Intern: Annie Scott

Assignment (Section 3, Part 1):

Gestalt in the Classroom

1. I think this picture really depicts a safe space. At the end of the day in my Paddington class we would have a thank you circle reflecting on how our day was and they what we were thankful for. This was always my favorite time of day and I loved hearing what students were thankful for. When we were finished we sang a good by song for each of the students. When we finished with the song we had free dance. This is a picture of us listening to music and just dancing. I think this is such a safe space for learning because students were never afraid of dancing in front of their peers. If anything it was also their favorite time of the day and they could do what they wanted. I think this is important is finding joy even when it is the last part of the day because students can be who they want to be.

2. This second picture is of our water table at Paddington where we put shaving cream in it. This student in particular loves to get messy. He is wonderful and I think Choice time really shows how a classroom is a safe environment because it is the student’s choice if they want to get messy at the water table. I think this just depicts

the comfort and the security that this classroom had for students and how much joy and fun they have during choice time. You can also see in the background that there are homemade letters by students of the alphabet on the wall. Also a mural of the Peter Rabbit Family where all the students drew themselves. I think that it was such a wonderful classroom and through choice students really found themselves.

3. We were studying fair tales and folk tales. We created our own beanstalk out of paper chains and hung it on the ceiling. As you can also see on the walls we made life size people that now hang on the wall, which makes it exciting. The student’s love looking at themselves and they will get to take their paper person home at the end of the year. I

think this once again just shows a safe space for learning. Through math exploration we made it fun for the students to enjoy learning about Jack and the Beanstalk and also count how many rings they could attach to the beanstalk. Also at this age it is so much about all about me so making sure to build a good beginning that make them recognize that in the beginning of the year is important.