On Display: Thinking and Learning in Room 122

As many of you already know, I am currently embarking on a new learning journey this year.  I have started to instruct the York University Kindergarten AQ course and am learning alongside the teachers and early childhood educators who have enrolled.

Last week a teacher from my school named Jennifer Tompkins invited us to visit her classroom (which she shares with Mojgan Eslami and Rose Landolfi) during our AQ session.  I thought this Friday "On Display" feature would be the perfect opportunity for all of you to share in our classroom tour.

Here are some photographs that I captured while I walked around:

There are many  more photos included on her blog below, and please feel free to also read our short interview about how it all got started!

Blog: Thinking and Learning in Room 122

Joanne: Please introduce yourself to our blog visitors and share with us where you are on your journey.

Jenn: My name is Jennifer Tompkins, I have been teaching for the past few years in the York Region District School Board. I studied child development at the University of Guelph and did my teaching degree at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. This is my first year in the Full-Day Early Learning-Kindergarten program and I am very excited to be working in this area of early childhood education. I am particularly interested in inquiry-based learning and have been blown away by the curiosity of my students in the past month and a half. Children are so curious about the world around them and I am excited to foster that wonder within my classroom. I am only at the beginning of my journey and am excited to continue this learning within the context of our classroom. 


Joanne: What made you want to begin a blog? What tips do you have for educators who are interested in beginning their own blog?

Jenn: I decided to create a blog for a few difference reasons. The most important reason for me, was for the families of my students. I wanted the families to be included in the learning we are doing on a daily basis. Allowing them the option to see the learning being done and how their child has been actively participating in inquiries within our room will give them opportunities to start dialogues with their child at home. It will also give the students ownership over their learning. They can go home and share what they have been doing by either describing a picture or idea they voiced in a class discussion. I also wanted to do one, because it will help keep me accountable in making our learning visible. I was nervous about starting a blog, because I was afraid it wasn’t going to be like all the other ones out there, but what I’ve realized is that there is no ‘perfect’ way to document learning. You have exciting things happening in your classroom, the blog will allow you share the exciting learning that is happening! 

I am so proud of Jenn, and our whole Early Years team at Bond Lake P.S.  Please stay tuned for more posts about our work!