Reflective Teaching - 30 Day Challenge Day 5

Today's prompt is kind of a fun one - post pictures of your classroom and, in essence, critique it.

The slideshow at the top of our website home page (just click on that little word "home" right there beside "blog" in the top right hand corner) is a series of pictures of The Lit Pit, which, for all intents and purposes, is my classroom. It is not the average classroom. We cycle the majority of the classes in the school through the Lit Pit over the course of a week, averaging 5 classes a day. It is set up for a very specific purpose - station-based literacy activities (for more about how we run the Lit Pit see here).

When I look at photos of the Lit Pit, I see a space that is welcoming without being overwhelming, a space that is purposefully designed, a space that invites learning.

I also see a space that has morphed over time. The labels on that writing board in the photo above? Those didn't last very long because they just didn't work. Neither did the table set up, so we changed that too. The flow and routines have changed as well, flexing to fit every class that enters this space. When you're working with so many different groups, you have to be flexible!

You can see some of the changes in this photo (taken after we were really in the swing of things). For the upcoming year, we have already identified one of the missing things: books! While we do have guided reading books galore and a ton of great books at our Love To Read station, we hope to add several bookshelves and displays to highlight our favourites and the favourites of our students. In doing so, we hope that our students will share their passion for books with each other and with us!

The other thing that's missing? The kids. Their energy, their noise, their love for learning. I can't post those pictures but believe me, this is a space they love to be in.

We would love to hear what you think of our space (because, really, it's not just mine. It's Kristi's too. And all the staff and students who come to learn with us every day). Something you love? Something missing? Let us know in the comments - we are always looking for new ideas!