When I heard that we were going to George Jay Elementary School, I was hoping that it was going to involve Rebecca Bathurst’s classroom! My friends’ daughter goes to George Jay and they had been explaining to me what a great kindergarten teacher their daughter had.  I never knew that Rebecca was the teacher until I was in the classroom and saw the class photo with my friends’ daughter in it! I had also came across Rebecca’s instagram account from a teacher friend and was inspired by her account!

I really enjoyed the experience of hearing from Rebecca and getting to see her classroom set up. It was nice to see what was on Instagram in real life and be able to get some inspiration for my future classroom one day! Not only do I think that inquiry-based learning has such a great benefit to kids, I also really enjoyed how most of the classroom activities, art, displays, etc. were mostly from natural materials and made by the students. One of our professors from this program had explained how important it is to involve the children in organizing and creating the classroom space as well as what is on display and I felt that Rebecca did a great job of showcasing how that is done in real life.

Another aspect that I felt she hit in terms of what we are being taught in this program is how important it is to build student relationships. I really like that she focuses on building relationships with not only students, but their families and that she dedicates time to do so. I think that teachers may feel the pressure to teach children what they need to learn from the curriculum by a certain point and maybe that means focusing less on those student-teacher relationships. In an inquiry-based learning environment, I believe it is very crucial to develop this aspect or else you won’t truly know your students or what inspires them! I hope to find time to read Rebecca’s book at some point (hopefully before practicum!).