I am so cool.
Today was another good day. Usually short Wednesdays are not good, but today was good. School-wide, actually. I wish I could track it with the breakfast, because today they didn't have anything sweet and no juice. So we only had to take one class bathroom trip and all was good. I even got them sounding out words with books on their own levels (from a 0.0 to a 2.3).
Plus, most of the ones who took extra homework brought back extra homework. That's right, they did the same math mini-worksheet two or even three times. But today I was prepared. I gathered up all of my extra copies (I always make 1 extra of everything, and some days kids are absent, so they don't get it, or I decide to forgo an activity so I don't end up using everything...) Anyhow, I gathered them up and started handing them out. "If you want the privilege of getting extra homework," I said, "You need to be quiet and still right now." And -- BOOM -- it was quiet and still. Whoa.
The Special Ed teacher was in my room at the end of the day helping my SpEd kids do math and sort of hanging out (my assistant had left, who knows where). When we counted our tally marks to find out which group won candy, he was amazed that almost everyone called out the correct number when I asked how many points the group with 6 tally marks had. His eyes got huge when my kids begged for extra work and hushed their partners so we could clap for the people who stayed on their privilege cards. I have to admit, my head swelled just a tad.
I'm sure it will all come crashing down around me tomorrow (two good days in a row is totally unheard of, so three would be nigh impossible), but for now, it feels really good. Plus, our training today (we always have training on Wednesdays) was on our distance learning machines and I am totally going to be the first first grade teacher to incorporate them meaningfully into my classroom. I'm thinking of fifth graders at Shelby Middle reading stories to my first graders while I work with small groups. I'm thinking of classes in Massachusetts showing us snow and my class showing them... cotton? I'm picturing a penpal project where after two written letters you get to "meet" your penpal (TFAers in other places, what do you think? New York? Texas?). I'm picturing virtual mini-fieldtrips. Just one of those things would be neat.
Anyhow, it was a good day.
Plus, most of the ones who took extra homework brought back extra homework. That's right, they did the same math mini-worksheet two or even three times. But today I was prepared. I gathered up all of my extra copies (I always make 1 extra of everything, and some days kids are absent, so they don't get it, or I decide to forgo an activity so I don't end up using everything...) Anyhow, I gathered them up and started handing them out. "If you want the privilege of getting extra homework," I said, "You need to be quiet and still right now." And -- BOOM -- it was quiet and still. Whoa.
The Special Ed teacher was in my room at the end of the day helping my SpEd kids do math and sort of hanging out (my assistant had left, who knows where). When we counted our tally marks to find out which group won candy, he was amazed that almost everyone called out the correct number when I asked how many points the group with 6 tally marks had. His eyes got huge when my kids begged for extra work and hushed their partners so we could clap for the people who stayed on their privilege cards. I have to admit, my head swelled just a tad.
I'm sure it will all come crashing down around me tomorrow (two good days in a row is totally unheard of, so three would be nigh impossible), but for now, it feels really good. Plus, our training today (we always have training on Wednesdays) was on our distance learning machines and I am totally going to be the first first grade teacher to incorporate them meaningfully into my classroom. I'm thinking of fifth graders at Shelby Middle reading stories to my first graders while I work with small groups. I'm thinking of classes in Massachusetts showing us snow and my class showing them... cotton? I'm picturing a penpal project where after two written letters you get to "meet" your penpal (TFAers in other places, what do you think? New York? Texas?). I'm picturing virtual mini-fieldtrips. Just one of those things would be neat.
Anyhow, it was a good day.
posted by Jessica at 5:00 PM
1 Comments:
Wow! Awesome!
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