you, me, we

you, me: we belong
this, our space, time, future dreams-
creating as one

    
   Creating might be the perfect verb to use when thinking about early childhood environments.  The word implies a certain amount of forethought and deliberate action, but also a bit of laisez-faire, hope, and sometimes just plain luck.  The educator then takes those elements, spins in hard work, a few sleepless nights and some minor artistic angst;  perhaps she even closes her eyes and waits for the dust to settle, then breathes in the created environment, one that celebrates each child by saying, "This is YOUR place in the world."
    After a decade in the field, I can reflect on specific ways I work to make sure young children knew they were in the right space, with decisions made based on the developmental needs of the children.  I spent a weekend creating collages from family pictures that two-year-olds brought in to the early learning center which housed my first classroom, then hung them at child eye-level, where they became smudged from happy fingerprints.  Two-year-olds need to learn that they are separate entities from their families while at the same time understand that their families love them.
    Five-year-olds need a place to practice theories about the world, and to record their findings in a way that makes sense to them.  I unapologetically told colleagues that everyone's favorite rolling chalk board  was no longer available as it was to define a corner of the library where I taught three Kindergarten students one year;  it became a center of patterns, graphing, and other math learning experiences in that make-shift classroom. 
    All children need comfort, warmth, a place to rest and a satisfied stomach;  if a child's basic physical needs are not met, they are less able to engage in learning about more than, how do I get something to eat?  I shipped yards and yards of bright material to the frigid north so that children would come into the classroom and find colorful, comfortable places to cozy into during the long night of winter, and have provided  variety of snacks that respect the local customs so that children can be ready for higher level learning.
    Creating a learning environment is about more than just the space, though.  The culture of the classroom is perhaps a more important element because space will come and go, but a classroom community can be carried to any location.  The community of the classroom includes the expectations that individuals have for each other, the acceptance of those who are different, and the relationships that are built or challenged every day through interactions with each other.  The culture of classroom is the attitude of the group, and in my classroom, it is a sense that people matter and ideas are valued.
    I know I have large role in creating the classroom culture;  I also know that I am but one individual in the group and so the classroom culture is not limited to what works for me:  it must be what works for us.  To those ends, I have colorful, student-created "Codes of Cooperation" on each team table in my Elementary reading classroom, group-specific agreements put together so that we can work toward our Shared Vision for why we learn to read. 
    The children know that ideas will be heard in the classroom, by myself and by peers, and that those ideas may take on a new life once others collaborate with them.  My students also know that they are as responsible for their learning as I am for creating an environment where they can learn through interaction with each other, with ideas, with materials and with themselves.  We may appear to have different roles, I as "teacher" and they as "learner" but in my classroom, we are all learners, as indeed, we are in the learning process together.