*Week 1*
We survived the first day!!! It was such an incredible day. Time flew by, but I got to meet nine new wonderful and energetic kids. After spending the afternoon reflecting I have come up with the following goals for myself during this practicum journey:
1. Create meaningful, impacting, and positive relationships with each child. I want them to feel safe, happy, and proud of themselves. I want them to understand that respect is mutual. Lastly, I want them to know that at the end of the day I care about every single one of them.
2. Construct essential lessons and activities that encourage inquiry, question, and student choice. I want every child to feel as though they are an intricate part of the learning. For them to feel that their voice is heard in what they do.
3. Cater to all the student's needs: social, emotional, academic, and personal. I want each child to grow in every way possible and to feel good about themselves and their classmates along the way. I want to lead a class of children that are excited about the day!
A little about my class... I LOVE THEM!! They are an equal mix of sweet and challenging. The perfect situation for a person in my position. We have some very thoughtful and helpful children in our group. They like to assist each other whenever possible and it seems that team work and group collaboration will be a beneficial setting for them. We have two sets of siblings, and one of those sets are twin brothers that I can already tell feed off each other for both good and not so good attention. Our achievement levels are a pretty large range from some not being able to write easy sight words, to being able to formulate and answer questions with strong complete sentences. This means our small groups will be extremely important during our four weeks with them. We played lots of "get to know you" games/activities that they really enjoyed (even though several of them already knew each other from their school). I also got to read to them my favorite book "Its Okay to be Different" and we talked about how we are all different in many ways but that is okay and we can appreciate that about each other. The students LOVED the beach theme, especially when we did a (whale/ocean) photo booth with them. I can't wait to print the pictures out and post them around the room so the students can truly feel at home in this space we have for the next few weeks. I look forward to learning more about these kids and being side by side with them on their journey of academic growth!
We survived the first day!!! It was such an incredible day. Time flew by, but I got to meet nine new wonderful and energetic kids. After spending the afternoon reflecting I have come up with the following goals for myself during this practicum journey:
1. Create meaningful, impacting, and positive relationships with each child. I want them to feel safe, happy, and proud of themselves. I want them to understand that respect is mutual. Lastly, I want them to know that at the end of the day I care about every single one of them.
2. Construct essential lessons and activities that encourage inquiry, question, and student choice. I want every child to feel as though they are an intricate part of the learning. For them to feel that their voice is heard in what they do.
3. Cater to all the student's needs: social, emotional, academic, and personal. I want each child to grow in every way possible and to feel good about themselves and their classmates along the way. I want to lead a class of children that are excited about the day!
A little about my class... I LOVE THEM!! They are an equal mix of sweet and challenging. The perfect situation for a person in my position. We have some very thoughtful and helpful children in our group. They like to assist each other whenever possible and it seems that team work and group collaboration will be a beneficial setting for them. We have two sets of siblings, and one of those sets are twin brothers that I can already tell feed off each other for both good and not so good attention. Our achievement levels are a pretty large range from some not being able to write easy sight words, to being able to formulate and answer questions with strong complete sentences. This means our small groups will be extremely important during our four weeks with them. We played lots of "get to know you" games/activities that they really enjoyed (even though several of them already knew each other from their school). I also got to read to them my favorite book "Its Okay to be Different" and we talked about how we are all different in many ways but that is okay and we can appreciate that about each other. The students LOVED the beach theme, especially when we did a (whale/ocean) photo booth with them. I can't wait to print the pictures out and post them around the room so the students can truly feel at home in this space we have for the next few weeks. I look forward to learning more about these kids and being side by side with them on their journey of academic growth!
Mallary,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your first post! I have some similar goals for Summer Learning Place. First, I think we both have the common desire to create positive relationships with our students. I believe that together, we will make this happen! The ways in which we handle discipline within our classroom, and the strategies we use to get to know our students will help us accomplish this. We are off to a great start in doing so, especially since we did some get to know you activities today. I believe that we will not only be able to create relationships with our students, but that they will form bonds with one another.
I also agree that we will work together to meet their academic needs. While we have a range of achievement levels in our class, having two teachers will help us better serve them. I am excited to use the data from our pre-assessments to guide our instruction. Pulling small groups and giving students the support they need will help them develop academic skills across the subject areas.
I am so excited to continue to collaborate this summer. We have an incredible group of students in our class. I know they will make gains over the coming weeks!
I'm so glad you had a wonderful day! I'm glad you are developing a relationship with your students. It was fun to watch them get to know you and their fellow students.
ReplyDeleteMallary,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! I think your goals are perfect for your classroom. Something that resonated with me was when you said that you want to encourage inquiry and student choice. I am definitely a big advocate for student choice! I think that is so important for students to feel connected to their learning. I would like to do a better job of encouraging inquiry as well. I think sometimes it is so easy to give assignments or teach all of the content first. I agree that inquiry is way more beneficial in the long run for the kids. It is so imperative to keep them engaged and connected. Thanks for sharing those awesome ideas!
Mallary,
ReplyDeleteI love that one of your goals includes inquiry. This can be a difficult thing to focus on, and is often overlooked. Your students are lucky to have you. (AG)