highly Durable Outdoor School Furniture for Enhanced Learning Experiences
Improving Classrooms for Neurodiverse Students and Different Learning Styles
December 6, 2023
In a world of unknowns, K–12 educators know this: There are infinite variations of the student brain, both neurotypical and neurodivergent. Given this learning landscape, how can schools ensure their classrooms are inclusively equipped for different learning styles?
How to Create a Dynamic Active Learning Environment with School Furniture
March 22, 2023
The active learning classroom is analogous to a chameleon. The physical set-up you see at 9 a.m. could look completely different within minutes – and not from chaos. The quick change-up is from teachers and students tailoring their surroundings to the active learning strategy at play.
The Power of Choice–Platinum & Clear Totes Now Available
March 6, 2023
Storage bins, boxes, totes or trays. No matter what they’re called, these compact classroom organization tools provide big solutions. So much so that decreasing visual clutter in learning spaces can actually increase learning outcomes.
Leaping into Latin America: Smith System Expands Furniture Footprint
February 16, 2023
Every day, on every continent, teachers and students are together on a learning journey. Smith System believes the opportunities to inspire both are endless, especially with innovative, insights-driven school furniture.
Furniture Overhaul Turns Special Ed Science Classroom into ‘Science Oasis’
February 6, 2023
You may not realize it, but school classroom furniture has a huge impact on how well the children in the room learn. Here’s everything you need to know
Leveraging Technology to Support Student Wellbeing
January 23, 2023
Before the pandemic struck schools, it was rare to hear “technology” and “wellbeing” in the same sentence. Now, K–12 educators are learning to leverage digital technologies to foster students’ wellbeing and inclusion throughout schools. Welcome to Part Two in our three-part blog series devoted to digital transformation trends in education. We’re aggregating top insights on
Designing Flexible Learning Spaces for Ed Tech Integration
January 23, 2023
A generation ago, a school “laptop” literally meant your lap (i.e., a convenient place to park a textbook). “Gamification” was surviving dodgeball in gym class. Not anymore. Today, the tools and terms of digital transformation in the education sector continue to redefine school curricula and design. Foremost, schools – and the furniture within them –
How Technology is Shaping the Future of Learning
January 10, 2023
There’s an undeniable digital transformation underway in K–12 education. Its scope and pace are shaping the future of learning, teaching, and the physical spaces and furniture that support them, for sure. That’s the catalyst behind this three-part blog series devoted to the tsunamic effects of the K–12 digital transformation. We’ve aggregated top insights on three