Peabody

Wow, this was different. I have never seen a set up or a classroom quite like this one. I will do my best not to sound judgemental but I know that I could never survive in a setting like this. The classroom is fairly small and long. The teacher had it decorated to the hilt and it gave it an enchanted forest kind of feel. But literally every space was taken up. This woman is the queen of the plastic box. She had hundreds of kinds of materials each in their own little Tupperware that the kids could use. She also had a light projector, music station, and a bathroom (public bathroom, kids were going in and out all the time) and much of the students old projects lying around. There was no space to move or to put any other works. Clutter was everywhere and since the students don't take home their work that often, they were storing a lot of pieces everywhere. I need space so this could not work for me.

The students come in rotations and never more than 6 at a time. We were told to be "a fly on the wall" and not to interact so much as to observe. The kids were finishing up a project based on recycling materials and turning them into structures and objects. They had been working on them for a month and had begun the process by sketching about it. It was also being talked about in all of their classes so they get a lot of cross reinforcement. Most of the kids were really done and had little to do so they had about an hour of free time. This meant that they could leave the classroom and wander into the center play area where there are structures are play toys. Again, not being able to see my kids would freak me out. The kids know that the teachers expect them to follow the rules. However, one boy constantly was making a mess at the water table and splashing others. Of course he was, he was a five year old not being watched! So he got a warning and when he did it again he was sent back to his classroom. We were later told that he always has trouble this time of day and the teachers think he needs a nap. Maybe he does or maybe he needs supervision.

The amazing thing is how independent the kids are. They ask for materials and help and have great ideas. However, I do feel like the teacher did guide them and told them what to do in some cases. She really pushed for things and a particular way of doing something if it was what she thought would be best. That is fine, as teachers we will all give advice to our students. But I didn't think that that was part of the Reggio approach. Who knows?

In short, I could never live with this chaos, but it works for her and her students are happy so I can not say that it is a good way or a bad way, just a different way.