At Teachstone, we sometimes hear from educators that they aren’t sure how to help facilitate exploration in their learning environments. The CLASS® Manual gives some specific examples, like asking the children to predict which ball will roll further, or making faces back and forth with an infant. But, in this blog post, I want to talk about how the learning environment space itself. The set-up and materials you use can support stronger interactions with children as well.
I recently opened up a community playroom called Little Fish in my area. When setting up the playroom, I thought about my experiences as a preschool teacher, as someone who has been using the CLASS tool for more the seven years. With that background, I found five specific areas of the learning environment that can lead to better interactions.
Add new things to your room, and rotate toys. At Little Fish, I change the theme weekly to encourage interest and exploration. By experiencing new activities and toys, children are naturally more engaged when they come and play. For instance, if you are studying birds, you could add birdseed, twigs, and scoops to the sensory table. Later, you may be talking about autumn, and you can add in corn, straw, and little pumpkins.
When children enter my playroom each week, I show them all the fun new things that are out for them to play with. My excitement about the space and materials gets them excited, too.
Organize your space in ways that designate clear purposes. For example, have a table designated for art next to your shelf with only art materials. Additionally, keep the materials clean, organized, and in good working condition. Children (and adults) are naturally enticed when things are organized and pleasing. Think about walking into a candy store, or a craft store. They stock items to be beautifully organized by color, shape, or size. Doesn’t that just make your heart sing? That’s how children feel about toys. If all the pieces to the puzzle are there, or all the toys are sorted by type, it leads to more time playing and learning, with less frustration trying to find pieces.
You know that feeling you get when you walk into a nice hotel room and the bed is made, the lights are dim, and all you want to do is drop your stuff and go jump on the bed? Make your learning environment feel like this too. You can help create that feeling by:
Lastly, and most importantly, follow the children’s leads with the toys and materials. This not only facilitates interactions with the children, but it also helps to deepen your relationship with the children. Do you have a child with special needs that only likes to line up toys or sit quietly in a corner? Mirror their behavior. Mirroring a child is a great first step to digging deeper into facilitation. It shows the child that you are interested in their play and ideas.
Also, watch the child. If you notice they are interested in toys that have shapes on them, grab other toys in your room that also have shapes, and introduce them to the child. By doing so, you’re following their lead, giving them choices, and using materials in your space to facilitate the child’s exploration and learning.
The way you set up your space and organize your materials will have an impact on the children’s interest and engagement with the materials. Make the space representative of each child’s culture, inviting, warm, tidy, and organized. This will lead to more meaningful engagement and interactions.
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Setting up a classroom for a new school year can be exciting! It’s hard not to get excited at the prospect of a fresh start. But that doesn’t mean you always know what’s best to do. How do you set up the classroom to facilitate a successful year?
In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Alisha Saunders-Wilson, a Teachstone CLASS® Specialist who has experience coaching other teachers in many things, including setting up classrooms. Listen in as she and Kate discuss Classroom Organization, Behavior Management, what materials to put out and when to rotate them, and what to do when materials are sparse.
As you know, CLASS® is a tool that captures teacher-student interactions. When it comes to the dimension Concept Development, the focus is on the method the teacher uses to provide instruction in the classroom. While the interactions are what get measured with CLASS, as a teacher you can plan for Concept Development to be more intentionally woven throughout your lessons.
Let’s look closer at how to do this.
In this episode of Impacting the Classroom, our host Marnetta Larrimer talks to Dr. Daryl Greenfield of the University of Miami and Teachstone's own Veronica Fernandez. They discuss research on the importance of science in early education and how opportunities to explore the wonder of science with children are everywhere--even if you are not a scientist yourself.
Our guests had so much to share that we didn't have time to fit it all in one episode! You can read the extended version of the podcast in the transcript below.
Dr. Greenfield passed on a number of resources for educators, administrators, and parents interested in learning more about science education in the early years. You can check them out here:
When I started teaching four years ago, I was one of a handful of new teachers in a small school that experienced high teacher turnover. We new teachers had to figure it out as we went along but were lucky to have a handful of veteran teachers for support. I remember more experienced educators telling me that most teachers don’t really feel like they have it together until year three, and that year four is really when the magic happens.