How does the physical environment act as a "third teacher" in one of your field work sites? Describe ways children use materials or environment factors to enrich their learning.
To be honest, this was first experience observing in a public school, and I won't lie, I felt sad. The classrooms seem crowded and overstimulated. The actual interior design of the rooms are so bleak that it seems like teachers go through great lengths to cover every inch of the classroom in materials purchased from Lakeshore Learning or other pre-made materials, making for a distracting and almost haphazard environment.
Having said that, in comparing the Kindergarten classroom and the 2nd grade classroom, the Kindergarten teacher had 2 years of teaching experience and the 2nd grade teacher has been at School #2 for 20+ years -- I preferred the 2nd grade classroom. While some of the materials were tired, it felt like the room was set up with better intentionality, whereas the Kindergarten classroom felt like an explosion of materials, many of which, when I asked the teacher what she used it for, said she used it once and they don't really use it anymore. The 2nd grade classroom also had so many books available everywhere grouped by levels that were easily accessible to all the students. Also the environment was well labeled and organized so that the students could be more autonomous with little interruption from their teacher. I think the students felt more empowered and in control of their learning, with freedom and flexibility from their environment, whereas in the Kindergarten classroom, it felt like they were hold on for dear life on a ride. Materials were not accessible or available for the children to access themselves and is always distributed by the teacher. This made the transitions difficult as every 15-20 minutes, the activity would switch, but they would have to wait for the teacher to break down and set up again.
I think it isn't as necessary to have the newest/shiniest materials, but instead, things that you actually use and materials that your students really will use daily. That intentionality in how your select those materials and build your space can really effect the daily flow of your classroom. I don't know whether it's because I have a background in hospitality, but in my culinary training, the French phrase "mise en place" is always at the top of mind when I think of the set up in the classroom. "Mise en place" means everything in its place, which allows you freedom to concentrate on cooking or being creative. In the case of the classroom, "mise en place" frees your students to concentrate on the learning and exploring.
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