I would like to redesign our writing table area and turn it into more of an art area. Typically, we have paper, small white boards, markers, crayons, colored pencils, and word cards there. We occasionally add other items, but not as often as we should. I want to create an open-ended art area by adding art materials such as bingo daubers, stamps, and paint sticks, etc. I also think it would be great to create a space where we can display the artwork they created in the art area. Maybe each child has their own laminated paper on the wall with a clothespin attached to it so that they can independently hang up their own artwork and switch it out whenever they would like to. I will have to brainstorm that idea some more and figure out where we have space for that in our classroom.

Getting ready for circle time to begin, along with sometimes in the middle of circle time, a few of the kids will get extra wiggly and chatty. One of my go-to attention-grabbers to get them back is to sing quietly, “Can you do what I do, what I do, what I do, can you do what I do, show me how.” I pat my knees while I sing, then follow it with some sort of clap pattern or hand movement. A way to improve this could be to include more gross movement options, such as jumping, standing on one foot, a wiggle dance, etc. I could also include the kids by singing their names and letting them choose a movement.

I find that a couple of our tougher transitions are while the kids get ready to line up for outside and while we get ready for our second small circle time, which is right before lunchtime. While I was thinking about transition activity ideas, I realized that movement songs would work well as they wait for everyone to get their coats on and get ready to go outside. The kids are energized and ready to get outside, so it seems like a good option during this time. I think that doing an activity such as the mystery box or what’s missing would work well during our transition to small circle. It would be a good way to engage all the kids and get their attention. The ideas you guys provided and the song book are super helpful! Thank you!

In my classroom, we use an arrow with Velcro on it to point to where we are in our schedule. I love the idea of changing it up and using different shapes throughout the year! Each day we choose a different "schedule helper" for the day. Some of the kids are more confident than others when they talk about our day with the rest of the class. I usually ask them whether they would like to go through the schedule on their own or with some help. One thing that I thought about while listening to this week's video was that instead of having a teacher help them if they need it, to ask another child to help them, or better yet, have the schedule helper ask a friend for help. This would be a great way to help them build confidence, along with many other skills they would be gaining from this.

I have a visual schedule for my kids to follow on the wall of our circle time and library area. I have pictures of the areas of our classroom or the items we are using during that time, along with a word. For example, a picture of a plate, cup, and utensils for lunchtime, or a picture of our outside area for outside time. One of the helper jobs the kids can choose is Schedule Helper. That child is responsible for moving the arrow on our schedule to show where we are in our day. We go through our whole day at our first circle time, but I could definitely do a better job referencing it throughout the day more, with the whole class, not just when needed with specific students. I am already brainstorming ideas of when I can add that to our day.

@Julie Nelson I love this idea! I have a student next year who I think could benefit from this. Thank you for sharing!