The photographs above are of two areas in my classroom, they were both taken in September last year. The first is my Maths board. As you can see my border consists of different mathematical instruments, I bought these reduced to €1 in Star school supplies. The graph was created by a student teacher in my class at the time. It was very interactive and the children changed the data on it regularly.
The second is my library corner. This photograph was taken at the end of the day and it is easy to see that it has been used by the children. At first I would always be down tidying it trying to keep it looking is best but I soon realised the children were not bothered about this. They loved getting a chance to sit in the library. They would choose a book and sit themselves down on the armchair. They would then snuggle with a teddy and cover themselves with a fleece blanket. They loved the comfort and it really helped to develop good reading habits. They would often talk about what cosy spot they had found at home to read their books. My point is that you can give yourself unrealistic expectations of how your classroom should be. It is not a sign of your teaching ability. It should be somewhere to display the children's work and some key areas of each subject. You will soon find out that it should be ever changing to suit what the children are doing at the time. Looking at Pinterest I can see why teachers feel the need to go to IKEA and turn creates into stools for their reading area and why they feel the need to have a classroom that looks like it should be a magazine! Your classroom is an ongoing project and it is unfair for people to feel that it must be a work of art. So take a minute to look around your room and decide what you want your room to be like!
1 Comment
Pat
8/29/2015 04:41:58 am
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AuthorI have been teaching for several years and hope to share some of my ideas and experiences with you. Archives
March 2020
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