Help me give my students a classroom rug to use as a gathering spot to interact with each other while also providing them a central meeting spot to learn.
I teach in a Title 1 school teaching kindergarten and first grade students. These students come from a variety of backgrounds, and many are on free and reduced lunch. We have 75 students in our kindergarten class that we will loop to first grade with. There are mixed abilities and interests. These students are inquisitive and love to learn. The children love to support each other with growth mindset and mindfulness.
I have many students who travel between homes, often don't know where they'll get their next meal, and don't have a place where they feel safe.
My goal is to make our classroom comfortable for each student who enters. I want them to know that when they enter our room, they're loved, cherished, cared for, and important.
These students love to interact with each other. We do a lot of think, pair, share and turn-and-talk in our classroom. The students are often talking with each other and sharing their learning. We also do mindfulness and social skills daily in our room and we start each morning with a restorative justice connection circle of some type. This allows us to build our community and form relationships.
My Project
This carpet will be placed at the front of the classroom. We meet every morning in a connection circle. This is where we build our classroom community, learn from each other, and form strong relationships. A rug would help us form our circle and give the children a meeting spot. We also need this gathering spot for the kids to come to when it's time to transition. I start each lesson with a whole group mini-lesson where all the students are gathered, looking at the Smart Board. We sit down as a class to learn a new concept or to review previously taught lessons.
This rug would improve transitions when students come into class from recess, lunch, or specials.
It would help improve behaviors because students would have one, common meeting area to go to. This can be an area for us to focus on our social skills and mindfulness. Each student would have a comfortable spot for themselves.
This rug would be beneficial for our turn-and-talk time when we're sharing ideas. Students are encouraged to think, pair, share in our classroom. When we have a rug to sit on, the students can easily turn to someone next to them to share with.
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