I am linking up with Surfin through Second, the Learning Chambers and Sassy, Savvy Simple Teaching to discuss chapter 3 of the book, Teaching with Intention written by Debbie Miller!
Environment is the focus of this chapter! I love creating a new environment each year! Setting up my room is one of my favorite things to do at the beginning of the year! I love to research and create over the summer. If I am not in love with my room then my kids won't be! My classroom is always my happy place!
So when creating your environment, Debbie Miller suggests you think about the following questions:
I love having passion areas (this is what Debbie Miller calls center areas and I love this name so much more!) This is important because before you can set up your room, you need to know how you are going to divide it up if you do. So you must think am I going to have a manipulative center, a library, a writing area, a meeting area, a mall group area, etc!
Are you going to have desks or tables? How will you configure them? Will you use them for various reasons or just for the students to work at during seat work?
For 20 years, I always have had tables since I taught Kindergarten. This year, I was in First Grade and I had desks! Oh No! I did not like them so I created dry erase tables. I purchased shower board and velcroed it to the desks. I put the desks in groups of five, used a small crate to place one leg from each desk in it so the desks would not move and velcroed the board on top! Best thing I ever done! The kids love it! It was interactive! They used these areas for working, creating, working on science experiments, small group work, etc!
Organization is needed!!! My students have baskets in the center of their tables for their supplies. They have seat sacks on the backs of their chairs. There are trash cans at their tables to throw the trash away. I have a basket for their completed work. There is a library!
They have lockers to store their coats and book bags!
The sign and the gators that are in the work depository area!
So I will end with a few thoughts from the book:
Click on the picture below to see what some other educators thought about this awesome chapter!
I love your dry erase tables! How did they hold up over the course of the year?
ReplyDeleteThey held up amazingly well! They cleaned easily throughout the year. They were a godsend. My kids loved them!
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