As I reflect over this past month, I realize that this was
the first FULL month of school in 2014.
And it has been drenched in learning, growing, mistakes, risks,
challenges, ups and downs. I’ve noticed
a bit of a change in the culture of my classroom. My students are transforming from your
average Pre-Kers to what I like to call, rising
kindergarteners. Because I’ve realized that they are growing so
fast and so much, I’ve been giving them more freedom and independence in the
classroom. As I reflect over my highs of this month, I’m deeply aware that the
best parts of our days and the most rewarding for me are when I’m able to give
them some agency in the classroom. My
independent small groups have been performing so well. They are able to do all these engagements and
tasks on their own with little guidance from me. And their independence has been extremely
fruitful! My students have also organized a class play during centers time that
was so fun to just sit back and be an audience member in. They are acting like leaders and learning so
much by being in control of their own learning.
How strange to say that about 4 and 5 year olds!
My favorite thing I’ve been seeing with my kiddos is their
leadership during morning meeting and share times. I was so hesitant to turn over the reigns and
let them lead parts of morning meeting.
It has been amazing though! G.R. sat in the teacher chair and was able
to call on his friends to tell us about their weekend. L.S. shared a part of her weekend with us and
asked for questions and comments. M.C. was the kindness reporter and reported
kindness on his own and then asked his classmates to share kindness too. During all those times I was sitting on the carpet
with them, raising my hand, hoping to get called on! When I put myself in that
position, I was able to see how hard it is not
to share. I love talking and when I wasn’t
able to talk with my classmates, I had a difficult time. I know that’s how some of them feel, so it
was really cool to get their perspective.
We also did a green food taste test and tried avocado, spinach juice, edamame, and cucumbers. We made this awesome graph to figure out what was the class favorite and most of my students couldn’t even decide which one was their favorite because they loved them all. I really wanted to harness this love for new and healthy foods so we collectively asked our director if we could have some of these green foods for snack and she agreed! It was such a wonderful moment of the kids using their voices to get what they wanted.
My lows have been the overwhelming feeling that some of my students are not ready for Kindergarten. I know deep down in my heart that they will be okay—but I sometimes, I struggle with how they are developing socially and emotionally. I really hope some of my students don’t go to kindergarten still hitting their peers or lacking the ability to take responsibility for their actions. One of the things I struggle with the most is trying and trying and trying to find a way to work with them, to finally get them to empathize, or behave, or be responsible—and yet all these things I’m trying never seem to work. It’s exhausting. I think in some ways, I have to trust their development and that sometimes, it just takes more time.
So with 8 weeks left of school, I’m hopeful and a bit
melancholic about the departure of my kids to kindergarten. I’m already starting to miss them!
**Also, avocado is definitely spelled wrong in our letter...**
Thanks for the comment, Zuqorah! I struggle with wondering if some of my students aren't engaged at certain times. However, they all have a job in the classroom that changes every week. I hope that gives them some sense of responsibility and the awareness that they will have a chance to be a class leader (morning meeting leader, share leader, or kindness reporter) at some point! Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteDo you realize how AMAZING you are???? I don't think many teachers have the ability to keep their finger on the pulse of their class the way you do. It's like you have a sixth sense and just KNOW when they are ready for more. You seem really skilled in striking the balance between structure and freedom, and to know when your kids are ready for more. I would love the opportunity to get to see you and your rising kindergartners in action some day!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE how you make yourself "one of them" when they are running morning meeting. What a thrilling experience that must be for them, plus a prime example of you "walking the walk" in terms of your stated philosophies. It is oh so Freirian of you to "begin with the solution of the teacher-student contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are simultaneously teachers and students” (Freire, 1970, p.72). And in Pre-K no less!!! You rock.
As for your worry about whether some students are 'ready' or not for kindergarten, try not to get too bogged down by it. You are doing everything on your end to prepare them and THEN some... don't forget they have a whole summer of growth before they have to take on the illustrious title of KINDERGARTENER!
Keep up the phenomenal work.
xoxox
I really enjoyed your blog this month. It was honest and open and showed an excellent balance of your highs and your lows. I did not realize the that this was our first full month of school. This is crazy to me! I always wonder if we can function as strong teachers with the constant breaks and inconsistencies. But, I think that it is great that you used all of March to really cram in content.
ReplyDeleteI am interested to know more about your small groups and how they are functioning. I am working on implementing small group instruction into my classroom and it is a challenge. I feel like my other students are constantly in need of something and right when I get started with my group another group needs me. While I have set standards for my students something always seems to come up. I look forward to hearing more about your structure even though I know you have a co-teacher.
Finally I love how you have started incorporating Morning Meeting into your daily lesson and now you made yourself a part of the morning meeting routine. I think this is great and really opens up your prospective about how our students feel when they are on the carpet. Thank you for sharing and being so open this month.
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteAs always I really was inspired by reading your blog. I really like how you've allowed your students to be more independent in your classroom and I can tell that they are really starting to develop into little leaders.
I can really relate to you about placing yourself in your students' shoes because I frequently sit on the carpet and try to pretend to be one of them and I agree it is very frustrating not to share (LOL) but in all seriousness they really do like the idea of being able to share the power and the fact that the teacher isn't the only person who gets to be an expert and quite frankly I like to let the do most of the work anyway haha well as always I look forward to hearing more of your stories as we end this year!
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blogs becuase I always feel so connected to your experiences. I too have been having difficulty with culture in my class and it really has me questioning where did we go wrong. I love how you are giving your students agency. That is going to be very beneficial to them.
I want to offer you kind words by saying, regardless of how prepared you feel your students are for Kindergarten, a Kindergarten teacher somewhere is going to be blessed and able to tell that they were taught something. As a Kindergarten teacher, thank you for your hard work and making somebody's job a little easier next year ;)!