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July 8, 2012

#kinderblog2012 question 2


I’m participating in #kinderchat‘skinderblog2012, where they post a question every week. This week’s question is:
Tellus about one (or two, or a few) of the classrooms you have had over the years.Not the kids, the ROOMS. What have you  loved? What have you hated? Howdid you FEEL in the space? What did you DO with the space that, looking back,seems ridiculous? Or brilliant? We all spend so much time in our classrooms, wereally do develop a relationship with the physical space. Tell us about that(those) relationship(s).

I’ve been inthe same Kindergarten room for 4 year.  WhenI first arrived in that room, it was a disaster! I was on the second floor of athree storey old building with no air conditioning.   It was really hot!  There was a lot of stuff in my class, but itwas old, stinky and broken. That year, the school and the grade were new to meand I kept saying to myself what did I get myself into!

Year one wasall about decluttering, throwing ancient and broken toys away and searching theschool for resources.  I remember thecustodian not being too “thrilled” about the amount of work I was creating forhim.   I had a yucky grey oval carpetglued to the floor, yucky orange chairs and tables; and old wobbly shelves thatI couldn’t throw out because if I did, there was no storage left.  There was a lack of resources but fortunatelyparent council helped out and agreed to purchase some items.  I spent a lot of my own money at garage sale and Dollorama buying stuff for my class.  Thatyear I was on survival mode but I made it!

Year two,there were new windows that were being installed; everything had to be packedup.  No one was allowed in the buildinguntil two days before school started.  Somuch for organizing my room!  In middleof October new Kindergarten class was created due to high enrollment.  My class was split up.  I needed to reorganize cubbies, name tags, list,centers…  I spend more of my own moneyfor my class.   The only thing that I love that year was my classtheme:  monkeys! (borders, notepad, nametags, accent…)  It’s started to lookgood!  Plus, that year parent council agreedto purchase a Smartboard for our class. Yahoo!  The Smartboard was back ordered and only arrivedin May :(

Year three, Istarted setting up my room 2 weeks before school!  I painted the shelves and the bulletinboard.  It’s monkey theme again! I lovedit!  I had an artistic coop student who paintedthe cubby area with a jungle theme design. The room looked fabulous!  Unfortunatelythe Smartboard broke and then my laptop screen! It only took one week to getthem repaired but it seemed forever!  Afriend gave me a train table that the kids loved.

Year four, myclass is monkey themes again and 21st century learning has become abig focus in our class.  We have an iPad,netbooks and a smartboard to help us learn. Technology has become a popular center in my class. I still have thatyucky carpet, orange chairs and tables; and wobbly shelves! BUT, I am not getting ready for FullDay Kindergarten.  I had to clear andpack up my entire room. They are renovating this summer!  I am getting new cabinetry, a sink, newcubbies, the green blackboards are being removed, the yucky carpet is beingremoved, the wobbly shelves are gone and I’ve ordered different resources formy Kindergarten students. Plus, my innovative 21st century project proposalhas been approved and I will be getting different technology devices for myclass! Yahoo! 

I can’t waitfor September 2012!  I love thateverything is going to match from the area carpet to the new 
chairs and tables!  I am thrilled that the kids will have a properwater and sand table!   Finally, after 4 years, I am going to have my dreamKindergarten classroom.  I guess I betterstart assembling those Ikea shelves in my garage!  Will post a before and after picture in lateAugust.

1 comment:

  1. Christmas really does come in September for teachers sometimes! I think getting ready for school is one of my favourite parts of the job. I love how you are combining 21st century learning with more "organic" learning, how relevant is that?!

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