Should we fill our classrooms with ready-made, polished materials, designed from an adult perspective and often aimed at impressing visiting parents?
Or should we build learning environments that reflect student voice, student agency, and authentic participation, even if that means things don’t always look picture-perfect?
In our class, students took charge of writing the daily schedule themselves. It’s not printed or laminated. It’s handwritten, updated daily, and full of personality. Students use different colors of their choice for each subject, and even draw small icons—like a paintbrush for art or a football for PE.
It’s more than just a routine task. It’s handwriting practice, time management, ownership, and visibility of the learning process all wrapped into one small moment.
📸 Here, one of my students is updating the schedule herself, using her handwriting and color choices. It may not match the pre-cut classroom kits you can buy, but it’s a piece of our classroom, created by the learners who inhabit it.
As César Bona puts it in La nueva educación:
— “If you give a child the opportunity to participate—even the responsibility to propose something—they’ll plant a tree, lay a tile… They’ll be the first to respect it and the first to inspire others to do the same. And that will last for years.”
This belief has been at the bottom of my heart for a long time.