It’s HOT! That is all.
I am so excited for lots of reasons! On Monday we go to pick out the tuxedos for the wedding! After that all we have left to do is order our cake and that’s all of the major items taken care of!! 10/6/12 is fast approaching and I get more excited each day! So excited, that we are now officially entering into the standing room only category! Is that bad???
I am so excited because I have 82 followers. WHOA! How and when did that happen? It’s exciting and humbling and inspiring to already have a following on my little “manly” blog! And I have put 4 items in my store at Teachers Pay Teachers. AND I SOLD ONE!!!!!! You have no idea how motivating that was to me. I was at the gym and saw the email and had to run to tell the fiancee’!! Only teachers get excited over such simple things. I mean, I will take my 90 cent profit and be happy! I have several ideas for more creations for my store so I’ll be working on those over the next week or so! If you haven’t checked out my store and followed me, please do so! One product sold and 82 followers makes for a very happy guy! THANK YOU for all the support, ideas, assistance and inspiration!
And now on to chapter 2….
Trust
I think trust is something that has to be earned. I have to earn the trust of my students and they have to earn my trust. The only way they will earn my trust is if let them have opportunities to earn that trust. It’s hard to trust them. I think we are too often taught that we can’t trust the children but we all know that we can. And I always know that there will be that one child who will get the scissors and give the Lorax a stylish new haircut no matter how much he is or isn’t trusted.
Choice
I am very proud of how much choice I give my students during the day. My current system for literacy centers/workstations is full of choice. We have a wheel divided into four colors (I have four groups and each is assigned a color)so the wheel is turned so that each group can choose one of two centers. Within those centers there are choices such as which story to listen to, which books to read, etc. One center is called the tub and that is full of games and activities practicing various skills so there is plenty of choice for them. The same system is used during math when they can choose activities from their math drawers. I believe giving my students choice gives them greater ownership in their learning and gives them a greater sense of purpose. I also feel that the choice helps eliminate some potential behavior issues because they are doing what they want and learning while doing it! I do need to do a better job of going over our schedule daily. We do briefly talk about some of what we are going to be doing each day when we read our morning message, but we don’t discuss the schedule. I plan to implement a schedule discussion during our morning meetings starting on the first day of school.
Community
One of the things I am most proud of is how my students are able to build a sense of community in our classroom. I have always striven to create a safe and loving environment in my classroom because I was a victim of bullying and harassment in school so I do not want my students to have to endure that in our classroom. This past year I was fortunate enough to attend a week long Responsive Classroom training where I learned how to incorporate the morning meeting into my day. This was a tremendous asset to building community. Each morning we started our day sharing about our lives, asking questions of each other, and most importantly, greeting each other by name. The greeting was vital to my students because it let them know that they were important and that they belonged. Many times, adults who observed our morning meetings were astonished at how respectful and caring my students were towards each other. My students will tell anyone who visits our room that we are a family and we love each other and are here to help each other learn. This was manifested every day when my kids helped each other, comforted each other, and loved each other. It is truly a moving and powerful scene every day.
Student Ownership
Getting students to own their learning and build that flame of desire for knowledge is a monumental challenge. One of the ways I have found to be successful is to get the students to discuss their goals for learning every day. Our district uses Text Level Assessments (Running Records) as one of the main indicators of learning (I won’t get on my soapbox this time…just sayin.) so we discuss how our goal is a 4 for Kindergarten and we talk every morning about our goal. My students will say “I want to read on a level…” and then we talk about how we can meet that goal. We talk a lot about how we have to READ to become readers and we have to WRITE to become writers. We also talk a lot about the importance of practice and we use the analogy of football players and cheerleaders. You can’t do a basket toss without practice and you can’t catch a touchdown pass without practicing so you can’t be a reader and writer without practicing.
Stamina
Building stamina is a huge challenge for me as a teacher. I am guilty of just assuming they can work for x amount of time. Of course, I KNOW this isn’t true but I fail to apply that knowledge to my classroom. I plan to start buiilding stamina on day one by having them read for 1 minute and write or draw for 1 minute. This will be built up throughout the school year. It’s one small step, but I hope it will help my students build that stamina that is so necessary for success.
Here is my technology tip for today so get ready: If you have been through Kagan training, you’ve seen their Timer Tools CD that sells for like $30. I’ll admit it’s a great tool with lots of great timers. BUT, wait for it…..get ready….for $2.99 you can get the Timer Tools app on your iPad or iPhone!! We use that tool all day everyday. It’s one of the best app purchases ever. Period. And if you have a projector you can plug your phone or iPad into your projector and project the timer. I know, right?! Life changing information right there!!
