Small Changes, Big Impact: The GIPS Classroom Crawl

What does a high-impact classroom actually look like? 
 

This fall, a group of new Grand Island Public Schools teachers found out firsthand through the Classroom Crawl, a new initiative designed to turn classroom design into a shared learning experience.
 

The event, organized by GIPS Curriculum Coordinator Megan Ahrens, invited teachers who were newer to the profession to walk the classrooms at a district school on a student-free planning day. The first Classroom Crawl was held in November at Shoemaker Elementary. 
 

The goal was simple: 
 

Provide a "light-hearted" way for educators—especially those in their first five years—to see how physical space affects student success.
 

“I first heard about this idea at a conference,” Ahrens said. “It was an open invitation to teachers with five or less years experience to walk into an environment and be able to physically see the things we talk about during our professional learning times,” she added.
 

A group of about 15 people attended the first Classroom Crawl. As new teachers, some joined by their principals and teaching partners, walked the halls, they used a "look-for" tool to identify key instructional strategies in action. 
 

Key focus areas included:

• Academic Language: How vocabulary and learning prompts are displayed on walls.
• Classroom Flow: How furniture arrangement influences student focus and engagement.
• Practical Takeaways: Identifying specific setups that could be replicated the very next day.

Jacqueline Ortega Garcia, a first year Kindergarten teacher at Dodge Elementary, attended the Classroom Crawl and said it was helpful to see what other teachers across the district are doing in their classrooms.

“I got new ideas and felt affirmed in some of the things I already have in place,” Garcia expressed. “It was especially helpful to see how other teachers use their bulletin boards, particularly for letter sounds in kindergarten and for our science walls. I also picked up ideas on different ways to set up and organize my classroom, visuals, and classroom management strategies,” she said.
 

Garcia added that she also gathered great ideas for practicing sight words throughout the day. One example she saw was having students fist bump a picture of a fist as they leave the classroom while saying the sight word. 
 

All of those strategic ideas, simply from walking into different classrooms and having discussions about what Garcia saw. 
 

Ahrens said GIPS offers a plethora of wonderful resources and curriculum. In addition, she said learning from peers on how things are implemented is also an important way for teachers and staff to learn. 
 

“It's fun and engaging to walk into a space and see the art and science of teaching in another classroom and see how they arrange their room. How teachers arrange their room, and there is data to show, really does have a big impact on how students learn,” Ahrens expressed.
 

Due to positive feedback from attendees and the host school, GIPS hopes to plan another classroom crawl event next school year.
 

By opening their doors to one another, GIPS educators are ensuring that the best ideas don’t stay in just one classroom—they spread across the entire district. 
 

Because when our staff continually collaborate, learn, and improve, so do our students. And that’s always what it’s about: the students and their learning experiences.
 

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