Light Table

Here are the materials I've put out for initial exploration at the light table. Storage for this light table has always been a bit tricky for me. This year I'm trying out this Ikea tray divided into compartments with Dollorama clear containers. We'll see how this goes.

Art Studio

Here is how I've set up the Art Studio for students this year. The wonderful thing about having returning students (this years SKs) is that they already know the expectations and routines around the learning areas. To establish continuity from last year to this year, the Art Studio resembles the layout it had close to the end of the last year. There are fewer choices of materials available, and it will grow and change as the students use the space and as I learn what they need/want to expand their creativity.

Many of the containers are from Ikea and Dollorama. 

The puck paints are placed inside metal muffin tin containers.

The liquid paint and glue on the top shelf are not accessible to the students (they ask for this).

All other materials in the Art Studio are accessible to the students.

The glass jars on top are loose parts that are displayed (not accessible to students).

Stephanie.

September Start Up

I finally remembered to take photographs of my classroom when it's set up for the first day of school. I've divided the photographs into posts by learning areas of the classroom.


There are some areas of the classroom where I set up 'teacher materials' I thought I'd share. In my school we have access to Board Maker, a great program that helps supports all learners.

I don't have a traditional desk in my room. Instead I have a storage cart (originally called an art cart I think) that I use, tucked in behind the math area.

This is the Meeting Area in my classroom. On the left you can see the daily schedule, it also uses the Board Maker picture symbols. I divide it between morning and afternoon. The green disk on the carpet is a sitting cushion for students who need sensory feedback.

Finally, here is the view of my classroom from the entrance. 

Stephanie.

Crafts Vs. Open Studio

For the past few years, the Art area in my Kindergarten classroom has been designed with the students in the classroom. There are some basic materials out in the first few weeks, but then I choose to ask the students what materials they need. This honours what they are interested in. It gives them ownership over the materials and the space. It takes away the "pain" of having to clean up the area at the end of each day because every student knows where each material goes.

I make sure to spend time talking about the tools and the materials at the Art Studio. We do have times where I have a lesson to explain an Art technique or an important new tool. Once explained, the students are free to access them independently. For example, paint is always available (I prefer to to use puck paint water colours). The students know how to use the brushes, how to get the water/change water, and how to clean up when finished.

Here are some photographs of the children exploring with paint independently in September. I plan to take some photographs of how I have the Art area set up for each week in September, to see the transition and how it will change based on what students I have in my classroom.

I am okay with a little chaos in their creation!

Stephanie.

Clean Up

"Can we leave the learning area like this for tomorrow?"

This is the question that one student asked that began an entire classroom discussion around our learning areas this past year. When I asked them why they wanted to leave it, they said that they didn't want to forget what they had been doing. Made sense to me and so I agreed but told the student that they would have to share their idea with everyone else during our end of day sharing circle.

Here's where it got interesting. Many students were excited to hear they could keep their work at a learning area. However, on their own they came to the conclusion that it wouldn't work for all learning areas in the classroom.

The playdough and art studio would always need to be cleaned up.

The drama area, math area and discovery areas didn't necessarily need to be cleaned up.

But what did 'clean up' mean?

I challenged the students to think critically about how they would leave their work at a learning area.

Could all the materials be left out?

No, the children concluded, because then the next person wouldn't know where to start. You have to leave it with materials ready for someone else to join in, or for you to continue the next day. A consensus had been made, and next day we tried it out.

Suddenly, students began to write signs to explain what they wanted to leave at a learning area for the following day. They talked amongst themselves during clean up time, making decisions over what needed to be put away and what could be left out. It began an entirely new level of negotiation that did not require adults.

It was very interesting to watch some students adjust easily to this new idea and other students struggle with it. There were a few students who prided themselves as being 'good cleaners' who always went to different learning areas and cleaned them up. Suddenly, they couldn't do that anymore...they had to listen to others and negotiate where they could help instead of simply coming in and "cleaning up".

Here are some photographs of how the learning areas were left by students under this new idea of cleaning up our classroom.

Stephanie.

The Drama Area

The Light Table

The students had created their own learning invitations.

The Walls (Part 2)

Here are some photographs of the classroom layout from this year (2014-2015). These photographs were taken around late October 2014.

At first I was going to label each photograph, but I think it's better to view the room as though you were walking into it for the first time. 

Stephanie.

The Walls

It's a personal choice of mine, not to have pre-made, pre-cut scholastic like displays in my classroom. I like to think of the classroom as a second home. Would I want to live in a home where every inch of space was covered with cartoon characters, words and bright vibrant colours? Nope.

Just for the sake of comparison. Here are two photos of my classroom (2013-2014).

Here are photos from my very first kindergarten classroom (before I began to learn from others and seek out new ways of teaching).

It doesn't mean that there is nothing on my walls on the first day of school. It just looks different from what other kindergarten rooms might look like. 

There are photographs of last years JKs on our classroom door at student height. To welcome back everyone, and as a way to visually show the new students and parents some of what we did the previous year. 

As soon as the children begin to draw and write. If they don't want to take it home, it goes up on the wall on the first day. They immediately have ownership of their space.

We have a classroom schedule displayed near the meeting area. We use a combination of visuals and words (it's made with a program called Board Maker) that are common throughout the entire school.

I might have one or two songs/poems written out on chart paper. I hang my charts low so the students can use them during the day. I use these clothes hangers from IKEA to hold the charts. I usually stick a 3M hooks on the wall or cabinets.

Stephanie.