First Meeting

We have decided to put aside some time once week where we could get together and talk about what we are going to do next year. We started today by putting together a rough agenda of items that we want to discuss in the next few weeks.

Agenda (so far)
1) Our Values
2) Room Planning (materials, aesthetics, space)
3) Logistics (where to put indoor/outdoor shoes, cubby area, snack organization, poem books, borrow-a-books...and a lot more stuff that we haven't thought of yet)
4) Routines (clean up, entry, timetable, weekly planning, daily schedule...and again a lot more stuff that we haven't thought of yet)

To help us understand where to start from, we've been reading a variety of books, including "Authentic Childhood" By Susan Fraser. We've both read the chapter on classroom environment and decided to follow the books recommendations for identifying our shared values for our classroom. We thought this was a great idea and a good place to start.

Our Values:
-organization
-clutter-free
-calmness
-view of natural space
-sound level / acoustics
-natural materials
-aesthetics
-bringing the outdoors in
-softness
-lighting
-mirrors / reflection
-display of materials
-well chosen artifacts
-exploration of art (art studio within classroom)
-defined space for focused play (i.e., classroom as the third teacher)
-documentation
-parent contact
-natural containers / transparent containers


We want our classroom to reflect our values. As we clean up, declutter and set up our new classroom together, we will use this list as a guide.


Helen and Stephanie



"The first step, therefore, in planning the environment is to identify the values that are at the core of our work with young children and those of the families and the wider community surrounding the school." Susan Fraser, Authentic Childhood, Pg. 105

It begins...

Welcome.

This is the small beginnings of a long journey for two teachers sharing a room together next year. We are planning to transform our classroom...inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.

As of now we are not even at the 'under-construction' part of our journey as our classroom will need to be completely dismantled. We are hoping to take everything out of our room to really see our space.

This blog will follow our journey including all of our questions, wonderings, musings and inspirations!

Stephanie and Helen.

Thought of the day: Try to think about what needs to change to reflect what is really important.

Entrance way to our classroom.