by Randi Albertsen | Mar 4, 2026 | Challenging Behaviors, Environment, Observation and Documentation
When chaos erupts, do you know what game to play? I could hear the screaming from down the hall. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that a child was being tortured. When I walked in, Joey was howling. Ms. Jackie was examining the bite marks on his arm....
by Randi Albertsen | Jan 29, 2026 | Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Environment
How to find the missing piece You spent an hour last night working on your lesson plans for next week. You thought about what Marissa and Lilah were doing in the Baby Center (this month’s dramatic play area). You revisited your observation notes from the Block Corner...
by Randi Albertsen | Dec 15, 2025 | Challenging Behaviors, Environment
Sprinkle fairy dust where it matters – on your environment I don’t have a magic wand. Like most teachers, I wish that I did. I would wave my magic wand, sprinkle a little fairy dust, and all those challenging behaviors would just disappear. But teaching doesn’t...
by Randi Albertsen | Sep 30, 2025 | Environment
Who’s afraid of a little noise? What does the noise level in your program say about you, your children, and the learning taking place? A lot! When I first started teaching, make-and-take workshops were all the rage. I know, I’m dating myself. One of the hot...
by Randi Albertsen | Aug 25, 2025 | Curriculum, Developmentally Appropriate Practice, Emergent curriculum, Environment, Joyful learning, Play-based learning
I often ask teachers to describe emergent curriculum or play-based learning. Most teachers will tell me it’s about following the lead of the child, or some version of this. When I ask how do you do this, or what does it look like, I get blank stares. Most people like...
by Randi Albertsen | Aug 9, 2025 | Environment, Joyful learning
Sometimes we overthink things when it comes to the design aesthetic of learning environments. We see these beautifully curated photos of spotless early childhood classrooms. We get these fabulous school supply catalogs in the mail and see a gazillion options for...
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