Setting The Stage: Part II

Context: Last year, I was setting up the classroom on my own for the very first time. The two years prior to that I had been an associate teacher, simply following the lead of the more experienced, leading teachers in the classrooms I worked in. I learned a lot from them about what was needed, but it was a wonderful experience to finally spread my wings and try things my own way. These pictures were probably taken 2-3 days before the students actually arrived. Here's what I ended up with:

Not the greatest picture ever, but this is starting at one end of the classroom. We don't have an interactive whiteboard at our school, but every room has at least one wall that's completely covered in magnetic whiteboard material. The top right is the Vocabulary corner, where I used sentence strips to post new words we'd learned. Below it is our attendance/out of the room chart. It's a bit difficult to see, but if you were to zoom in, you could see three icons, one for 'school', one for 'home' and one for 'bathroom'. Each girl had a 'dancer' with her name on it (magnetized on back.) They knew to move the dancers anytime they went to the bathroom, and it was easy to track attendance this way. This year I think I'll add something for going to the nurse or the office. To the left of that section is our class schedule. It's on sentence strips, laminated, and color-coded (of course!) :) Green means in our classroom, blue means in another classroom and pink was for a special activity or lunch. This made the schedule super-easy to switch out at the end of each day and even modify on-the-spot if the need arose.

Magnetic tape works well for this, but the teacher who came up with this whole system (not I, not I-- sharing is caring!) convinced me that the best thing was magnetic business cards like these: Business Card Magnets because they are totally flat (unlike the magnetic tape which curls) and you can cut them to any size you like. I have found them to be super durable and have been using many of the same schedule strips for 2 years.

This picture doesn't show the full final set-up.... those two desks are the catch-all desks for the gerbil tank (and materials), the late-pass collection jar and tissues and hand sanitizer. On the inside, one was the toilet paper roll station (for the gerbils) and the other held specialty papers. Because the tissues were on that desk, the garbage can needed to be close, so it lived where that blue chair is now. Little things.

Word wall & Math Meeting Wall-- we were sure to include each girl's name on the word wall; it gives them a sense of already belonging there AND it came in handy when the girls wanted/needed to write each other letters or notes. Beneath the Math Meeting Wall is our share chart, with the "waiting to share" section, and the "already shared" section, and each student's name with a little velcro tab. We also had a spot for each day of the week, so that girls could plan out their share in advance. We tried to change over the chart every Friday.

Community rules hang in the back; that back shelving unit held all our materials for play centers including play dough, puppets, balls and blocks. Our radio lived there so that I had easy access to it while teaching. The bottom buckets on the easel held all the stuff I needed close by during morning meeting and inside the easel were markers, magnets, etc. All the goods! :) Oh! And a, small key thing: there's a tiny blue caddy atop the radiator behind the easel. That was our 'first aid' kit. Having that close by me was totally invaluable.

Blue bins=math manipulatives. Those bins eventually got labeled... but as you can see, they are at student's height or lower for easy access. On top of that was the writing center, with blue/red bins for blue/red pens, bins for their folders, and tiered organizers to keep all of our writing papers sorted. Those are fantastic and highly recommended, and were found at Lakeshore Learning. We used this shelving unit to "camouflage" our teacher desk-- can you see it? pushed away from the wall, we were able to use the wall to hang important papers... but if either of us was ever (rarely) at our desk, we could still keep an eye on everything that was happening.

Our library, my favorite part-- light blue bins for genre books, multi colored bins for leveled books. My amazing associate teacher designed each label for the bins using an index card and matching pictures from the internet :) ... On the right there are some literacy games, our listening center books, and whiteboards and other materials for our phonics program, Fundations. I used color copies of book covers and mounted them to decorate the back wall, put up some favorite books for display, and tried to keep everything very bright!

Does anyone know how to prevent big books from flapping over with all their weight? I'm hoping to figure that out because by the year's end, these books all looked very sad. That big shelf over there holds student portfolios, homework binders (which they placed there every morning and retrieved at the end of each day), and all our additional classroom materials (scissors, glue sticks, rulers, hand sanitizer, index cards, whiteboard erasers, crayons, etc...) One set of student mailboxes, which are not really visible from this picture, are in the shelf behind the big book shelf. The other set is over by the library. I initially set it up this way in order to reduce the traffic at mailboxes during unpack and pack up time.

 These hexagonal tables were already color coded, so while they're not in this picture, I had caddies to match each table, and those were the table names. I switched seats pretty regularly, so the kiddos just needed to know where they were currently sitting to follow any directions (i.e: Green table, clean up.) As you can see, there's not a ton of space and I had to be sure they wouldn't be banging into one another-- so the tables were pretty carefully arranged. The cut sentence strips above each bulletin board each indicated a different subject, but they were put up with velcro tabs, so they could be rotated, and I could show a full set of class work in the center section (the largest) in different subjects.

Okay-- this post is becoming massive, albeit helpfully reflective for me... but I'll stop here. The classroom changed a lot over the course of the year, but this was the start. Begin at the beginning. I have so many things I'm looking forward to doing differently this year (especially as I think of-- and will post about-- brain-friendly environments)... but there are some things I will cling to for dear life (like tissues at the trash can.) What are some of your non-negotiables for classroom set up?

Excited to begin,
Michelle :)

Setting the Stage: Part I

As we get closer to the coming school year (my kiddos return on August 28th,) I've been thinking a great deal about classroom set up. I really should stop kidding myself about that statement though, because in all honesty, I think about classroom set up often, all throughout the year, and most definitely love to switch things up if they get stale or stop working the way I want them to.

I'm of the persuasion that many good things in life begin with a solid list: guest list, top 10 vacation destination list, play list, wine list.... (ready for a terrible pun?)... the list goes on.  Tee-hee.

At my school, we're provided with a basic checklist for our classroom environment, which I actually think could be helpful to just about anyone setting up an elementary school classroom-- so here is my lightly modified (with commentary, of course!) version:

(1) Classroom name/picture of classroom namesake clearly displayed.
      - Each class in our school has a classroom namesake. In many schools, teachers use themes to unify their room. My only caveat/thought about themes is to be sure you have a good reason. If you like leopard print, feel free to wear it, but try not to impose it on your kids without some sound academic or character building tie-in. It's a classroom, not a nursery. Just my two cents.
(2) Accurate daily schedule/agenda is displayed.
      - This will come as a surprise to no one:  our students love to know what's coming. My kids took to the habit of examining (and getting excited over) the daily schedule as they walked in and did their unpacking routine. It also keeps me focused, grounded, organized...
(3) Lesson objectives are clearly posted. 
       - I was surprised to learn that this wasn't common practice. I post mine with the schedule-- makes it very easy for the kids to put the pieces together.
(4) Monthly planning calendars/unit plans are clearly posted. 
       - We post ours in the hallway. Keeps me accountable and allows visitors to understand the scope of what we're working on before they enter the classroom.
(5) Classroom library is accessible, inviting, and engaging, and books are sorted by genre and level. 
      - I have a lot to say about classroom libraries and will be returning to this topic in later posts. 
(6) Word Wall and Math Wall are visible and up to date.
     - These should start to grow exponentially in the first weeks of school, but for initial set up, you want to be sure you've made adequate room for what you'll need.
 (7) Morning Meeting board is visible and up to date. 
      - In addition to all the items you need for calendar, you want to be sure your space accounts for enough room for circling up and making the morning message visible to all your students. 
 (8) Math/Reading Process Skills Charts are visible and up to date. 
      - I will probably start the year with one basic chart for both math and reading, but nothing more. The rest will go up as we begin to delve into our units.  
  (9) Recent student work from various subjects is prominently displayed throughout the room.
      - Clearly, you have nothing to display yet, but the things I'm thinking of are: Have I made space for an abundant amount of student work? Have I made it easy on myself to put things up and pull them down (using clothespins? marking a spot for each student? stocked up on thumbtacks? chosen colors/borders thoughtfully so that they can be used for a variety of units?) 
 (10) Room is colorful, inviting, engaging and print rich. 
        - I love color! We can't paint our walls, but in addition to bins and bulletin board paper, etc... this year I think I'm going to try to find some inexpensive fabric to brighten things up even more.   
(11) Room is orderly and neat with labeled storage areas. 
       - This allows students to be more independent, and it keeps me sane. 
(12) Desks/tables are arranged to provide freedom of movement and logical traffic patterns. 
       - When thinking about classroom arrangement, I try to think of the whole day, but for movement in the classroom, I most especially think of lining up by the door, a circle for our meeting times, lines at mailboxes, loading and unloading their belongings from the closet, and all chairs pushed out at once. I check from many seats-- does it fit? Are they bumping into one another? 
(13) Areas are defined by purpose: meeting areas, writing center, conferencing table, computer station, etc...        
       -This year my challenge will be trying to accommodate a secondary teaching space in my room, for my Associate Teacher and any specialists who might do push-in work. I want them to have the space and materials they need for full instruction.  
(14) School values/motto/cheer are clearly displayed.
        - Any sort of school-wide values should be echoed in your classroom and the classrooms of other teachers year after year.

 This is a lot to think about. Even after doing all this, however, I still harken back to advice I got from a (very wise) teacher I worked with my very first year. She told me that I should leave much of the classroom as a blank canvas and let the kids fill it up with their work and the things you do together, giving the students a sense of ownership and belonging within the classroom. The more I planned to do/hang/craft/create (so guilty of this last year) the less space I had for posting the charts/work of students, and the more the classroom reflected me, not them or even us.  I'm on a mission this year to remedy that.

**Tangent Alert** When working with any materials or speaking of the classroom generally, I try never to say "my" or "mine" in reference to anything, even if I purchased them with my own funds. Unless something is actually mine, "my" coat, or "my" mug. In all other situations, "our," "ours," or "yours," works just fine, and lets the kids know that they are responsible for what they do-- not because it's mine, but because it belongs to everyone.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting some  pictures of my classroom set up from last year and thinking about what I'd like to do differently now being in 2nd grade. I'll also be musing on creating a brain-friendly environment based on what I learned about in my summer course. Once I get into the building, too, I'll be posting on my progress with all my new furniture (woo-hoo) and hopefully I'll be swamped with brilliance and genius about how to make it all work. Do you have any back-to-school lists that you love? What would you add to this checklist? Do you have a system that keeps you super organized during your unpack?

Turn the radio up...

... on that sweet sound! Hold me close, never let me go....

Okay, maybe I'm dating myself a little- but if you read the title of this post and knew what followed, or read what followed and could finish it off on your own, you are either (a) jamming on your 80's Pandora station pretty regularly, or (b) you have what I like to call MMS*- musical memory syndrome-- it is a very common condition which causes you to recall the lyrics and melody to hundreds, perhaps thousands of songs-- and you could do it FOR YOUR JOB if only someone would pay you to do such a thing. You may wonder, as I do, what in world my brain would be capable of if I could replace those song lyrics with something, anything else-- like vocabulary in foreign languages or, I don't know, baseball statistics.

 *this is NOT a real condition. At least I don't think it is. The Google did not think so either.

What in the world does all this have to do with our classrooms? Well, I've started thinking a lot about WHY I'm able to memorize every word in Eric Carmen's classic "hit" "Make Me Lose Control," and why, after all these years, I still feel a little giggly about how he wants Jennifer to "take him over the edge." (And while you may not know this particular song, I'm sure this entire thing is true for you with whatever kind of music you've loved dearly or been regularly exposed to.) And after taking a brain-based learning course this summer (which I'll probably mention a ton in posts to come), I think I may actually have the answer.

Our brains, particularly the female brains, but all brains, really, are hardwired to respond to things, to learn about them and memorize them when we connect to them emotionally. Things that are surprising, funny, make us cry, have a story, are fairly simple to understand-- these are the money spots for getting things lodged into our long-term memories-- which is where we want all that good learning-stuff to go. And music, well, our brains love patterns and so the music-ness of music is what gives those words, those lyrics, that extra kick. It's kind of an immense power, when you really think about it.

The other thing about music is that we generally don't hear songs just once. They are  played over and over. That is often by choice, but sometimes, it's simply by virtue of turning on the radio. This is when the songs really get embedded. We memorize lyrics. We begin to grasp them more deeply, think about their meaning, hear the change in various chords and try to understand the emotion behind them. Repetition causes a deeper understanding.

Application: Turn the radio up. On that sweet sound. In Your Classroom. I'm actively seeking more ways to use music in my room in the coming year (energizers/transition times/etc..), but for now, I can tell you what I did that worked really well last year:

  Morning Routine: Played the same (upbeat) song 2x on a loop; when it was over the kids knew they had to be sitting in our morning circle.
  Writer's Workshop: Classical or other instrumental music played during writing time. If I did not put it on, the kids would ask for it, and then work silently.
  Celebrations: My classes' favorite activity was a celebratory dance party. We did an AttenDANCE (another teacher at my school came up with that GEM of an idea, love it!) party every time we had 10 days (non-consecutive) of Perfect Attendance.)
  Closing Routine: Same as the morning routine, but with a different song. Once the song was over, they needed to be all packed up and in the circle.

I also had songs, like the "Doubles Rap" and a poem called "The Way to Start the Day" by lindamichellebaron.   When students are Star of the Week, they're allowed to bring in music of their choice for the other students to hear during snack time. These are things that I consider part of our curriculum, be it social or academic, and they are equally important and motivating for the kids.

And... here is the CD that was my absolute go-to all year:
1. Zabeedap (The Tarzan Soundtrack) - played 2x for morning routine
2. Viva la Vida (Vitamin String Quartet)
3. Blue Rondo (Dave Brubeck)
4. Little Stars (Jim Brickman)
5. Aquarium (Saint Saens-composer)
6. Bourree (Handel-composer)
7. Celebration (Kool and the Gang)
8. Send me on my way (Rusted Root) - packup song
9. You Gotta Be (Des'ree)
10. The World's Greatest (R.Kelly)

In return, I ask that if you have any music, chants, albums or otherwise that have worked really well in your classrooms, please comment and share!

 Lastly, I want to take a minute to consider how all this music-business can, and perhaps, should effect the way we approach other things in our classrooms. I'm really interested in thinking about all the ways I can bring more emotional connection, more storytelling, more musicality and rhythm, more repetition (sans boredom) into the classroom. A musing to return to later on, but feel free to share any suggestions to that end as well!

Finally, if you won't take my word for it, please read Eric Jensen's (founder of Jensen learning) words about music in the classroom:

"We know that music tickles the reward centers in the brain just like other pleasurable, but evolutionarily significant, experiences. It also appears that music rewards the listener to the degree that the music is found to be pleasant. There are many studies which suggest that the right music can influence the brain's reward neurotransmitter, dopamine. The beauty of this is that classroom learning can get associated with positive feelings. Why is this important? Two reasons come to mind: 1) emotional learning supports long-term memory, and 2) when positive emotions are associated with school, kids attend classes more and are more likely to develop a love of learning... Unlike a concrete reward, music can arouse feelings of euphoria and pleasure."

We're in this together,

~Michelle :) 

New Beginnings

Let me begin with a true confession: I've been here before.

I've started (and ended, I suppose, simply by virtue of my inactivity) three blogs prior to this one.

I could mull over why each was a more unsustainable idea than the other, but that's not why I'm here. The truth is that I enjoy writing, and I enjoy the blog format, and I have so much to say about this topic of teaching and seeking out the tangibility of education as a profession that I find myself renewed, ready to take on this challenge.

There are hundreds of teaching websites out there--- so why on Earth would I want to start another?

I've asked myself this question a few dozen times, and it comes down to this:

If I encourage my students to write every day, and tell them that their voice, their story, and their perspective is unique and valuable, shouldn't I ascribe to the same philosophy about myself?

I'll share thoughts on curriculum, organizing ideas, struggles, triumphs, life-work balance, lists, games, chants, photos, and anything else that I think is relative to the profession and it's ever-evolving nature.

I'm not interested in freebies or giveaways or profit-- but I am very interested in a community of teachers and learners who are willing to share their best practices and ideas, because I believe that is how we all get better. Which means our children learn more. Which means we are working to create a more fulfilled, educated and industrious community. And that is all very, very good.

So, for today, something simple. When teaching finally *clicked* for me (and it took almost 2 years,) I felt like I had won the lottery or been privy to something really extraordinary. Like all good things, there is magic in it, and I feel grateful every day that I have the chance to really love what I do. This song, non-religious as I am, reminds me of what teaching feels like on a good day.