Welcome Back!
It's time to go back to school. I have had this thought in my adult life for over 2 decades. However, this year, I went back to set up with a completely different mindset.
Over the past 8 months, I had the incredible opportunity to take a little time off, step back from teaching, and look at learning and teaching from many different angles. In doing so, I read and researched, talked to many educators from various fields and then thought about how to apply what I have learned to my context.
My big questions: How can I make cultivate a love of learning in the little people that are in my care? What is going to encourage them to continue to be curious and seek answers to their questions? What can I do to encourage life-long learning?
We started the year scaling back, A LOT. In the first week, we read and talked about stories, explored math materials, thought about ourselves as writers, and began to "fall in love" with ourselves as we started making our self portraits.
For the self-portraits this year, we are using a form of the Compass Points thinking routine. In addition to creating an image of ourselves on the outside, we are capturing a snapshot of who we are on the inside at this moment by thinking about 4 things. (Thanks to my wonderful colleagues, Denise Coffin and Amie Wallace, for helping me think through this!)
N = What do we need to feel happy at school right now?
E = What are we excited about?
S = What is one of our strengths that we can share with our community?
W = What is something that we are wondering about?
The plan is to revisit our self-portraits throughout the year by reflecting on these questions again. I hope to also have the students record their thinking on a short video so they can hear how they have changed and grown as the year goes on.
I've been thinking about my own compass points for the beginning of the year:
N: I need to have a space to reflect on my learning and understanding.
E: I'm excited about taking an online class with some of my colleagues this fall.
S: One of my strengths is seeing the big picture and being able to break it into manageable pieces.
W: I wonder how the compass points will change for the students and myself in a few months. Will we change things just because we're thinking about it again? Or will some things stay the same?
Over the past 8 months, I had the incredible opportunity to take a little time off, step back from teaching, and look at learning and teaching from many different angles. In doing so, I read and researched, talked to many educators from various fields and then thought about how to apply what I have learned to my context.
My big questions: How can I make cultivate a love of learning in the little people that are in my care? What is going to encourage them to continue to be curious and seek answers to their questions? What can I do to encourage life-long learning?
We started the year scaling back, A LOT. In the first week, we read and talked about stories, explored math materials, thought about ourselves as writers, and began to "fall in love" with ourselves as we started making our self portraits.
For the self-portraits this year, we are using a form of the Compass Points thinking routine. In addition to creating an image of ourselves on the outside, we are capturing a snapshot of who we are on the inside at this moment by thinking about 4 things. (Thanks to my wonderful colleagues, Denise Coffin and Amie Wallace, for helping me think through this!)
N = What do we need to feel happy at school right now?
E = What are we excited about?
S = What is one of our strengths that we can share with our community?
W = What is something that we are wondering about?
The plan is to revisit our self-portraits throughout the year by reflecting on these questions again. I hope to also have the students record their thinking on a short video so they can hear how they have changed and grown as the year goes on.
I've been thinking about my own compass points for the beginning of the year:
N: I need to have a space to reflect on my learning and understanding.
E: I'm excited about taking an online class with some of my colleagues this fall.
S: One of my strengths is seeing the big picture and being able to break it into manageable pieces.
W: I wonder how the compass points will change for the students and myself in a few months. Will we change things just because we're thinking about it again? Or will some things stay the same?
Can't wait to read more! You are an awesome teacher and those kids are so lucky to have you!
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