Within the Walls of My Classroom

Though I have been at my new school just about two full months now, I am only just starting out in my new classroom after floating between the two toddler rooms in the program. As I start down this new path, teaching an amazing group of 14 kiddos transitioning from the infant/toddler wing to the preschool wing of the school, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to get back to blogging more regularly and share the trials and tribulations of teaching and learning with two and a half to three and a half year-olds. Even though I've only been in my new room part time for two short weeks, I am already overflowing with inspiration and projects and I'm ready to jump in and start settling into my new classroom space with my new friends and new routines. Starting a new chapter in my professional career, returning to a full-time teaching position is super exciting for me after over a year off so I can finally test out all the projects I've spent the past year or so researching and see what works and what doesn't. And I feel lucky to share my new classroom with such a great group of people.

These magnet-tile builders are currently a huge hit in our room 

My first order of business has been to jump right in and play with the kids, get to know them on a deeper level and gain some insight into their budding personalities, strengths, and affinities. At the same time I am in the process of assessing the classroom environment and observing how the kids use the space. By doing both of these I am getting a good sense of what already works well and where I can make improvements to better support the needs and interests of our group. To help me organize my thoughts, I spent this afternoon mapping out the classroom and making a list of the existing work stations in addition to the ones I want to improve upon or add. I am also making note of what materials are set up where, and how I might improve the functionality of each station by making little changes, like switching up the books, adding a few provocations and decorations here and there, swap out certain toys for others, and adjust the placement of the shelves and furniture to maximize each area as well as the general atmosphere of the classroom. The more I analyze the classroom environment the more I can tweak it and customize it to maximize the space and more fully engage the members of our classroom community and reflect the uniqueness of each member.

I am lucky that this classroom already comes fully equipped with a nice play kitchen which I updated a bit last week and plan to add an extra shelf on the back end filled with baskets of (my handmade) felt food to serve as a produce stand/market place. I'll be sure to document my progress as I go, but until I restock my craft supply and get my hands on some more felt and embroidery floss, I've been sticking to simpler (and cheaper) projects. Inspired by the adorable painted coffee filter/clothespin butterflies adorning the ceiling space in one of the toddler rooms, I started making origami paper cranes and experimenting with other animal patterns using this online instructional website. While I spent a week covering a teacher's vacation in the other toddler room, I strung up a paper crane mobile above the changing table to entertain the squirmy toddlers while getting a fresh diaper. This worked so well and added so much character to the space that I want to make another aerial display to hang above the story station to add a bit of whimsy to it.

This book is a favorite in our room right now

I already have a growing list of projects I can't wait to start in on, so to help me keep track of all my ideas I decided to start up a new PinBoard. In addition to my projects, this board serves as a wishlist for new materials I'd like to bring into the classroom and it reflects the current and developing interests of the members of my class. Right now we are rolling with the building interest in bears and this week I plan to decorate the walls with a variety of images of different kinds of bears, get my hands on some bear stuffed animals and figurines, and bring in a few more stories featuring bears including Jamberry, The Mitten, The Bear Who Shared, and Moon Game. I wonder if I can find a good pattern for an origami bear? There are so many ways to incorporate a study of bears into our play and so far we've had a blast making bear cave forts by draping blankets across the backs of chairs, growling and dancing like bears in our animal songs, and searching for the laminated pictures of bears that are hiding all over the classroom. As we dig further into our study on bears, I can't wait to begin exploring the concept of hibernation with the kiddos and see where it takes us. Stay tuned to find out and in the mean time, you can see what I'm up to with the kiddos in my class by following my new board on Pinterest called Within the Walls of My Classroom