A Teacher's Ruminations

The small moments in our classroom are so important! They may not be part of our lesson plans or the curriculum guides. They are made up of what students bring to the table. To ignore them would be to do students a disservice. When we return to school on Monday after Spring Break, my students will have three days to prepare for student led conferences. A very short turn around time, to be sure! But, at this time of the year, when we've reached a comfortable rhythm of learning in our class, this is doable. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm not wrong! But, back to the point of this blog post - honoring the small moments in our classrooms . A few days ago I asked my students to start thinking about what they might share with parents. One girl said that she was going to share a book she had read at the beginning of the year - When You Reach Me  - and compare it to The One and Only Ivan , which she has just finished that day. My first thought, and I'm ...

"You mean, we don't get to read today?" Wow! I wasn't expecting that response! Every year, I set four major goals for my work with students that guide everything I do in the classroom. These goals are: (1) that my students love to read. (2) That they love to write. (3) That they develop a mathematician's mindset. And, (4) that they be curious about the world. If I can accomplish any of all of these to some degree, I feel I will have been successful. "You mean, we don't get to read today?" Most years I have a range of kids in my classroom. Some do school very well. These are the kids who watch me carefully, almost surreptitiously, so they can determine how I want things done in the classroom. But, they get thrown off when they realize that I'm more likely to let then figure things out for themselves than to tell them what to do. Then, there those kids who've had negative experiences with reading, writing, and/or math. It takes them ...