21st Century Learning Blog | Collaborative Classroom Blog | Kay-Twelve

Top 4 Podcasts Every School Leader Should Listen To
As a school leader, it can be challenging to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in education. Fortunately, podcasts have become a popular medium for educators to share their insights and expertise on a variety of topics related to education. Here are the top four podcasts every school leader should listen to:
Class Disruptive Podcast hosted by Michael B. Horn
The coronavirus pandemic disrupted education across the United States and changed our assumptions about what i...

What Education Can Learn from the Savannah Bananas Baseball Team: Peeling Back the Layers
Reimagining Today’s School System
Did you know that Major League Baseball (MLB) is the oldest professional sports league in the US? Not only that, but baseball has consistently remained a top 3 sport in America for the past 150 years.
It's easy to say that baseball has been a success, because it has. But there are plenty of signs that baseball needs a significant boost in popularity. Television viewership and attendance has continued to decline over the years and the average age of baseball f...

Leading School Furniture Company Will No Longer Sell Iconic Classroom Chair/Desk
We all know the way schools used to look. Buehler? Buehler? Chairs in straight rows, kids bored out of their mind, with a teacher lecturing in the front of the classroom. According to Kay-Twelve, a leading national school furniture company, the traditional style of school furniture is actually doing harm to the kids.
“We now know only 15% of students learn best in a lecture setting,” says Kevin Stoller, CEO and Co-Founder of Kay-Twelve. “The other 85% of students learn in other, more engaging...

The End of Average
Historical classroom design has been geared toward one particular style of instruction - lecture.
There is 75% retention of what is heard in a 30-40 minute lecture for auditory learners. However, surveys have shown that only 15% of learners identify strongly as auditory learners! That means the historical classroom is not reaching the other 85% of students. That has raised some questions like is there a better way to address various learning styles in one room in order to best reach the most ...

When Should I Start the School Furniture Process?
Knowing when to start your school furniture project can be tough, but is very important to consider when you have future projects in the works. That is why we have mapped out the ideal timeline that will give you an idea on where you should be and when based off of your estimated completion date that you may have set.
24-36 Months Prior To Completion Date
Yes, you may think it is crazy, but in an ideal world you will begin the initial planning phase early to ensure that your project is comple...

Top 3 Mistakes When Ordering School Furniture
As you may know, getting the necessary budget to address furniture needs in your school can be extremely difficult. It is not often that school leaders have allocated budget to go towards the interior of a classroom, so it is important to get these decisions right when you get the opportunity. Read the top 3 mistakes that administrators typically make when ordering school furniture.

What Does A Post-COVID School Look Like?
If you have been a part of the Educational Industry within the past year and a half, you know that it has been filled with constant change and uncertainty. There are a couple of things that we can expect schools to focus on to ensure that our kids are getting back to the proven methods of 21st Century Learning that had been taking the world by storm before the COVID-19 pandemic.

5 Factors To Consider When Creating School Cafeteria Environments
When you think of a school going through a major renovation or new construction, most people will only think about the major factor - what the classrooms will look and feel like. While that is a very important aspect, it is also important to consider other aspects that will help the school be successful for the next 30-40 years.
One of the most overwhelming parts of a major school project is creating the cafeteria space. How do I know what is the right tables for my school? How do I gauge the...

Top Five Current Issues Impacting School Administrators Today
There are over 10,000 school districts in the United States and - as you can expect - each will face unique challenges over the course of a year. With that said, 2021 has brought school administrators together through some of the similar challenges that they are all having to face. Here are 5 challenges that school administrators across the country are all facing.

Is It Play Or Is It Learning?
Kay-Twelve and Slab Dream Lab believe learning and playing take part at the same time. With one of our latest offerings - called SLAB - we can offer one of the largest and strongest baseplate systems for toy building bricks on the market.

The Perfect Playground Design Day Guide
The playground planning process is best executed with a playground committee and when individuals come from a variety of professions and age ranges. That is why we have teamed up with Play by Design, LLC to offer you a playground kick-off event! Schedule a free collaboration session to get started!

Confidential Peer Network For Superintendents
Did you know that prior to COVID-19, the annual turnover rate for School Superintendents was between 14 to 16 percent? With the after-effects of COVID-19, school leaders are only expecting this number to continue rising over the next couple of years.
Why is this important?
Well for starters, this is bound to create a shortage of qualified administrators across the country. Not only that, but the cost to rehire new administrators can cost the district right around $75,000 to prepare, hire, and...