Student Contributor: K. Shaqhan
Each student will have a dedicated section of the room to themselves where they will post their work throughout the year. The first thing they’ll put on their bulletin board is a house they’ve decorated to make look like theirs. This is helpful because it will make each student feel like they have a sense of belonging in the classroom.
Within the first week of school students will have time to add to their houses; they can paint, color, and even glue pictures of their actual house onto their paper houses. Once complete they will be put on the bulletin board and will do a gallery walk to everyone else’s houses and see if they have anything in common with one another. This is going to be a great way for everyone to get to know each other and to showcase what is unique about them. As the year goes on whenever a student feels proud of a piece of work they’ve accomplished they can put it up on their bulletin board to be showcased.
This tool belongs in the Preventative Phase. Since it will be done during the first week of school it will help the students feel like the classroom is a safe place to be and it helps them feel included in the design of the classroom. Each student will have a physical place in the classroom that is dedicated solely to them, which is pretty significant. This could also be in the Supportive Phase because the children are continuously adding work they are happy about to their bulletin board.
This tool is mainly Student-Directed because the students get to decide what they want their house to look like and what they want to add to their bulletin board. This is also a small part of Teacher-Directed because the teacher helps the students get started in the project by explaining what will be done and by showing examples.
More Information –
Tool Source: Judy Meagher
https://bit.ly/2Aupeiq
Grade Level: 3rd & 4th
Number of Students: 16
Demographics: Suburban
I made use of this tool in the first few weeks of school as a great way for students to have some low stress work while also being introduced to their classroom and classmates. I think it should also be noted that the teacher could also be involved in this activity as it makes for a good ice-breaker which is exactly what my mentor and myself did. We both saw favorable results from this as well it was great to put things we modeled up on our own sections of the bulletin board. It should also be noted that we did not ever do a gallery walk of student work although I really do think that would be a great part of this tool. Students were quick to jump on this as they got to show off their own work and also see other students work. I would say this is rather simple to implement but does require space in your classroom and should probably be implemented early on in the school year. I did eventually craft this into something a bit different but I could not have gotten there without this initial idea. And I think that is really what this toolbox should be something that you find useful but are able to make it fit your classroom and students’ needs.