Creating Our Kindergarten World - Setting Up a Classroom that Inspires

Science Museum - 2018/2019

How can I possibly be setting up my classroom for the 29th time? Those first years just blur together in a haze of bulletin board paper and stacks of boxes. In those beginning years, my classroom looked very much like the ones I had lived in as a child. The desks in rows, teacher’s desk at the front. (Being a cop’s wife, I always put mine at the back so I could keep my eye on everything in front of me!)

I laugh when remembering my second school, an open school built in the 70’s. We tried to create walls from furniture, searching for our classroom boundaries in the midst of those wide-open spaces. I vaguely remember a child disappearing through our “walls” now and then!

But, since 1999 when inquiry teaching took over my heart and soul, my room setups don’t look quite like they used to. Our kindergarten feels sort of like a little village of specialty areas where kids can find their place - what drives them, what moves them, what they care about. Or where they can even help to create their own space.

Closeup of Science Museum - 2016
with child-made labels on their artifacts

My teaching heart now rests on creating invitations for young scientists, artists, social scientists, mathematicians, readers and writers to envision the world and their work in it. Thank God for my teaching assistant, an artist at heart, who helps me figure out the mechanics of bringing our dreams to reality.

Atelier - 2016

How do we make our room come to life?

Library Organized by the Children - 2017/2018

• First, we consider the big picture, the spaces we can’t imagine living without. For us, it’s an Atelier (artists’ workshop), Science Museum, Construction Zone (blocks), library, and constantly-evolving dramatic play area.

  

  Dramatic Play Area transformed from a
  home to a photography studio, 2016

• Next, we envision the whole group teaching area (complete with big book stand, authentic calendar work, Smart Board access and room to spread out.)

  

  View from the door - 2016 across the dramatic play area,
  looking toward the whole group teaching area

• 

  View from reverse of whole group teaching area - 2016,
  looking back toward children's cubbies and shelving

• Then, we think about our upcoming inquiries and the specialty areas where we envision kids living through different perspectives. We embark on photography early in kindergarten around the time our school pictures are taken.
• We take photos of the photographer as he’s taking pictures of us. We know that shortly our dramatic play area will become a photography studio and check-in office based on his set-up.
• Our walls will display children’s photos.
• Our science museum will burst with old cameras, negatives, and film reels.

  

  Shadow Wall - 2016

• Finally, we reflect on other desired areas: a Color Studio for artists, Shadow Wall for builders, Authors’ Hangout for writers, a Tech Zone for engineers, and an office for mathematicians. We are thrilled to have a large porch and beautiful garden just outside our backdoor - perfect for naturalists, gardeners, poets and painters.
• Oh, I almost forgot those long work tables with chairs to squeeze in…
• Most importantly though, we invite the children to move into the spaces and make them their own! We encourage brainstorming and accept their ideas. When youngsters feel that they own the room, their work becomes even more transformative.

  

  Lights & Shadows Setup - 2016
  Light table & overhead projector amidst books

My biggest suggestions

1. Put in first those things that compel you!

2. Then, think of places in which your children can engage.

3. Last, squeeze in what else you need.
4. However, once the children arrive, be open to their involvement in creating your world together.

If you find it difficult to imagine giving some control over to your students, consider this: One of my brave colleagues actually puts her furniture in the middle of the room for the children to negotiate their classroom together! Those children truly own the space and all their work that happens in it. 

Disclaimer: Whatever you do, be open to the
children's ideas for transforming their own space!

What are your primary considerations when creating your ideal classroom? Please feel free to share photos, too, so we can learn from each other.