This year at the NAEYC Annual Conference I had the delight of meeting Sandra Duncan. It was exciting because I love her book Inspiring Spaces for Young Children.

Sandra is such an inspiration!  She shared an amazing perspective shift in her session. Here's a sneak preview!

Ready?!   You may think we use containers in our classrooms to hold things, to tote things . . . you know. . . contain all of those loose parts.

But Sandra challenges that notion. She asserts that is not the true purpose of containers.

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Hum.  So what is the purpose of classroom containers?

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Sandra asserts the purpose of a container is to attract children to its contents!

Do you hear what I hear?   I am so hearing “the third teacher” being put to work.

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Think about it.

What if you looked at each container in your classroom and asked yourself:

“Is this container an invitation to explore?  create?  construct?”

“What does this container invite?”

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  This is not only a practical application of the third teacher – it is transformational!

Take this action step!   Survey your classroom containers.  Which ones invite?  Which ones are just holders and totes?