Teachers explore ‘colors’ of learning

Elena Woods sits at her desk at Maricopa Elementary, warm green eyes gazing out over a classroom of first-graders.

However, upon ariving for their first day of school, it wasn’t the eyes of their new teacher these young students noticed, but the soothing green color covering the classroom’s wall.

“A lot of the children walked in and said ‘wow your walls are not all white,'” Woods said.

Woods and fellow elementary teacher Jenny Kraus met this summer to paint their classrooms from the standard institutional white to a mellow green.

It wasn’t by chance or whim that the teachers selected this color. The goal is to help jumpstart learning. The teachers are taking a page from Exceeding Expectations: A User’s Guide to Implementing Brain Research in the Classroom, (Books for Educators, 2002), a book that offers different strategies to improve brain development in young children.

“A lot of the time you see bright colors in a classroom, or plain drab whites,” Woods said. She said more mellow colors are less distracting, and create a calming affect, which makes the room feel more comfortable.

“The color has made a great difference; the kids feel like they are more at home,” Woods said. “They take more ownership.”

In addition to the new wall colors, both teachers redecorated their rooms to match the color scheme. They brought in objects to add to the comfort level of the classrooms.

Kraus took an additional step by turning off the florescent bulbs in her classroom. She now relies on the natural lighting entering the room from a row of windows.

“The kids just feel more relaxed in this environment,” Kraus said. “We usually play soft music, too.”

Maricopa Elementary Vice Principal Aaron Harris said that four more teachers at the school have repainted their classrooms with more calming colors.

“It isn’t just about color or lighting, it’s about providing a comfortable learning environment for the children,” Kraus said.

Photo by Michael K. Rich