Temperature
Overview
Providing ways for students to meet their individual temperature needs supports Attention and Inhibition & Self-Regulation. Maintaining a comfortable classroom temperature, usually between 68°F and 74°F, also promotes increased student engagement and learning.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Learn how this elementary school with no air conditioning tried to cope during a heat wave. By dimming the lights, opening the windows, and blowing fans in each classroom, these educators attempted to monitor the temperature and cool down the school.
Design It into Your Product
References Temperature
Earthman, G. I. (2002). School facility conditions and student academic achievement. UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access.
Haverinen-Shaughnessy, U., & Shaughnessy, R. J. (2015). Effects of classroom ventilation rate and temperature on students' test scores. PLOS one, 10(8), e0136165.
Lyons, J. B. (2001). Do school facilities really impact a child's education? Scottsdale, AZ: Council of Educational Facility Planners, International.
McMahon, S. D., Wernsman, J., & Rose, D. S. (2009). The relation of classroom environment and school belonging to academic self-efficacy among urban fourth-and fifth-grade students. The Elementary School Journal, 109(3), 267-281.
Nepal, A. (2015). Changing scenario of language classrooms in the present day world. Journal of NELTA, 20(1-2), 63-70.
Schneider, M. (2002). Do school facilities affect academic outcomes? Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities.
Wargocki, P., Wyon, D. P., Matysiak, B., & Irgens, S. (2005). The effects of classroom air temperature and outdoor air supply rate on the performance of school work by children. In Proceedings: Indoor air (pp. 368-72). Lyngby, Denmark: International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Physical Space Strategies
Dim or natural lighting provides a calming environment.
Having spaces where students can go supports self-regulation and individual deliberate practice.
Multiple tables and chairs on wheels allow for setting up the classroom to support the desired learning outcomes of each classroom activity.
Multiple display spaces promote collaboration by allowing groups to share information easily as they work.
Multiple writing surfaces promote collaboration by allowing groups to share information easily as they work.
Decreasing extra audio input provides a focused learning environment.
Books for vision differences support reading development for learners with visual needs.
Reading materials of varying complexity and levels are necessary for all students to experience success.
Providing varied types of resources that align with interests of individual students supports overall literacy development.
With figurative language and creative sentence structure, poetry supports the development of a deeper understanding of the different ways language makes meaning.
Books on social and emotional learning (SEL) topics, such as developing empathy and productive persistence, help teach these skills.
Providing ways for students to adjust sound level supports individual auditory needs.
Spaces that are structured, organized, and clean provide increased room for collaboration and active learning.
