Well, here we are - today was the 10th day of school! I hope to blog more often this school year, so I'm using this opportunity to reflect on the start of the school year so far.
A little background: this is my second year in the same classroom/school, with the same teammate (Educational Assistant) - third year teaching special education, and sixth year of teaching overall.
This year, I decided that "slow and steady" would be the theme of September. Reflecting on the previous' years start to the school year, I found I pressured myself to hit the ground running - start assessment, read all the paperwork, get programming started, write IEPs . . . except, all it did was cause pressure and stress.
This year, we are going slow. I have a small class (since I teach special education, my class maximum is 10 students), and the majority of them are new to the school. New building, new play structure, new teachers, new routines . . . the list goes on. So this year, we are starting slow. We are taking our time to learn routines well, learn our students well, and let our students learn about each other and form friendships. Does this mean all that "stuff" (assessment, IEPs, paperwork) isn't getting done? Nope. It's getting done, but as someone who always is ahead of schedule, I'm making sure I take it slow. I'm giving my students time to adjust and learn, time to get to know me, and time for me to get to know them.
But, we are also going steady. Routines started on day 1, and we are being consistent - consistent in our daily schedule, our assessment (a little each day to keep learning more about students), our approach to our students (we are implementing The Nurtured Heart Approach this year) . . . we are being steady so that our students know, this is a safe and sturdy place to learn and grow with friends.
So, what did day 10 look like?
It looked like:
- Students starting their Handwriting Without Tears program, using many ways of learning (building letters, whiteboard work, workbook printing)
- Students playing match games to practice shape names and social skills
- Students working together to sort real life objects into shape categories
- Students taking care of their classroom environment by feeding the fish before they went home
- Students being creative and building cars with Knex
It looked like students learning, growing, exploring, learning, laughing, talking, jumping . . .
It looked like slow and steady.
A little background: this is my second year in the same classroom/school, with the same teammate (Educational Assistant) - third year teaching special education, and sixth year of teaching overall.
This year, I decided that "slow and steady" would be the theme of September. Reflecting on the previous' years start to the school year, I found I pressured myself to hit the ground running - start assessment, read all the paperwork, get programming started, write IEPs . . . except, all it did was cause pressure and stress.
This year, we are going slow. I have a small class (since I teach special education, my class maximum is 10 students), and the majority of them are new to the school. New building, new play structure, new teachers, new routines . . . the list goes on. So this year, we are starting slow. We are taking our time to learn routines well, learn our students well, and let our students learn about each other and form friendships. Does this mean all that "stuff" (assessment, IEPs, paperwork) isn't getting done? Nope. It's getting done, but as someone who always is ahead of schedule, I'm making sure I take it slow. I'm giving my students time to adjust and learn, time to get to know me, and time for me to get to know them.
But, we are also going steady. Routines started on day 1, and we are being consistent - consistent in our daily schedule, our assessment (a little each day to keep learning more about students), our approach to our students (we are implementing The Nurtured Heart Approach this year) . . . we are being steady so that our students know, this is a safe and sturdy place to learn and grow with friends.
So, what did day 10 look like?
It looked like:
- Students starting their Handwriting Without Tears program, using many ways of learning (building letters, whiteboard work, workbook printing)
- Students playing match games to practice shape names and social skills
- Students working together to sort real life objects into shape categories
- Students taking care of their classroom environment by feeding the fish before they went home
- Students being creative and building cars with Knex
It looked like students learning, growing, exploring, learning, laughing, talking, jumping . . .
It looked like slow and steady.
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