Enhancing Learning through the Environment

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“ There are three teachers of children: adults, other children, and their physical environment.”

– Loris Malaguzzi

Last year, we invited some educators who we have connected with over social media to share a peak into their learning environment and to add their reflections about how their thinking has evolved. 

The journey to understand the importance of the learning environment has been a long one. As a team, we continue to reflect and make changes after conversations and visits to colleagues learning spaces. 

It is so important for educators to be reflective and intentional in all of the decisions that they make with regards to their environment. Too often, we replicate beautiful spaces without truly understanding why we are doing what we do. 

Always keeping in mind, "why are we making this change or decision?" and "how will it support student learning?".

Our decisions and choices are also connected to research and professional learning. These quotes help us both in understanding and explaining our decisions about the learning environment to administrators, colleagues, and parents:

“Certain colours create a sense of calm, and others can energize or excite” – Lisa Burman

“Our environments have a great influence on how we feel and behave and what we pay attention to” – Margie Carter and Deb Curtis

Unique Area in our Environment: Dance Studio
We have found providing a space for children to dance, move, and express themselves has supported self regulation in a natural, genuine context.

“We are not decorating learning spaces. We are designing them to amplify learning” (Hare and Dillion, 2016).

Flexible, Multipurpose Meeting Spaces:
We meet very little as a whole group, why designate an area that is just for that? Here we can build and meet.

Our Dance Studio is an alternate whole group meeting space. If we are saving a structure, if children need more time to tidy, or if we are wanting to use the whiteboard space we may meet here too!

The learning environment can either “enhance learning, optimizing students’ potential to respond creatively and meaningfully, or detract from it”

(Kindergarten Curriculum 2016, pg 29)

September in Kindergarten: Reflective Thoughts

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After learning alongside many incredible educators we've instructed we had many questions and conversations around what September may look like and how you "get started".

As always, every school board, school, and classroom will have unique differences and challenges but there are definitely some things that we think about every September and remind ourselves of when setting up and planning for the first couple of weeks.

If we could give just one piece of advice it would be to SLOW DOWN. We all start the year with passion, excitement, and an eagerness to get started. Every September we think back to June where we left off and how incredible the children were. We always forget how slow we need to go in September and how exhausting the first few months are (even when we remind ourselves!)

There should be NO rush to get started with academics in the Fall. The year will provide plenty of time to figure out what children know and understand academically!

START by building your FOUNDATION:
Teach the children routines, get to know the children, focus heavily on building relationship with them and between them, provide children with new language and experiences (e.g., how to enter play, how to ask for help). Depending on the children in your room they will come in with various experiences and skill sets in terms of personal and social interactions.

What materials should you start with?
Less is MORE. We definitely can't stress that enough. Sometimes we try to add "more" too soon and it reminds us why we limit the materials in the Fall.

We start the year by setting out very simple provocations and materials for the children to explore. Having less out allows the children to learn how to interact socially and how to follow the routines of the classroom (such as tidying up).

In the art area we will often start with pencils, crayons, and blank paper. In our dramatic play area we begin with a "home" providing the children with babies, cooking utensils and a few loose parts to create with (e.g., string and gems). Our building area always begins with our large wooden blocks (which are a staple in the room) and then our loose natural materials (tree cookies, pine cones, branches). The natural materials are stored and connected beside our Nature Area. In this space we may simply add Forest Animals to encourage imaginative play at the beginning of the year.

Tools in our Dramatic Play Centre.

Clipboards and Bug Catchers in Outdoor Environment.

Magnifying Glasses and Seashells on a Provocation Table.

Simple Building Materials and Large Wooden Blocks.

Nature Area: Connected to our Building Are with loose, natural materials

We do not have a specified math area, instead we provide a variety of math tools on the shelves that can be brought to table tops or added to any area of play (e.g., measuring tools, shapes, 5/10 frames, dice, dominoes). We do not have a large number of manipulatives out at any given time and in the Fall there is a lot of dumping and sorting of materials.

The other tables in our room we use as "provocation" tables which vary based on interests, needs, and inspiration. To begin the year we put out simple provocations that vary from year to year. One year we had magnifying glasses and seashells with paper/pencils out which encouraged children to slow down and look closely. Or something simple like mirrors and pattern blocks.

What does that look like?

At the beginning of our day and during our whole group instruction time, we will begin to focus on ONE learning centre at a time. For example, if we are focusing on the dramatic play space, we will talk about the materials and tools in the area and we may role play ways to interact. We spend 10-15 minutes discussing and role playing, which provides children with the opportunity to see what is available and to ask questions. We emphasize how to take care of and respect the materials and how to store or organize them when they are finished.

When outdoors, we spend time introducing materials and areas that we have set up for the children (e.g., sand materials, the mud kitchen, our playground). We will discuss safety, how to use materials, where they are stored, and what to do when finished with them.

After our discussions either inside or outdoors, the children are free to choose any area to explore and investigate. We will then spend time in the area we spoke about supporting the social interactions and routines. With consistent language and messages each year, we are able to have some of our second year students help model and support the other children who are new and learning. This makes it easier to reinforce important messages that you decide on with your partner (e.g., if you are finished playing somewhere, you need to tidy up the materials or ask the other children if there is something that you can tidy before you leave). 

Things we "teach" in the fall:
If we don't focus on academics in the Fall, then what do we teach? We support the children in many ways while they adjust to the new routines of school and try to figure out their place in it all. We find that we do a lot of prompting, modelling, and hand over hand instruction/support. Some things that we focus on in the Fall include:

• lunch routines and expectations (including what to do when finished eating, what you might have conversations about at lunch, how to open new packages/containers)
• how to take care of your belongings (where to hang your backpack, put your shoes, the routines of going from outside to inside)
• how to line up or walk through the hallways
• what to do if you need help
• focus on transitions (how can we transition children smoothly between activities)
• how to interact with other children (e.g., how to enter play or ask to join, how to negotiate, how to extend play, how to listen to each other)
• how to share materials (e.g., if someone is using something - what could you ask them? what if they say no? what could you say then?)
• how to solve problems

Daily Schedule:
http://passionatelycuriousinkindergarten.blogspot.com/2016/10/flow-of-day-reflecting-on-yearly-changes.html
We begin the year with our daily schedule in place, we may just slightly monitor our timing. We provide a bit longer for children to tidy and a bit less time as a whole group. During our Focused Learning we often begin the year by using books on tape/cd. This provides them with a quick and engaging experience as a whole group while allowing educators to focus on supporting the routines and expectations.

Small Group Instruction:
Simply put, our guided groups do not happen for us until middle or end of Octobe. Rushing this piece only results in back tracking throughout the year to reinforce routines and social skills that can be taught in the Fall. We do begin our Small Group structure at the beginning of the year, but both educators are floating to support students in understanding expectations and routines.
http://passionatelycuriousinkindergarten.blogspot.com/2017/01/maximizing-small-groups-time-to.html

Assessment: 
Some educators begin the year with elaborate assessment scales. We have seen many variations and approaches. Of course every school board will have different expectations and assessments that need to be done. Aside from those, we challenge you to think about what you really need to know.

Do you need to know how many letters that brand new students know during week 2? Does it really matter if you know if a child knows their colours? We also challenge you to think about HOW you may collect the information. Will you invite that child to a table and "test" them by asking them the shapes on a sheet of paper? Or ask them to count for you to see how high they can go?

What if....you watched them in the building area and made short notes about the language they are using, the questions they are asking, the relationships they are building.

What if....you observed them at the paint table and notice the way that they add their name?

What if....you ask one child a day to help you count the number of students in the classroom as you go outdoors to play to ensure that you know how many children are outside?

We have strong opinions on slowing down in the Fall and collecting information as it comes in naturally. There are so many genuine ways to learn about the children that you have in your classroom that don't require you to overwhelm yourself with in depth assessment templates.

Give yourself permission to slow down. We promise that in the process of slowing down you will capture more than you would if you sat down with each child one at a time. Also, what is important to know in the Fall?

We always wonder why we need to know how many letters a child can identify...how will that improve my practice? Instead, could you make note of whether a child knows "none", "few", "some" or "most" letters?


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Thoughtful, Intentional, Provocations in FDK

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A couple of years ago I wrote a post about Learning Provocations - what are they? how are they used? what is their purpose? Like all aspects of teaching, the more I have learned about them and the more I have grown in my practice...the more questions I end up with!

Previous Post: http://passionatelycuriousinkindergarten.blogspot.ca/2012/10/provocations-for-learning.html

While instructing our course this summer, Cheryl and I fielded so many great questions:

In a Full Day Kindergarten classroom with potentially 30 children, how realistic is it to set up multiple an intricately displayed provocation for learning? Do you move them during lunch? How many provocations should be out at a time? Should the provocation have a specific academic focus (e.g. just math? just literacy?) Is it ok if a provocation is simple? Do you have to introduce provocations to children, or let them explore? What is important about a provocation for learning? Is it the aesthetics of it?

Sometimes, we see provocations shared online that look too "precious" or "staged" for the children to interact with. Although I believe that how materials are set up, organized and presented to children is important, I just wonder if some provocations are too over the top and don't leave enough room for children to create, explore, and be active participants?

The piece that I think about the most is the children. You want provocations to be aesthetically inviting, yes, but you don't want to feel as though the children can't truly explore with the materials because of the way that they are displayed. I know that throughout our learning centre time the provocations always looks nothing like they did at the beginning of the day. They looks played with, explored, investigated, and all moved around...which is what we want!

Here are some of our reflections based on our time and experiences. It is always important to think critically about what others share and believe, so please do challenge and ask questions. These reflections are based on our own journey, experiences, and the children we teach.

Provocations should be open ended:

While working with our Student Work Study Teacher -
(Patti and Sandy - http://blogs.wrdsb.ca/learningaswego/) they shared this image with us. To me it answers the question about whether or not provocations should be completely subject based. The more open ended the provocation is, the more room that is left for children's interpretations and learning. If we compartmentalize provocations into subject areas, we will quickly direct the children to use it in perhaps one way.

On the contrary, we absolutely have things out such as board games or puzzles which are not extremely open ended activities but rather support development, personal or social interactions, and math skills. We tend to do a lot of our "teaching" in a small group, but when the children love the games they will bring them out into the classroom during learning centres.

Quantity and Quality of Materials
It is important to always be reflective about how much or how little we are putting out in terms of materials. When there is too much children can become overwhelmed and when there is too little there isn't as much that they can do or create. My advice...mess around! Play with the provocation to see if you have included things that will spark interest and excitement for the children and be reflective of whether or not there is "enough".

How many is too many?
This question comes up a lot for those new in play based programming. In our first year of FDK training, I remember hearing the message that "all materials should be placed out INTENTIONALLY". That message has stuck with me throughout my learning. All of the areas in the classroom have intentional provocations or invitations, some may be more simple than others. At the beginning of the year, we may start with a provocation that includes attribute blocks and a mirror - simple yet many entry points and opportunities for the children to explore.

Challenging ourselves to think about WHY we should not keep out all of the water materials for the water centre. Rather, we should carefully select specific materials that will invite the children to slow down, experiment, and play. Having everything out at once can be very overstimulating to children.

When to change a provocation?
Another common wondering is when to change provocations. Traditionally, many educators would create a learning centre plan and then each week change all of the centres in the classroom. As we grow in our knowledge of supporting young children, many educators are reflecting that this may not be the only way. Listening to the children while they play and interact with the materials will guide you as an educator to know when it may be time to change it (or perhaps you could add/take away materials to enhance what is out). We have found that we do not change things based on time, rather based on interest.

Do you introduce provocations?
Generally, we do not take the time as a whole class to introduce new provocations in the classroom. Sometimes we will introduce new materials or provocations in a small group if it makes sense (e.g., a new art tool that may require experimentation/instruction or a game). However, since we do not put out all new provocations weekly we are aware of the area where new materials have been set out and will make a conscious effort to interact with the children and the materials there. We feel it is important for the children to experiment and play with what is set out, sometimes when we introduce or talk about provocations we set out an agenda for "what to do" even when we try not to!

Caution with Pinterest:
Pinterest is an incredible place to find inspiration, unique ideas, and to share! But I feel like Pinterest should come with a disclaimer. Using pinterest for inspiration is fantastic, but like everything we do we should always think critically. Does it make sense for YOUR CHILDREN? Would the children in your classroom be interested? Is the provocation/idea open ended? Will it take you hours to create - will it be worth it?

A few years ago, I posted this photo on Pinterest and it is my "most pinned" provocation. I still want to delete it most days that I see it, but I leave it there as a reminder to myself to be reflective. When we created this provocation we thought it was fantastic, but after a few days no children showed interest. We started to reflect on how closed the activity truly was, there was only really "one way" to use the materials we set out.

Could we have done something similar in a small group so that it was differentiated and connected to the context of a book, read aloud, or poem?

Finding Inspiration:
We absolutely still use Pinterest to share, to find inspiration, to review rich research/videos, and to reflect on new ways to engage with children. On that note, I reached out to some of the incredibly inspiring educators that I connect with daily on Twitter. I am always inspired by their creativity, eye for beauty, and sense of wonder. I am grateful daily for my connection to educators across Ontario. They were gracious enough to open their classrooms up via photos and I created an iMovie for the course that Cheryl and I taught this summer. The participants absolutely loved the video and were inspired by the ideas that were shared.

Creating Invitations for Learning:
Check out this really great, easy read by Deb Curtis -
http://www.childcareexchange.com/library/5015738.pdf

The Learning Environment: What messages are we sending our children?

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“ There are three teachers of children: adults, other children, and their physical environment.”

– Loris Malaguzzi

These were the walls that we had when we started in Kindergarten...and we thought they looked great! We carefully put up these bright pieces of broad cloth and busy borders. We thought this was what Kindergarten was supposed to look like. When we look back at these photos today, we feel instantly overwhelmed. We have made some fundamental changes to our environment structure and walls.

When considering making changes to your learning environment or working to understand the importance of making change we reflected on some of these questions together as a team.

1) What message does your classroom send to families/students?
The choices that we make while setting up and maintaining our environments send a clear and powerful message to families and children about what is important and valued.

When a room is full of clutter and materials that the children are not allowed to touch - what message does that send to them? Are we setting ourselves and the children up for success if their environment is overwhelming or cluttered with too many visuals/materials?

We used to use stop signs to let children know which bins they could use since we had not created proper storage for our materials. The signs were distracting and often overwhelming for the children to see materials that they couldn't access. We believe that if the children can see the materials, they should be able to access them!

How can you make that change and reduce clutter? Think carefully about what materials need to be kept at school, what materials can simply be thrown out, and how things are organized in the room.

2) How does your room flow? Where are centres in relation to each other?
It is important to think about the FLOW in your room. We have tried to limit the number of tables in the classroom so that we have just enough spaces for the children during nutrition breaks.

Through our observations we have noticed that children often are gravitated to working on the floor so we try to ensure that there is a balance of tables and open spaces for creative thinkers.


3) LESS is MORE...
Storage is always an issue in classrooms, there never seems to be enough! However, there are creative ways to work around storing materials. In our classroom we keep anything that personally belongs to us at home and we have used black fabric to cover just a couple of shelves so that teacher resources are out of sight.

Black Fabric Covering Shelves on the Left Wall of the Classroom

We start the year with very minimal materials out - in our building area there is nothing but wooden blocks, our art area begins with crayons, paper and pencils and our nature area begins with a limited number of loose parts and a small basket of animals.

Although these areas grow and change through the year, we still try not to overcrowd shelves too many materials. We want things that are out to be purposeful and our goal is for the children to learn how to respect and use what is provided before we continue to add more.

Our Kindergarten classrooms all share materials - instead of each classroom having small sets of materials, we spent a few days putting all of our resources together.

This allows for us to be more intentional with the materials that we are using in our rooms. When pooled together, we have more of each resource and can make better decisions in our purchasing (e.g., not buying 4 of the same puzzle).

We have created a shared storage system for each type of material (e.g., building materials, science materials, puppets, dramatic play, playdough, puzzles, sand and water). We all have some staple materials in our rooms, but we rotate in and out other materials that do not need to be there all year.

Our shared storage system allows for the educators to be more intentional in selecting materials since everything doesn't have to be out at once!

4) Natural, calm colours...with a focus on student learning and work!
We have had families question why the room was so bare and why it was so "brown" in the Fall. We have grown to have great conversation about how it is less stimulating than bright primary colours, explaining that when a provocation is set out it attracts the children's attention, and how documentation or student work adds colours to the walls instead of a busy ABC border or premade poster.

5) How will you present materials to the children?
"When materials for learning, such as blocks or paint, paper and brushes are stored and organized in thoughtful ways, it gives the message that these are important tools for learning" - Lisa Burman

When we present materials in transparent containers, when we organize paint brushes by size and markers by colour...we are really supporting the children in slowing down. You will see the children make more deliberate and thoughtful choices in the tools that they need. In addition, you will see the children treat the materials as tools, rather than disposable materials.

6) Take your time!

Thinking about your environment doesn't need to cost you money or take hours of your time. The process should be gradual, it should involve the children and your colleagues, and it will take time!

You do not need to overhaul your entire classroom overnight. You can simply start with one wall or one area and reflect on what changes you might be able to make.