Showing posts with label shared spaces. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shared spaces. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Happy New Year!



Ah, September. I love you.

As a teacher, my "new year" begins in September. September is the time for turning over a new leaf, cleaning the slate, and making New Year's resolutions. In September, the year is full of promise - and the excitement of trying new things, meeting new children and families, and greeting returning children and families is at it's height.

One of my first resolutions of the new school year is to tackle cubby clutter while simultaneously encouraging children to take responsibility for their own belongings (coats, backpacks, lunches, artwork) and feel a sense of ownership over this personal classroom space. Hopefully these handy labels will help lead the way!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

classroom design: shared rooms

my little one-room schoolhouse that could will, eventually, be growing into a two-room schoolhouse. in thinking about how to design this new space, i have been very excited (and overwhelmed) by all the creative possibilities. i am also acutely aware of the constraints of time, budget, and space. viewed in one light, these constraints could be seen as burdensome and limiting. viewed in a more optimistic light, however, these constraints can be seen as lending some structure and boundary (two things i am quite fond of as a preschool teacher!) to an otherwise limitless set of possibilities.

the expansion of my school will involve moving from having one mixed-age classroom to having two classrooms. the classrooms might be two equally mixed-age classrooms, or may be divided by age. though these two classrooms will be separated...

(perhaps like this)

... i am really interested in the idea of creating common spaces for children from both classes to work together. i especially like the idea of common work spaces where children at different ages can come together to exchange ideas. the common work space suits my educational philosophy and approach and, i expect, will fit nicely within my school's space and budget constraints.

here are the common work spaces i have in mind:

an art area, inspired by the reggio atelier:


a dramatic play area:


and a block area (picture a much bigger space, filled with many such buildings!):