Sometimes the universe unfolds exactly as it should.

I’ve been wondering lately about documentation and specifically, pedagogical documentation. This year, I decided to abandon Twitter and switch over to this edublog, thinking that it would make my thinking more visible. It has worked to a certain extent. But there is still that nagging thought in the back of my mind: How can I make the learning that is happening every day in the classroom more visible to other teachers and parents?

Enter Alicia.

She was recently hired as a teacher at our school. She’s been here a few weeks and I finally got a chance to chat with her about her experience at a Reggio school in Thailand.  We chatted for nearly an hour and a half about how I might transform my space once again to include more documentation. Panels, photographs, scheduling time for documentation, redesigning the atelier — she knows a LOT about Reggio and the beliefs that drive classroom design.

So now I am looking at my classroom environment with a fresh pair of eyes.  I can’t wait to start taking things down and cleaning things up. I can’t wait to start searching for large branches to hang  from the ceiling, and start thinking about the classroom walls as places to draw in visitors, other teachers, and parents.

Somehow, Alicia has stirred in my heart the desire to continue the transformation, not just of the environment, but also my practice. I’ve been Googling like mad, revisiting Twitter feeds that I’d forgotten about, and ordered a new book from Amazon about Reggio and documentation.

And I’m tired. This time of the year is hard. Report cards are looming, the children are busier than ever, and sleep is becoming more elusive due to the longer days.

Did I want to take this on? Not really. But sometime the universe doesn’t give you what you want.

Sometimes it gives you what you need.

Stay tuned.

Cathy 🙂

Uncategorized