5 must haves in your classroom according to 7 year olds

Many of us are heading back to school soon with New Zealand and Australia starting the new school year! This is very exciting - new students, new classrooms, maybe even a new school! In my classroom last year, I made a big effort to include student voice in with the things we had in the classroom, where items went and learning activities.

The best thing I ever did was ask my students to name the 5 most important things in the classroom to help us learn, that we use everyday and that make our classroom special or unique! The most important things to have in this room if we had to empty everything out. 
So here we have it....The 5 must haves in your classroom according to my 7 year olds.

1. A fun, exciting classroom with cool places to sit
I always mix my room up every term just to keep things different, add work, send work home and try new things! The first day after the holidays is always the most exciting as they work out where things are, which placement I went with and if their ideas had been used. Not everyone gets what they want, but there is usually something exciting that will get them amped to be back! 

What 7 year olds say:
"I like it when our room has different places to sit. Like when we're being good and we can sit on the bench".
"The bench is nice. I like to lie down when Mrs Priestley isn't watching".
"I like the sharing chair. This is a cool chair. It's only for sharing time but still cool".
"I like my class to have work hanging up and have it all around the room".

2. Calendar Maths
I was really surprised they voted this the second most important thing in the classroom! I triple checked they didn't want to vote anything else but no, it was Calendar Maths. It will probably be explained more in their comments....

What 7 year olds say:
"Calendar maths is really important. We do it everyday. So if you don't practice it then you won't get brainy. Or learn the calendar".
"Mrs Priestley said Calendar maths is important so you need to do it".
"If you don't practice Calendar maths then you won't know about the calendar and that wouldn't be good when you are an adult".

3. A fun and kind teacher
I definitely think I should be number one on this list (hahahaha). No need to pass comment here...look at what they say!

What 7 year olds say:
"Teachers need to be fun and silly. Like make funny faces and not be grumpy all the time".
"I like it when Mrs Priestley dresses up, she always has fun with us".
"I like it when my teacher is kind and helps me. This makes me try harder in my learning"

4. Seesaw
I think this one might be partly my doing with how much I push this and use this within my classroom! My students can see how important it is - part of the classroom and everything we do. This Seesaw wall was up as part of our classroom set up the whole year, with parts added to it once discussed or introduced. 

What 7 year olds say:
"We use Seesaw everyday."
"I like using Seesaw to show my mum and dad what I do at school."
"I like Room 11 because we use Seesaw a lot but last year I didn't. I want to use it all the time"

5. Book boats and QR codes for listen to reading
This one was a tie and no matter what I said the students just wouldn't choose one! They thought they were both equally important to our classroom and things we must have in class! So here we are - book boats (to read and complete work in) and QR codes for listen to reading (part of Daily 5 in reading). 

What 7 year olds say:
"Book boats are the coolest thing!"
"I like the book boat because I can sit it in and people can't distract me because i'm inside it."
"You need the QR codes for listen to reading. How do you listen if you don't have anything to listen to?"
"I like the QR codes because they are our favourite books".

And there you have it! 5 must haves in the classroom according to my 7 year olds from 2018! Quotes taken from my students and there was no bribery when talking about me (hahaha).