If your philosophy is “We are a family in this classroom, and this is a safe place for all of us,” and your students know it, then there will be many instances when those learning moments are obvious.
Look for the ways that positive relationships are making a difference in your classroom. I always tell struggling teachers-especially those beginning their careers-that when they feel that exhaustion (which sometimes turns into disillusionment), they should focus on what matters most: the kids. Teachers hit the floor running early in the morning and are still rocking and rolling long after the dismissal bell rings. But still I believe, deep inside my Valentine-shaped heart, that teachers can find love in a school building. I’m not sure exactly what year I had to cancel the “Love In.” At some point, I realized that I needed that time to teach specifically to my standards, answer my principal’s daily question “How will this get results?,” and search for more rigorous work. It was a day when even students with minor disagreements with one another took a day off to beīut then it ended. But before all that, students had to listen to a love song so they would be in a “love-ly” mood.įor the most part, my middle school students were willing participants (though they were more excited about the candy-gram deliveries that day). “Write a love poem” was the task at a different table, and my favorite, Sonnet 18, would serve as the example. At another, students had to read a love poem from a stack of poetry books.
Ctq collaboratory full#
At one stop, they found compound-word hearts: a basket full of cut hearts, each labeled with one half of a compound word, serving as a fun puzzle. I created “love stations” that students rotated through to find different tasks. Thanks Cindi! (Photo by THOR, via Flickr Creative Commons)įor many years, I tried to recreate the enchantment I experienced with Valentine’s Day as a young girl by offering a “Love In” for my students on February 14. I was planning on posting a formative assessment piece but I saw this wonderful blog and couldn’t help but share it just in time for Valentine’s Day.
0 kommentar(er)
