Classroom Decor

     You've just spent the last few weeks of your summer in your classroom creating and putting up anchor charts, posters, grouping desks, making name tags, decorating the outside of your door, making sure there are enough pencils, glue, markers, colored pencils, etc. creating lesson plans, deciding what classroom management skills you'll teach the kids the first couple of weeks...the whole nine yards (even though it feels like 10 billion yards).  And the day has finally come...it's the first day of school.  You're anxious yet so excited to meet your new students that you will have for the next year and you hope that they love what you've done with the classroom.  You've spent all this time and energy creating what you believe to be a space that is welcoming and a safe environment for your students to learn.  But is that what's really best?  Should the classroom be created solely by the teacher?  Or should the students be able to decide what goes where?  Or is it possibly a combination of both the teacher and the students working together to create a space that is all their own?
     As a soon to be full-fledged licensed teacher decorating, and designing my classroom is something that I CANNOT wait to do.  The thought of it alone excites me!  I always loved coming in on the first day of school getting to see where I would be sitting, all the colors and posters that would be all over the walls, reading centers and libraries...the works.  So I figured as a new teacher I need to be able to provide that environment for my students on their first day of school.  I need to be able to instill that excitement and openness in my classroom for them to feel like it is a place they can learn, and to do so I need to have everything prepared for them before they get there.  Well that's not exactly true.  Debbie Miller talks about how "just as it's important to define our beliefs and align our practices, it's important to create classroom environments that reflect our beliefs."  When creating a classroom environment that reflects your beliefs you can ask yourself questions such as: Will children and I need a meeting area?  Do I want my books all in one area, or throughout the room?  What about the kids' desks or tables?  What about my desk?  All of these questions need to be answered with a purpose and a reason, because without your classroom can just turn into a place with things in it.
     One of my beliefs is to have classroom collaboration and to align with that belief I will have a meeting area.  "A meeting area is the one place in the room we can all come together, and children and I use it in a variety of purposeful ways throughout the day."  A meeting area can be used for whole group reading, to do morning announcements, but more importantly a place where thoughts and feelings about learning can be shared freely and openly.  "There's an intimacy in coming together, asking questions, thinking about big ideas, and synthesizing new learning that's less likely to happen when kids are at their seats."  Another thing that is a must if I want to align my environment with my beliefs is a classroom library, but with a bit of a twist.  "No need for a library area; I want the whole room to feel like a library!"  I love this!  The idea of having my students surrounded by books is something so obvious, but never thought I could really do.  I always thought that I needed a specific area for it, until I read it in writing that I could turn my classroom into a library.  "When children are surrounded by books, we're showing them that reading is important throughout the day; reading is infused into almost everything we do."  To encourage classroom collaboration I will not have my students sitting in rows of desks, but rather in groups to encourage conversation.  And as for my desk...well I hope it is a a place where I can work, but I doubt I will be sitting at it very often:)
     Debbie Miller also states, "that's why on the first days of school the classroom walls, bulletin boards, and doors will be almost bare.  That's as it should be!"  I don't know about you but when I first read this sentence I had to take a double take, my jaw dropped and I literally said out loud "WHAT?!"  How could this be?  How am I suppose to leave walls and bulletin boards bare?  What will the children think?  I panic'd!  All of my excitement and dreams about being able to create my own classroom had just been crushed.  But that was Debbie Miller's point.  She wants us to realize that by decorating and creating everything before the students even arrive, it is just that, MY classroom.  I stated before that one of my beliefs is having a collaborative classroom.  Well I can't exactly have that belief if my classroom is all about me.  So while the thought may be nerving, I need to embrace making "my" classroom environment "our" classroom environment.  Debbie Miller reassures me by telling me "In the days, weeks, and months to come, those walls will fill with artifacts and learning that are unique to you and your students.  It will reflect your stories and the stories of this year's group.  Be patient.  Your students' classroom portraits could be smiling back at you, beginning of the year interviews posted for all to see, and the Welcome to Our Classroom sign gracing your front door - kid made and beautiful."
And last, but certainly not least, my favorite quote about classroom environments by Debbie Miller has to be "Classroom environments are organic - they grow as we do.  The best of them reflect the hearts and souls of those who inhabit them."  I couldn't agree more Debbie.

What Are My Beliefs?

"There are lots of "somebody elses" who would certainly like to!  They'll even package it up pretty and tell us just what to say.  But for all their pomp, it's hard to imagine the circumstance where prepackaged programs and scripts teach children better than we do." -Debbie Miller
Debbie Miller is a huge advocate for literacy and learning but she is also an advocate for teachers taking the time to write down and put into motion their beliefs and practices they hold in the classroom.  Taking the time to reflect upon what my beliefs are was a difficult thing for me to do, however, Debbie Miller's quote made me want to stand up for myself and stand up against all those "somebody's" and establish my own beliefs.  Some core beliefs that I have are: classroom environments are most effective when they are welcoming/inviting and student driven, cross-curricular teaching must be a practice in mine and every other teachers classroom, and "I believe in the power of collaborative classroom communities where everyone's ideas are valued and respected.".  Classroom environments are crucial for students to have the ability to learn.  If a student does not feel welcomed or apart of the classroom I firmly believe that very little to no learning can be done.  I find it nearly impossible (if not completely impossible) for a teacher to avoid cross-curricular teaching.  Every subject that we teach can be used to teach another subject.  Period.  Collaborative classrooms are becoming more and more prominent with the way that teaching is changing.  Debbie Miller talks about a time when she was looking for her students to give her, her answer, when she realized that she wasn't listening to her students answers.  The classroom needs to be a place where student-to-teacher and student-to-student  discussions can be had and everyone's voices are heard.  As I grow as a student, teacher, and individual my beliefs and practices I am sure are to change, but "to clearly articulate my beliefs about teaching and learning, cite the supporting research, and speak to its application in the classroom", will guide me.
"Real life isn't scripted.  Neither is real teaching." -Debbie Miller

Introduction

As I am about to embark on the last two semester of my undergraduate college career I have learned that there are two things a teacher must possess to be successful...passion and determination.  Passion is what drives us to do the things we love no matter the success or failure.  With passion we must also have determination to help us find strength during the times of failure.  These two characteristics are what I want to instill in my students when reading all different kinds of literature.  I want reading to be a passion of all my students as it is a passion of my own.  Reading is something that students should connect to and reading should challenge the thinking and beliefs of students.  I strongly believe the more people read and expose themselves to literature of the world the more they will grow as an individual.  I look forward writing about my passion of literature and how it will affect myself, my students and anyone else interested in listening.