Thursday, March 3, 2011

Signs of Growth

I really enjoy this time of year in the classroom. Our routines are down pat. Of course, there still need to be a few reminders each day, but for the most part we all know the rhythm of the day.

Some students need office, counselor, intervention room assistance, but the rest are to be able to take such interruptions in stride. We quickly get back to the business of learning. They seem to realize joining in or laughing at inappropriate behavior will disrupt their valuable learning time.

But also what is so important and so rewarding is the academic growth I notice many times a day. Today I was conferencing as we finish up writing our biographies on Famous Missourians. They are truly taking ownership of their words and what they want to communicate to a reader. They come in partnerships and share how they assisted each other in revising and editing. They talk about their writing with a writer's vocabulary.

In the afternoon, I introduced multiplying two digit numbers with regrouping. While there was a need to redirect some back to the task of watching me, they all jumped on board with this new type of problem. There were no groans or sighs. A busyness filled the space as they tackled six problems on the screen. When finished they got together in small groups to compare answers and search for errors, if needed.

Signs of spring are all around us. Signs of growth are also everywhere in our classroom. This community of learners that came together last fall is growing.

1 comment:

  1. Signs of springs...signs of growth: these moments provide such sustenance to a teacher. Enjoy and remember!

    ReplyDelete