3.A Designing Enriched Learning Environments

3.A.01
Teaching staff, program staff, or both work as a team to implement daily teaching and learning activities, including Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs), Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and other individual plans as needed.
In the Tree House, teachers, teaching assistants, and specialists work as a team to plan and implement a curriculum based on the needs and interests of the children. Staff meet on a weekly basis to brainstorm learning activities for the current investigation. Support staff provide insight into creating an environment in which children of varying abilities can access these activities. Special Education Teaching Assistants (SETAs) provide strategies that may facilitate learning in the particular child they are working with as well as supporting teachers in the embedding of individuals goals throughout the daily routine.

Minutes from a Team Meeting are available: Here
Members of the support team work with children in the classroom environment and therefore are readily available to provide coaching and model strategies for teachers and SETAs. This creates a consistent opportunity for all classroom staff to become knowledgeable in the invention of the children with special needs, as well as providing important strategies which benefit all children.



3.A.06
a.Teachers create classroom displays that help children reflect on and extend their learning.
b.They ensure that children's recent works predominate in classroom displays (e.g., art, emergent writing, graphic representation, and three-dimensional creations) and that
c.some displays are at children's eye level.
The classroom is a gallery in constant rotation of past, present, and in progress work. Children are given opportunities to express their learning and ideas through writing, drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and building three-dimensional structures.


(a,b,c) For example, when we studied Trees and Frogs, the teachers created "investigation books" for the children to look through both during and after the investigations for the children to reflect what they learned. The books included photos and documentation of all the activities included in each of the investigations.  They are at eye level for the children to take off and read at their leisure.

(b,c) Recently, when we studied Winter, we displayed: 3 dimensional clay snowman,

(b,c) a mitten and glove graphing activity

Winter Web

(b,c) And a Winter Web with questions. All of these displays were at eye level for the children to observe or read.











3.A.07
Teaching staff and children work together to arrange classroom materials in predictable ways so children know where to find things and where to put them away.
The Tree House is set up in centers which are clearly defined and labeled. Places for materials are also clearly labeled so that children are able to effectively help at clean up time. When materials are moved or reorganized, children are given an "orientation" to the area.