Room 501 is now under the sea...
The large room 501 has been suffering through many changes since the beginning of the school year in 2013. It went from sober white walls to light green ones and has recently received an artistic touch from MS students: a seascape mural is now painted on one of its walls. The whole idea of wall painting came from the BSS teacher Mr. Viana, who has an impressive world map decorating one of his walls. Room 501 needed revamping, after having stored thousands of cleaned pet bottles in its balcony for almost a year for the “Ecological houses” project. Additionally, it conveyed a feeling of emptiness, since the furniture it comprised never seemed to be enough. On the one hand, the idea of adding color to the classroom sounded appealing but I was concerned about whether it would create an unintended distraction for students and consequently a detriment to learning.
According to O’Banion (2010), color can actually be used to help gain students' focus and enhance learning by increasing work productivity and accuracy. The author pointed out that high contrast and bright colors are very intellectually stimulating and can increase mental focus for children. For instance, red colors cause students to be more attentive to details while blue colors can invoke a relaxed feeling, making students more open-minded. Similarly, yellows and oranges can also increase creative energy, whereas white and off-white can be boring and make students more restless, causing frustration. Soon I realized that knowing what colors to use and how to place them is a winning strategy for teachers. I would definitely go for the vibrant colors!
The students accepted the idea right away and a discussion on the wall theme was established for a week. Countless creative (and crazy!) ideas were raised, ranging from restful landscapes to aggressive volcanic eruptions. The whole idea was already challenging and we wanted to keep it simple so as to complete it by the end of 2013. As a Marine Biologist, I have the inclination towards topics related to the ocean and the image selected would definitely feature this environment.
Once the photo was chosen, the process included projecting the image on the wall, outlining its elements and finally painting them. Simple, right?! Not quite! The wall chosen was the only one without windows, doors, boards or items of furniture- a challenging 4.40 m long and 3.20 m high wall! There was no image big enough for that projection and students’ creativity made all the difference at this point. In three days, graceful and magical ocean creatures came alive on my wall, capturing students’ endless imagination. The mural depicts the wonder and magnificence of different forms of life under the sea, featuring elements that are part real, part fantasy. Friendly fish, colorful sponges, a charismatic turtle and a sea horse, and even a playful dolphin are just a few you will find depicted on this wall. Not only is my room livelier now but also very useful when teaching sixth grade students about living things. Come and dive with us!
I am very grateful to all the eighth graders for outlining the elements of this mural perfectly and for painting some of the fish. A special thanks to Sofia Schmidt (6th grade) for her cute dolphin, Maria Clara (7th grade) for her stunning sea turtle, and Alex Morris and Maria Paula (7th grade) for their enthusiasm in painting sea urchins and sea stars. I am also very thankful to all of those who supported this work of art: Mr. Rundle, maintenance staff, and teachers.
Carla Mendes - Science Teacher
O’Banion, Deborah.
Classroom Wall Colors and How They Impact Learning.
(accessed February 16, 2014)
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |