I received this email today from one of my followers and thought it was such a good question. I wanted to share my thoughts with all of you!
“Hi Melanie! I am so inspired by all you do! You ROCK!!! I am continuously doing 1 thing in my classroom each day that is completely inspired by you. My kids notice each little change and the way their faces light up makes my heart happy! Keep up all the great work… you aren’t just decorating, you are inspiring little lives to reach their greatest potential!
On another note, I have more of a teaching question for you. I read the post you made about getting rid of a lot of the stuff and clutter and I couldn’t agree more. I am wondering what you think about calendar activities. I teach kindergarten and literally have an entire wall dedicated to calendar time with colors, days of the week, months of the year, letters, numbers, the calendar, weather, shapes, it seems never ending. What is your opinion on calendar and what should be included, if anything?
Thank you for your time! :)”
Well, back in the day, I had an entire wall of my classroom devoted to my calendar routine. I actually “wallpapered” my wall from top to bottom and had everything related to the calendar posted on my wall. It was filled like you wouldn’t believe!
When I transferred to my current school, their weren’t any walls available for my calendar! I swear, it bothered me so much, it kept me awake at night. What would I do without my wall?!?! To make matters worse, the “carpet guys” that came in and installed my carpet for my meeting place, put it in a random spot, far away from my whiteboard – the only other place I could have created a calendar wall. I didn’t have any options at all.
What is a Kindergarten and First Grade classroom without a calendar wall?!?! Out of necessity, I purchased this calendar from Lakeshore…
and the blue pocket chart stand to display the calendar…
I really haven’t missed my calendar wall since I purchased this portable calendar system. It really does eliminate the clutter.
I used the blue calendar when I taught Kindergarten and it lasted for five years. My little ones ended up pulling off the calendar pockets trying to “help” switch the numbers each month. It was down to it’s last leg after five years of excessive use.
This last year, I purchased a brand new calendar from Lakeshore…
I thought this one was better suited for first graders!
I have to honestly say, I really don’t miss my calendar wall anymore and wonder if all of that “stuff” is really a necessity. I don’t feel like my kids that had the calendar wall were any smarter than my kids that used the portable calendar. I suppose it is all about personal preference.
I can remember learning in my education classes that posting charts, signs, and pre-made “stuff” on your walls wouldn’t help the children learn and that the students actually ignore it. Could this be the same for the calendar wall?
I would love to hear your thoughts! Do you think calendar walls are a necessity in the classroom?
This is a great topic! This year marks my fifth year in grade one and the first year without a traditional calendar. I got rid of my traditional calendar wall and now do my morning calendar routine on my smart board. It is awesome, interactive, and totally reduces clutter in my classroom. It frees up a whole bulletin board! I will never go back!
I just recently put my calendar “wall” on my Smartboard. I love all of the extra wall space I now have!
My calendar activities are “located” on my Smartboard as well. However, after living with the routine for double-digit years, this is one routine I wish I could forgo! 😉
I’ve been really interested in Quantum Learning training and teaching strategies. They devote a lot of time discussing classroom environment and their strategies are all supported by brain research.
Essentially the view is that clutter is distracting to students of all ages and isn’t helpful. The materials on the walls needs to be on purpose and student centered. Meaning, core concepts should be displayed from your lessons as the students are learning it and frequent reviews of the material should be structured into the teaching.
There’s also some great research to support the idea that learning material should be displayed higher up on the walls and affirmation posters at ear and eye level. When students try to recall information they will naturally look up-if your learning material is displayed there, that’s where they see it.
There is a whole lot of information regarding environment and after trying some of these techniques this year I can honestly say that I’m a firm believer in taking out everything from my classroom that doesn’t have a strong purpose. Maybe your calendar wall IS really important, and if it is, maybe there are other things that can be eliminated, or put away.
One of the things our trainer told us and all of the elementary teachers were slightly afraid of was this point, “If your students know the alphabet, why is it still displayed in your room? Use that space for something they are learning.” Good point, and something to think about!
I used to do a whole routine with the calendar, too..I bet my students were BORED to death! I began using a desk calendar and we would write important dates on it and I think that was more valuable and interesting to them.
I love using the smartboard for morning routines, too…attendance/lunch choice/calendar.
I like the smartboard for some things, but I prefer a book in my hand verses a “kindle” and I want my children in my class to get to hold the calender tags and put them on the calendar, not point with a plastic pointer onto a whiteboard. I am “old fashioned and I hear all about “too much stuff”…but I feel that studies come and go and with new thoughts and ideas I feel that each teacher should be able to accomodate the room toward their particular class. Last year in my kindergarten class, I found out they were not distracted by much other than conversations at the tables. ( very common) My friend in another kindergarten class had to remove some of her decorations because they were overly stimulated. We try to work toward the needs of each individual group of children to help them anyway we can. Decorations in our school go along with a theme that our principal comes up with! This year we are “Under Construction” because our district is in the process of building a new building! It will be nice to have regular walls and no concrete walls, not to metion all of the other exciting changes! Thank you for you website! I will be sending all of my teacher friends your website!
I have a Smartboard too, and I use it for a lot of things, but I am also a bit of a traditionalist! I like my students to use the calendar wall as a reference. They use it often during the day, when they write the date on the top of their papers, when they need to spell a day of the week or a month of the year. You don’t have that option when your entire calendar is on the Smartboard. I like the kids to physically touch the calendar and to move the numbers. I guess we all have to do what works best for us and that is what makes each if our classroom unique places!
I’m a little late, but I just found this post. I’ve been teaching for five years, but last year was my first year in a 1st/2nd grade (combined) class. I used a calendar wall and calendar book. This coming year, my class will have iPads. I love the ideas in the comments about using a smartboard to decrease clutter. Anyone know of iPad apps for calendar? Thanks! 🙂