I am SO excited to linking up with "real bloggers" for the very first time and to kick off my brand new teacher blog! I've read tons of blogs for a few years now, but, while I post about my own life/experiences on my personal blog, I've never considered myself "a blogger." So, I'm super pumped to be taking one step in that direction by joining the "Teaching with Intention" book study started by The Kindergarten Smorgasboard.,This week is focusing on Chapter 1 of Debbie Miller's book, and you can check out the hosts' responses at Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten, Primary Possibilities, and Enchanted Kinder Garden.
First, can I just say how much I love Debbie Miller? I think her books are so easy and fun to read. But maybe that's just the teacher nerd in me!
Anyway, when I stumbled across The Kindergarten Smorgasboard's post about this book club, I got super excited about the book, and decided I just had to read it. So I downloaded it on kindle, read the first chapter last night, and here I am, ready to discuss! I'm especially excited about the prospect of this book study and of giving thought to my "ideal classroom" and how I'm going to get there because I'll be changing grade levels next year. I am switching from 2nd grade at a public elementary school to Kindergarten at a private French immersion school. I'm excited but nervous about the change, and I feel like a little planning with intention is just what I need. So without further ado...
My ideal classroom... get comfy kiddos, this might be a long one. Let's be organized about this:
LOOK: My ideal classroom is warm and welcoming, with a consistent color-theme that makes the whole space feel tied together, despite clear areas for different kinds of work. There would be a comfy, inviting, and organized library corner where students could cuddle up with a good book. It would be clean and organized, but it would also be a kid-owned space: their work would decorate the walls, and they would have choices about where to work on different activities.
SOUND: A quiet buzz. There would be light music on in the background, and students would be working individually, with partners, and in small groups on engaging tasks. You would hear quiet, on-task, engaged chatter.They would be so enthralled by the topics they were discussing that they would hardly be interested in veering off topic. There would be giggles caused by funny books, and you wouldn't hear me voicing over all the time. Overall, it would be the sound of a group of kids and one teacher all united by common learning and shared interest!
FEEL: Welcoming. Inviting. Safe. Kids would want to share because they would feel respected. There would be that sense of urgency the sisters talk about in the Daily 5. That said, while we would feel like we need to learn now, we wouldn't feel rushed. Someone walking into our classroom would feel like real work is being done here. Students would feel like learning is important and interesting. Visiting adults would feel like students are making real contributions.
I touched on this a bit in"sound" and "feel," but I am excited about going into more detail. While we are imagining ideal, I also want this to be something I can truly imagine myself, as I actually am, doing. Students would be in small groups or in partnerships working on engaging tasks. Depending on the time of day, this might be science explorations, literacy centers, writing, or math tasks. Students would be talking about what they are doing, discussing their hypotheses, ideas, and discoveries. I would be sitting with a small group teaching a just-right mini-lesson for that group, circulating and assisting students as needed, helping them to make their own discoveries, or conferring with an individual to help him or her make sense of what (s)he is seeing, hearing, or doing. I would be taking meaningful notes that would actually help me with my planning, or providing the appropriate amount of scaffolding to help a child have an "aha" moment. Students would move from activity to activity efficiently, and would be respectful of others talking. They would feed off of each other and help each other to understand concepts. The discussion would be mostly led by them, with me there only as a facilitator. In short, they would be LEARNING in an pro-active, cooperative, collaborative way. :)
This is a hard question for me to answer, as I just finished my first year teaching (2nd) at one school, and will be moving to my new school teaching Kindergarten in the fall. So, I will talk about what I already had in place in my 2nd grade classroom.
Oof. This kind of hurts. Not much! I already have a consistent color-theme (I had a pretty cute jungle theme going on) and a great, organized library corner (although it didn't always stay organized; I didn't do a great job teaching the kiddos how to put books back in the right bin). There were 2 little chairs in the library and students loved to go in there and read.
I also had small groups, partner work, and individual work all going on. I pulled small groups, and students worked on different tasks while I was working with a group.
Finally, I put up a lot of student work. I wish I had a picture, but I'm awful about those things. My walls are typically covered in anchor charts, student work, and drawings/cards they've made for me. As a result of the work everywhere and the fun theme, I think "welcoming" and "inviting" are well on their way.
Short answer: Student choice. The buzz. Less voice-overs. More student-directed learning. My own organization.
Long answers:
Student Choice: When I read the Daily 5 for the first time last summer, I was SO excited by the prospect of choice. I wanted my kiddos to be able to choose their next activity to give them buy-in, engagement, and to minimize some of the behavior issues. However, I let fear and peer pressure take over, and ended up assigning centers.
In the future (starting next year I hope!) I want to implement more choice in my center time. I'm thinking either a form of the Daily 5 or a center wheel like Greg shared on Kindergarten Smorgasboard. I like the idea of "structured choice," and it gives me a good idea of how I could introduce it to my little kinder kiddos at the beginning of the year to make it manageable and successful. :) If you haven't checked out his center hippopotamus wheel post, you should! Especially watch the go-pro of a kiddo in action! <3
The buzz: I think this comes with everything else. When I have my routines in place and student choice in place, the buzz will come with engaged and interested kiddos. I can do this!
Student Directed Learning: Debbie Miller really spoke to me when she said that she learned the "importance of slowing down and being present, of taking the time to think." I feel like too often I'm trying to GO GO GO GO and get things done, and I forget to slow down, enjoy my kiddos, and think about what they're saying to me. Oftentimes, I think they're begging to learn something, and I steamroll over it. My goal for this next year is to "Take the high road" as Debbie said at the end of chapter 1. I need to STOP listening to all the voices and mandates telling me what I have to do or "get through," and start listening to my inner voice and the voice of my kiddos telling me what we should get INTO. :)
My Own Organization: My desk always starts off nice and clean at the beginning of the day, and by the end of the day, it looks like an explosion. On Monday morning, my files are put away, my papers are organized neatly, everything is in its place. By Friday afternoon, I have a mountain of those dreaded "paper stacks" a mile high covering my desk, bookshelves, and filing cabinets. I would love to get a system down that I can stick to and keep up with even in the chaos of the day. I guess that will come with time? I plan to get binders all set up this year and to try to put things away immediately (or at least have a dedicated time each day).
Whew! If you made it through that whole post, THANK YOU. I know it was a long one! I am SO glad I decided to jump in with both feet and do this link-up. I'm already feeling more prepared and less anxious about starting my year as a French-immersion K teacher! :)
Ready to teach with a vision in mind,
Miss Fliss <3
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