September 9, 2024
By Jenna Fournel, Director of Teaching and Learning
Prefer audio? Listen to this week’s Hooray For Monday podcast to hear Jenna share more about her classroom visits!
Last weekend I was having lunch out with my brother’s family and got up to go to the restroom. My sister-in-law quickly uttered a word of caution, “Good luck with that bathroom!”
I hesitated, wondering if my need was great enough to have to encounter a bathroom that required “good luck.” But it was. So I went. And as I nudged open the door with great trepidation I was very relieved to discover a room that was clean, tidy, and had a bright painting of the sea on the wall. I laughed at how my shoulders relaxed and happily told my family when I returned that the trip had exceeded expectations.
What does this have to do with education? Well, in mid-August I visited the schools of each 2024-2025 Teaching with Improvisation Fellow to drop off a little back-to-school gift. Most of the Fellows and their students weren’t there yet, but every campus was in the thick of creating spaces to welcome them. It’s amazing how just walking through the front door of a school can tell you so much about what you’re likely to encounter there. Like my bathroom scenario, I approached each door a little nervous about what might be behind it.
It was a true delight when I got an unexpected tour of the classroom of Sabrina Burroughs, a kindergarten teacher at John Lewis Elementary. Every nook and cranny, every chair and table, every bulletin board and cozy area, was set up with intention. This was a classroom I wanted to plop down on the carpet and stay in. You can watch this short video to get a sense of the space.
What struck me most as I walked around the brightly colored room was how she had clearly given thought to the anxiety her new learners would have coming into a space that wasn’t their home – and how she was intentionally finding ways to put them in charge of making it their own.
- There were no student names anywhere yet because Ms. Burroughs has every child write their own as the year begins.
- There was a table filled with colorful and inviting stationary where children who were missing their families could write letters home.
- There was a wall with a tree where students would be posting family pictures.
- There was a zen corner with a meditation lamp where children could go sit to calm down if they were upset.
- Every chair had a stuffed story-book character sitting in it so when students arrived they’d already have a friend to welcome them.
As I observed the space, I was struck by the care and attention she had already poured into a class full of students she hadn’t met. I happened to be there half an hour before the “meet the teachers” event would begin and I imagined how good it would feel as a caregiver to enter this room and know, just from being in the physical space, that this was a place where my child would be seen, heard, and cared for.
I know teachers everywhere are working on that right now, hopefully with student input and support from their administrators. Physical space matters. Even with limited budgets and rules around what we can put on the walls, including something in a room that makes us feel at ease can go a long way to helping our students feel the same.
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Hooray For Monday is an award-winning weekly publication by Center for Inspired Teaching, an independent nonprofit organization that invests in and supports teachers. Inspired Teaching provides transformative, improvisation-based professional learning for teachers that is 100% engaging – intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Our mission is to create radical change in the school experience – away from compliance and toward authentic engagement.
