3 Comments

  1. elaine

    thank you for your interesting blog please i would like to know how would you come up with ideas on how to provoke the students to get the class room looking interesting and also would the school provide you with the materials or did you ask the parents, do you have any pictures on class set up my school is new and in 3 months we have changed our class 5 times, the teachers are now ready to walk and we are not really enjoying pyp… any ideas how to get them back motivated would be amaze. thank you

    • Dear Elaine,
      Thank you for your insightful questions. I will do my best to give you a short answer now and I will work on a blog post writing about classroom environment and decoration including photos to help as soon as I can.  

      First of all, the classroom has to be changed all the time as an organic part of the unit of inquiry. It doesn’t mean teachers need to think of creating new displays over and over again. Classroom display is mostly visible thinking, showing students understanding and the inquiry process on the topic. You normally have to change things over the year whenever starting a new unit as classroom environment reflects on what kids are inquiring on, it also help them to understand and reflect on the unit.
      I usually start with an almost empty classroom, only put some thought provoking pictures, keywords or sentences related to the new unit of inquiry. Of course, we have the related central idea, key concepts, lines of inquiry, learner profile and attitudes kids need to improve during the unit but nothing else. Then as we work on the unit, more and more evidence appears on the walls. These evidences are all students’ work and thoughts.

      I’ve got some material that our school provides, I also ask kids to bring in things, books, articles they find to share with their peers related to our current unit.

      Provocation is a bit tricky. It always depends on the unit, the kids in the classroom, etc. I use videos, books, strange pictures that children want to know more about or that make them debate on some statements. 

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