A Reflective Classroom Set-Up

I am so lucky to continue building a classroom with my teaching partner, Jill, for another year! When I think about how far we have come as a team in just one year, I feel so grateful! 

This year, instead of unpacking boxes, figuring out the way to our classroom from the staff room, and meeting the countless incredible staff at our then new school, we have time to breathe, think, reflect and ease back into our space. 

This will be my first experience continuing in the same classroom, at the same school, with the same partner. I get to welcome back our JKs who become SKs and also be just down the hall from the new grade one's!

I continue to feel connected to other educators through social media and I look forward to growing as an educator through this blog. After reading a blog post from Tracy and Cheryl's visit to another classroom, I felt a bit of inspiration in that a few changes in our classroom could do us good.

We have changed the flow of our day to accommodate less transitions which now include beginning our day with Outdoor Learning. Last year, we visited a school that began their day outdoors by having learning centres happen outside just as they would outside. Because we have shifted our morning time from inside to outside, children will also have the opportunity to "sign in" using "sign in rocks". They will find their name on the rock and place it from the "Not Here" basket to the "Here" basket. 

We have added a "Wonder Shelf" near the window which also separates the large carpet area from the art studio. This shelf holds clipboards, magnifying glasses, writing tools and will also hold "wonder journals" which we plan to introduce slowly to the students. 

Our whole group meeting space has relocated to the middle of our windows. I'm very excited about this because it opens up our classroom and connects so beautifully with the blocks and building space. I love that the shelves in our room are already along that wall, allowing us to use the previously "block shelves" for other uses such as the shelf for our wonder area! Our dramatic play area is now near our whiteboards. The whiteboards will be a great space for children to communicate their play!

We also have a new member of our class that has o'fish'ally "moved in" on Wednesday! His name is to be determined by our students and he is currently living in our Quiet Area. My hope is that he brings a sense of calmness to our space, but also gives the children a sense of responsibility and opportunities to learn.

One of my personal goals this year is to bring more of the outdoors, inside. For example, incorporating more nature and plants into our classroom space. How do you do this in your classroom?