I have seven to eight centers daily, and the children have a choice as to where they would like to go. Sometimes I will ask them to switch to a center when I need them to finish a project, to collect data, or to do a learning activity. The children also have a choice to have snack or not. We do a lot of voting activities to give choices about classroom decisions. We vote on themes, books to read, what centers will be, art projects, and prizes to work for. I believe these choices help the children to feel like they are invested in the classroom. When they voted on something they are more engaged and they seem to retain more information. The boundaries in my classroom are set from the second they walk into the classroom. We start learning the expectations right away, and we spend the first few weeks practicing and role playing what that looks like. We have expectations for all of our scheduled items, school areas, and interactions. These expectations all follow three simple rules: follow directions quickly, use helpful hands and words, and make smart
I have seven to eight centers daily, and the children have a choice as to where they would like to go. Sometimes I will ask them to switch to a center when I need them to finish a project, to collect data, or to do a learning activity. The children also have a choice to have snack or not. We do a lot of voting activities to give choices about classroom decisions. We vote on themes, books to read, what centers will be, art projects, and prizes to work for. I believe these choices help the children to feel like they are invested in the classroom. When they voted on something they are more engaged and they seem to retain more information. The boundaries in my classroom are set from the second they walk into the classroom. We start learning the expectations right away, and we spend the first few weeks practicing and role playing what that looks like. We have expectations for all of our scheduled items, school areas, and interactions. These expectations all follow three simple rules: follow directions quickly, use helpful hands and words, and make smart