You Matter

I'm not the smartest person. I'm not the prettiest. I was never picked first for any team. I'm not the best and I really don't want to be. I work hard at so many things but what's most important to me, what I value the most is being kind.   

The end of the school year is time for reflection. I ask my students to reflect and I reflect myself. I think about what I did well and where I can do better. In my reflections this year, I've come to the conclusion that I did a good job at developing relationships with students and connecting with them.  Here are some of their thoughts...

"You Matter" is how I communicate to my students that I see them and they are important to me and to our classroom community. Every day those words are on the board and it's made a difference. Many students told me that seeing those words every day in class made a difference to them.

We talk about what those words mean. We discuss how to communicate those words to each other, verbally and non-verbally. It's something I value and I see the value transfer to all very soon. We use these words. It becomes part of our daily conversation.

It's important, it's necessary, it's non-negotiable, to SEE our students every single day. It makes a difference. One class told me that I was their hero. (By the way, it isn't really about me at all, it's about the message: "You Matter!" It changed them. It meant something to them.) They created beautiful gifts. First of all, I got my very own superhero cape...

  

They also created a notebook for me. This notebook is filled with pages and pages written for me and to me. I see my students and they see me.

My hope for these students is that they remember their worth and share it with the world.

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers.

And the Winner is...Maker Space

The end of the school year inevitably means awards ceremonies. Last year, I wanted to try out maker space in the language arts classroom, so I had a brilliant idea...class awards ceremony. 

  The students were instructed to create an original award for themselves. It could be about anything that happens in school...not limited to language arts class. It was a rousing success, so I'm repeating it. We've brainstormed possible awards to win. They get to win the award they've always wanted to win. They pick what's important to them in an award. These awards show me what they value in their days. It's amazing! 

We watched lots of acceptance speeches and analyzed them as mentor texts and they have started composing their acceptance speeches. Next week during the classroom ceremony, they will give their acceptance speeches to the class. 

Finally, we create the actual awards. Some students brought in supplies and I provided some...paper plates, paper cups, stickers, and a few other things. We spent a huge chunk of class time making awards. The energy was high and exciting!

I love watching these almost-seventh-graders turn back into little kids playing with arts and crafts. Some of them looked intense as they created, some of them giggled and others found themselves frustrated with their creations. Problem-solving at it's best when I hear questions like, "How do I make this stand?" The conversations revolved around the best way to create these awards and the results are astounding. 

Taking time to MAKE in the language arts classroom is vital. It sparks such creativity and collaboration. I can't wait for our ceremony next week!

Thank you to Ruth Ayres for providing this space for sharing our celebrations. Please join us and share your own!

Learning through Laughter

Acting out as a panel of ballet experts on a morning show

"Why are we still here? What else do we have to learn?" That question plagues me. It's difficult because students get mixed messages. The end of the year excitement and energy is hard to battle. I refuse to show movies. We make our time meaningful until the #lastbell. In communications, we are learning using improvisation. A brilliant teacher, Whitney Field shared a presentation on using improv with middle school students this summer in the Northern Virginia Writing Project's ISI. I was skeptical as improv is very much outside of my comfort zone. 

Working together as groups of three-headed experts

As this year progressed, I kept my eyes and ears open for new and interesting things to teach and practice and learn in communications. A couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of improv and it fit perfectly. I've seen the silent students raise their hands to perform. I notice everyone participating and laughing during our warm-ups. We laugh. We take risks. We get better. It's been so successful, that I've started using some exercises with my sixth-grade classes. It turns up the energy on a listless class and it bonds the group. I see the community growing stronger and stronger. 

Working together as a three-headed expert

Taking a risk and trying something completely new has been so worth it! The students are learning about communication, creativity, critical thinking, and listening. Making mistakes is celebrated and taking risks pays off. 

Practicing the three-headed expert

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it.

Join us at Two Writing Teachers.