Thoughts of next school year are never far away in the summer. Especially this summer for me. I will be at a new school in the fall, so this summer is being spent organizing and purging my school things. I'm finding it is not as easy to do as I thought it would be. Going through a box of math manipulatives I find a use for every item. Sigh. So I have had to use this list to determine what to keep and what to say goodbye to: 1. Is there a purpose for this item? Could it be used for teaching a lesson or independent practice in centers? 2. Have I actually used this item the past 2 years? Even if it is useful if I haven't actually used it then it needs to go. I give it a 2 year window because sometimes you can't use something because of certain children or the children's interests did not support the use of that item this year. 3. Does it fit in the environment that I create in the classroom? This year I can only use natural baskets, shiny metal plates and containers or t...
I woke up to see this light on my bedroom door. It was fairly large about 6" tall by 2' wide. I kept staring at it and trying to figure out what it was. Was it a burgle in the house? The flashlight just holding steady and reflecting on my bedroom door? All these crazy thoughts were going through my head. Then I put on my glasses. The reflection changed, it was only about 1/2" tall by 4" wide. I got up to investigate and found one of the kids had left the speakers in their bathroom and the little pin LED light was being reflected off of my door. It suddenly hit me. How many times have I in my teaching lost focus? How many times have I looked at a something in my classroom and it seemed ginormous? Too many to count actually, if I'm honest. Sometimes our problems seem so big and overwhelming and then we put on our glasses and focus. Well, actually something like what just happened to me makes you stop, step back, and take a minute to focus and see the problem is no...
It has been over a year since my last post. I started on a journey a year ago this past fall that seems to have completely occupied my time and thoughts. I have been reflecting on my teaching practices, but not writing them down as much. As this journey is drawing to an end, I realized that I missed a golden opportunity to write my thoughts and experiences here and not just in the papers I'm writing for the classes I have been taking to achieve a Master's degree. Hopefully, I complete this journey in May. Until then my intentions are to start writing thoughts that I am pondering. This will help me think through questions and wonderings I have about teaching and learning.
Comments
Post a Comment