Before I focus all my attention on being a mom, I thought I would reflect on some things I've learned this school year in the hopes that it might help out some of my fellow teachers.
Be Their Person.
Since I work with my middle school students in a one-on-one setting, I have the luxury of giving them all my time and attention while they are with me. That means I get to know them really, really well. The more I get to know my students, the more comfortable they feel around me and the more they open up to me. I have found that I have become many of my students' "person." When they do really well on a social studies test, they come tell me about it. When their brother gets cancer and has to have his leg amputated, they share it with me. When they have a problem with another teacher, they talk to me about it. When they don't understand the directions for an assignment, they come ask me for help. I feel honored to be their "person."
I know it's hard to be each kids' "person" when you have a classroom full of 25 elementary students or you are a middle school teacher who sees 100 kids a day. But finding a minute here or there to check in with the kids who really need a "person" is something that can and should be done. If I ever go back to being a classroom teacher, you better believe that I will find the time to give each of my students some individual time and attention. They will give you so much more effort and respect if you do.
Show Them Their Reading Data.
I feel like there is this big stigma when it comes to showing kids their reading performance scores. I understand not wanting to embarrass kids or make them feel defeated, but I think it's important for them to know where they are performing. Part of my job requires me to be evaluated by my administrators. If they come into my room to evaluate me, I want to know how they thought I did. I think kids are no different.
I've found that kids often don't realize just how low they are performing. And sometimes it's simply because they aren't trying their best. I do try to focus on how much growth they are making. I like to show kids their scores from the beginning of the year and then compare it to where they are now. It can be either a wake up call to try their best on future tests, or it can serve as proof that they are making progress.
Just Shut Up.
I know this sounds kind of rude, but it's so true! When I ask kids to try something or respond to a question I ask of them, it's really easy to jump in and rescue them if they struggle with it. But what is that really doing for them? It's teaching them that if they don't respond, someone will do it for them. I see this learned helplessness so often. As teachers, we need to give students the opportunities to think critically and solve problems on their own. Giving them the chance to wrestle with productive struggle will help them grow and push them to do more thinking on their own. That's our job. We want students to leave us feeling confident in themselves and have the skills needed to think for themselves.
So sometimes, as teachers, we need to just shut up. We have to be okay with those silences and we have to be okay with repeating our questions. I'm not going to lie, that was hard for me to do at first. But now that my kids realize I am not going to give them the answer when they don't know it, they rarely sit there and stare at me like they used to. They try to answer my questions, even if they aren't entirely sure their answers are correct. A lot of the time, they end up surprising me. All students really are capable of some pretty incredible insights if we just give them the opportunity to share.
Use Fun Pens.
I am big on annotations. I want my students to not just read, but I want them to think about what they are reading. Having my students annotate while they read is one way of encouraging them to think as they read. I teach my students to write down their thoughts, questions, opinions and connections as they read.
Believe it or not, but the single easiest way to get them to write more is to let them use fun pens. This seems ridiculous and unimportant, but I'm telling you. They will write away if they get to use fun pens.
One of my biggest goals as a reading teacher is to get my students to enjoy reading. This involves getting books that my students will actually enjoy into their hands. This year I tried out a book tasting with the help of my school's librarian. (Thanks, Karen!) We worked together to gather books that we love and thought our kids would love. From there, we set up a book tasting, much like you would a wine tasting.
The kids loved it! We set up tables with different book genres. From there, students had the opportunity to "taste" the books to see if they looked interesting. We also gave them some treats to taste along with the books, which always ups the interest level in whichever activity is going on. The students rotated to the different tables and were pretty full of books by the end of the tasting. It was a hit!
Let Them Know You Think About Them Over The Summer.
At the end of the year last year, I gave each kiddo a note with some personalized book recommendations. Whether or not they actually tried out the recommendations, they understood that I knew enough about them to pick books they might like. And that says a lot to a kid. It tells them that I value them.
I also sent each kiddo a postcard over the summer. It was just a simple little note that reinforced the idea that I value them. I plan to do the same this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I welcome your thoughts!