In Room 24, we....

Room 24, so far, has brought so many good ideas to my teacher bank. Here are a few that I would like to share:
Every morning, Tanya puts the daily menu on the board that tells the students what they can expect for the day. I love the structure and they never ask what they are doing next because all they have to do is look on the board.

Each week, students are given different responsibilities that they need to do for that week. Gives them ownership of things done and accomplished in the classroom. There is also the "start of the week" which I think is great for making each child feel special in the classroom.

There is a W.A.L.T. scrapbook that Tanya uses to write global learning intentions for the week. It stands for 'we are learning to..." and every morning, it is posted on the board where students are reminded to practise school rules, to keep getting to know each other,etc (3-4 small goals)

Her "everything else" scrapbook is developed as needed and contains things like a Y chart, used to discuss what a good listener sounds like, looks like, and feels like.

My favorite thing about Tanya's class and teaching though, is that she has students create the physical environement of the classroom. Right from day one, she called the class "the thinking and learning classroom" and created thinking and learning teams where students can get together and work and brainstorm ideas and projects as a team. The first few days are spent creating personal artwork that will decorate the room (self-portrait) and posters that define what kind of classroom students want to create (To feel safe here we...., to show repsect here...., to learn well here we....) For this, each student was given 3 post-it notes and asked to write two ideas for each on the things they feel they need to do personally to create this type of classroom. I loved this because it really put ownership on the students and again, helps them to be a part of creating the type of environment the classroom has.

Max, a stuffed orangutan and the class mascot, is used as a way to encourage inquiry and discovery learning. She tells them things about Max and then they are encouraged to go home and find out more. Or, she asks them questions about him, and for those who are curious, they can go home and find out the answers on their own. Great way to develop research skills and a desie to learn more in their own time.

I also love that our class has "the mat" because it is a place where Tanya has really created a community. We have community time every morning and if there are any issues or topics that need to be discussed, it is all done together as a group. Also, classroom rules and values are consistently being emphasized in terms of expected behaviour on the mat.

Thinking Fitness time is also done every morning and students are given a word to ponder its meaning, a picture to say what they think it could mean, etc. All this is done in pairs so that they can brainstorm and students are expected to use some "silly thinking" to help them look outside of the box.

Finally, there is SQUIRT time and Skyte time. SQUIRT is silent uninterrupted reading time, which students do every day for 10 minutes and skyte time is done every Monday for about 10 minutes. For this, students get into their thinking and learning teams and are allowed to talk about themselves and their weekend while they have the talking card. When they are done, they pass it on. Tanya gives them this time because she wants them to talk about something other than just themselves for the rest of the day, once they have had the chance to talk about their own thing.

So far, I have learned so much but am still acting as a sponge and trying to soak everything up. I have never started in my practicum at the beginning of the school year, so I am really trying to take notes on how to build the classroom environment.