For my second week in the field, I got to be in a kindergarten classroom. The kindergarten classroom was open and divided by table groups and a larger desk area for group work with a fish tank. At the front of the classroom was a mat in front of the smart board where the kids sat, and the teacher’s chair was by the smart board. We later then moved into the music room for the kindergarten music class. That room was even more open, with lots of room to move around and lovely big windows. Then in the middle, there was a marked circle for all of us to sit in to play some instruments and sing. 

Compared to the older grades I was in last week, these rooms were very different; the kindergarten classroom gave me more of an opportunity to be more hands-on with the kids. These classroom spaces indicate that although the kids need to understand who has the leadership role, they should still feel equal and safe with the teachers and have a chance to connect with their teachers and classmates. These spaces do provide opportunities for all students to engage in learning as they have opportunities to create relationships in the group areas and have different choices of areas to learn at. 

These spaces made me feel very welcome, and easy for me to communicate with the students. I am going into secondary education, so I didn’t know what to expect when going into a kindergarten classroom. However, the classroom setup and the music room made it easy for me to connect with the young kids. The ease of communicating with the kids due to the hands-on-oriented classroom made the classroom more relational, which is highly important for kindergarten students as they are just learning how to create friendships and communicate.