Ideal Classrooms

As the school year comes to an end and you begin to pack up your room think do you think about things you wish you had? I know every teacher out there has their ideal classroom but with budgets getting cut constantly most of these rooms are completely out of the question. 

However, if you won a contest and had no limit on your classroom what would you have in your ideal classroom?

The grade I am thinking about is preschool!

     In my classroom I would have some of the following things:

•         An interactive word wall – if the students went up to the wall and touched a word it would say the word for them

•        Huge classroom library – make sure there is enough cozy space for the students to sit down and look and read books. Reading is KEY!

•        Technology center – some teachers are still unsure about technology but I love it! It is something that the children are going to use throughout their life so as educators I feel that we need to make sure they understand it!

•       Science/discovery center – I want a variety of textures and scents in this center to make it fun and exciting. I have also recently seen boxes where you put stuff inside and the children use gloves to feel what is on the inside. This can be very exciting especially if you have it where the students can’t see inside.

• ·         Storage – having a big area to store things would be great. I could go back and get new and exciting things anytime it seemed like my kids were getting bored.

•       Dramatic play – I want real world items that would interact with the children like stoves and cash registers. I think it is important for these items to be as real as possible because it is something almost every student will be around their entire life. 

•        Social studies- fun interactive way to help children with their social studies skills. 

•     Math - fun ways to teach all the different types of math. Like all the different geometric shapes, adding, subtracting, sizes, and colors (to name a few).

Of course there are many many more I could list but I didn't want to go crazy. =)  

How about you?

What are some things that you would have in your ideal classroom?

Parents what are some things you wish your child’s class had? 

Less than, Greater than and Equal

Today I had a presentation for my Math for elementary students. I decided to do fractions and to play a game with my class to compare them. 

I started off with small popsicle sticks and painted them green, blue and purple. 

After the paint dried over night I took the blue pieces and glued the ends to make a less than sign. 

I then took the purple pieces and made a greater than sign.

The green pieces I then used as the equal sign.

 I put the signs on plain popsicle sticks so that they could hold the signs up with ease. 

 For the game I wrote two fractions on the board and asked my classmates to see if they were greater than, less than or equal. This is also a great activity to use when you are first teaching less than, greater than or equal.

Reading

As a student to become an elementary educator I have really come to realize how important reading is. When making lesson plans for my class I have always incorporated a book with it. I feel that the children can never learn too many words. As they get older knowing a vast vocabulary will help them throughout their lives.

In the center where I work we have some children in first grade. They love to read! I am always finding challenging books for them to begin reading. The schools are now giving an incentive to read for example the first graders were telling me how their school participates in reading counts. (A program where the children read books that are worth different points and take tests on these books) The school where they attend are taking some of the kids with the highest points for a special lunch at Max and Erma's where they will be allowed to get dessert with their lunch. I feel that this is a great incentive to keep these children reading and moving forward.

Reading is used in every subject for example in Music the different notes have meaning and in order to know and understand these meanings you must first be able to read the words. Reading is also used in Math for word problems and in Science for the different plants and animals. In social studies we talk about houses and the different types these all have separate names and meanings. Without reading and understanding the children will have a harder time in these other subjects and may end up falling behind in school.

Reading does not begin in elementary school. Instead it begins in the infant stage when parents and caregivers read to the children and point to the pictures and give them names.