Classy Classrooms

The creative classrooms of CSArts reflect our unique student body. From math classes to Mandarin 1, the academic classes are just as inventive as conservatory courses. Teachers shape their lesson plans to fit their specific goals of the class; it is rare to find two classes that are exactly the same.

The creativity of teachers is apparent in their classrooms. In Room 101, the walls of Mr. Bowman’s classroom are covered with posters, student work, and shelves of mementos.

Keeping someone’s attention for a full ninety minutes can be really difficult. When students start to space out, they can find something in the room that interests them. Wherever they look, there’s something to see,”

says Mr. Bowman. His classroom is famous for its calm environment, stock of emergency granola bars, and other essential supplies available for all students.

I want it to be a welcoming space; that’s my goal.”

Just a few doors down is Mr. Y’s math class in Room 105, where his students try to fill the “mistake counter” by spotting any mistakes in his lesson.

I think it keeps them a little sharper and more focused,”

says Mr. Y.

Every year [the students] get more and more creative with finding math mistakes.”

Many of Mr. Y’s students also know of the xylophone in his classroom, which he originally received as a gift.

I thought it was a strange gift, so I thought it’d be even stranger to bring it to school,”

he says.

I like to play children’s songs, like the one about the lamb. Someone had a little lamb.”

However, creativity isn’t always shown through physical objects and settings. It can also be shown in the ways teachers manage their classrooms. In Mandarin 1, which is located in Room 401, most of the vocabulary isn’t pre-planned. Instead, the teacher, Nana Yang, asks the students questions such as what they did on their weekend. She translates their response into Mandarin Chinese. This results in a lot of varied vocabulary. She says that she was inspired by how parents used to ask questions to their children to teach them Chinese.

A lot of times the questions are based off of daily life,”

she explained.

So most of [the] topics [we learn in class] are based on real life situations.”

Mr. Pegan, who teaches Early World History in Room 301, also has an interesting approach to teaching. The questions on his assignments have to do with forming an opinion about the topic, not memorizing historical facts like you would expect.

A lot of highschool math or a lot of highschool history isn’t driven as much by being able to remember names and dates,” he says. “It’s driven by using historical facts to make an argument.”

Also, Mr. Pegan doesn’t lecture for most of the class. Instead, he gives the students nearly all of class time to work on assignments. When asked why he made this choice, he said,

Lecture’s a more passive form of teaching. By having you dig in and having to do all the work, you’re the center of the learning.”

He added that this also gives him time to answer questions and help students with the assignment.

These are only a few examples of how CSArts is a school where both students and teachers can express their creativity. These teachers choose to make creative or pleasant classrooms all over the CSArts campus, whether this is through aesthetic decorations and physical objects, or the way they manage their classroom. Every teacher gives their students the opportunity to learn and grow in a unique environment.