When we make all decisions and choices for students, we disenfranchise them. Wehn we seek input from students and value what they say, we demonstrate respect for their thinking. Even more, we are telling them 'We are a partnership. Our collaboration will result in the best product or decision or format.' As teachers, we must involve students in establishing classroom rules and procedures, determining room and library organization, developiong formats for projects and reading records, creating rubrics, and much more."
Ms. Routman discusses how this model of classroom management would reach from how (and how much) you have decorated your classroom (this is my space and these things are important to me) to the organization of the class library and giving up preconcieved notions that as the only adult you know best how to organize something as important as a library.
We have all been in stunning classrooms; I have been in two that I remember well;one that was colorful, vibrant, and perfect. Another that had a few things slapped up on the wall, a giant poster of how you were supposed to behave and quite a few plants. New plants every year, this teacher told me, as they were all dead by May or June anyway. Telling, no?
There has to be a middle ground; an opportunity for the teacher to feel that he/she has invited the students into a safe, exciting space and for the kids to feel that they have an opportunity to contribute and create within the shared classroom space. Teacher "gets to" do two walls, kids "get to" do two? It will be a challenge as a new teacher to allow for unfinished, imperfect classroom walls, it being our FIRST classroom and all, but section of the bonding chapter made me question the value of being ready versus getting ready together. Everyone goes on this trip, shouldn't everyone have a say in how the trip will look?
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