May 23, 2019 · blog posts
We were asked what is always on our end of year to do list.. Below are a few pieces we always have on that list. Ironically, for me the end of the year has so many of its own mini lists and rituals. A few things that are always on there for me are: 1. Write thank you notes (this includes personal ones I write, and also putting aside class time and guiding the students to reflect and write their own. These include notes to students, ridiculously reliable, wonderful maintenance staff, an amazing receptionist, a family that has been really kind, a colleague/peer that helped you out, a class of students you used to have that is graduating etc..) 2. Log that all our classroom books have been returned! Have students help out, remind families etc. 3. Set aside class time to solicit student feedback. We wrote blog posts about how and why we do this in 2017 and 2018. End of year feedback from
end of the yearreflectionsummersummer reading
August 22, 2018 · curriculum
Thank you card from a student at the end of the school year. We try and end every school year by asking our students for their feedback and reflections. Students love this as it is their turn to evaluate us for a change! We love modeling how asking for and receiving feedback is part of learning and growing, as well as demonstrating our commitment to lifelong reflection and learning. Also, I’m always surprised by what students remember, appreciated, and enjoyed. Sometimes, the things they complain about during the school year are the things they say they enjoyed the most at the end. Some patterns we’ve noticed over the years are that students tend to especially appreciate amazing read alouds, the well stocked and curated classroom library (and personalized book recommendations from their teachers), experiences (for example field trips or guest speakers), games (and fun!), and their
feedbackstudentevaltechnologyend of the year
January 4, 2018 · curriculum
One of our student's New Year's resolutions - resist MORE against Trump! We have an annual tradition of writing New Year’s Resolutions with our students, and adapted our ideas from the past this year to work for our 3rd graders. We enjoy this writing piece for many reasons: it often yields inspiring and hilarious responses from students (two examples pictured), it’s a great way to review our class contract and reflect as we come back from the break, it’s a quick and high success writing piece as we get used to being back at school, and of course, it’s important to model reflection and goal-setting for our students. This year, we used the beloved Kid President video that we wrote about in our New Year’s resolution post last year with our students and their 7th grade buddies. For Writer’s Workshop with just our 3rd graders, we started by watching the New Year’s Brainpop video . It tied in
writingNew Year's resolutionsreflectiongoal setting
September 7, 2016 · Uncategorized
Every year on the first day of school (or Teacher's New Year as we like to call it), we ask our students to write a letter to themselves detailing their expectations, hopes, and goals for the year ahead. Tomorrow, we will collect their (sealed) letters and put them away until the last day of school. It is always fun to watch students laugh as they open their letters at the end of the school year and are shocked by their growth (as writers, learners, and more) and how their perceptions and expectations have changed! Below is my letter to myself: Dear (future) Nina, No matter how many first days of school you teach, they always feel the same: exciting, exhausting, and nerve-wracking! There are so many things I am joyfully anticipating this year: a third year in a row teaching the same grade at the same school with the same co-teacher (unprecedented stability for me), mentoring an
first day of schoolwritingreflection
August 20, 2016 · Uncategorized
One of our class "pets" serving as an audience member while students practice their stories! It is that time again (ahhh how does it happen so fast?!) We know many of our fellow teachers and friends have already begun.. To those colleagues we wish you a joyful, honest, and growth-filled school year! This summer was full. On a global and national level, it was full of pain, confusion, and fear. There is also Olympic excitement. There are protests continuing on for the Dakota Access Pipeline… The list goes on. For us personally and professionally, the summer was full for those aforementioned reasons, and also because we traveled a lot, went to a few conferences, and listened a lot. We see summer as an integral part of educator reflection. As we head into the school year, we want to share with you the kinds of questions we ask ourselves to prepare for the amazing humans we will foster
back to schoolreflection