November 9, 2021 · blog posts
We ran a Students of Color affinity group for grades 3-5 at our school and hope to be able to meet again later this year. We used to meet during lunch (pre-COVID) which was so lovely, but since that’s currently not possible with all of our protocols, we are trying to find another time and space. We’ve found that many schools have affinity groups for older students, but want to share support and ideas for starting an affinity group with some of the younger ones as well. Our crew really benefited from it and it was a time we all looked forward to as a breather during the week! What to Prepare A general overview of your proposal/plan to share with administrators so they know and take this endeavor seriously. Everything about this process is easier if you have administrator buy-in. They will be bombarded by at least a few parents as you get going, soon enough. Maps/globe Vocabulary: Race,
affinity groupsStudents of Colorlower schoolelementary schoolrace
October 12, 2021 · blog posts
Gabby’s post, Ten Habits to Help Teachers and Students Stay Positive and Engaged , was published on The Art of Teaching! Please read and share widely as I’m sure we all could use some reminders right now. And let us know your tips as
guest postengagementStudent-centeredsocial emotional learning
July 15, 2021 · curriculum
A student wrote this letter to Erin Estrada Kelly after we finished reading Hello Universe! I wanted to write this post in May for Mental Health Awareness Month, but clearly time has gotten away from me (yet again). Here is a post Gabby managed to write in a more timely fashion for Mental Health Awareness Month in the past! As we look toward the next school year with lots of uncertainty and anxiety inducing unknowns looming for most kids and teachers, here are some ways to support kids in managing their disappointment or anxiety about our unknown future. Please keep in mind that these are strategies to deal with uncertainty and anxiety, but NOT ways to handle grief or trauma. Some things I tried that seemed to support my students this year: Talk about what you miss or would have done in more typical circumstances periodically. It’s okay to acknowledge disappointment and important to
mental healthMental Health Awareness Monthemotionsocial emotional learning
December 6, 2018 · Uncategorized
Gabby here- first post in eternity. It’s finals week over here in graduate school land, and as I begin to reflect on the term (or procrastinate-- whatever you want to call it!), I have been thinking about what past teacher me could be reminded about from my current student life. Here are a few pieces that came up as I reflected (or procrastinated, really, you decide- just don’t tell me!). Hopefully these can be helpful right before the upcoming break, or when students return in January.. in addition to reviewing all those hard taught classroom expectations that they forgot! Time: What is time really, you know? And how does it just disappear so fast?! In seriousness, the demands of time management of a student are hard (different from a teacher’s but still very hard in its own way!), and I forgot to the degree they are especially when we calculate in the rest of their lives. Students do
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October 26, 2018 · curriculum
A snapshot of our “contract wall” showcasing some student art! As we near the end of October and my school has its Fall round of conferences with families, I was recently pleased to notice how many of my students use the language of our class contract (rules for our class) in their reflections about how the year is going for them. Creating our contract was a multi-step process starting with a read aloud and ending with a signed contract and accompanying art projects (and of course a shared understanding about the kind of community we want to create). We started with a read aloud (always a wonderful place to start!). Our first chapter book read aloud of the year is Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks . We read a few chapters and a day and do a variety of responses to our reading to help us empathize with the characters. The main characters’ negative experiences at school
responsive classroomsocial emotional learningclassroom managementcommunity buildingconferences
August 29, 2018 · curriculum
Setting up our classroom for the new school year! I know many teachers have already had their first day (or week) of school and I’m sure you had lots of wonderful activities, read alouds, get to know yous, and interactions planned. I am planning for my first day of school next week and reflecting on some of the activities I’ve used in the past that I know I want to use again. Here are some of my favorites: Name related activities : Name activities are the best. They provide an opportunity for you to learn about your students and ask them how they would like to be addressed in class. They also create a chance for you to share something about yourself while learning about students’ identities. Here are some of my favorites: Create your Name : this activity was inspired by SEED. Have your students create their name in a way that feels good to them, using whatever materials you have on
back to schoolsocial emotional learningcurriculumMath
August 13, 2018 · conferences
Posters we made about children's developmental stage at different ages. This past week, I had the opportunity to attend a Responsive Classroom Course for Elementary Educators. I was introduced to Responsive Classroom in college as part of my elementary educator training, but it was wonderful (as always) to engage with other teachers and have some valuable review and even more important reminders. Some things I took away and am still thinking about are: Yardsticks (Child and Adolescent Development Ages 4-14) by Chip Wood: I love this resource! We give out the 3rd grade related pamphlets to families at back to school night, and the book is a great gift for new parents (of 4 year olds and up). Asking what is developmentally appropriate for a specific age is always a good question and a great place to start. This information is so valuable for so many reasons. If something in your class
professional developmentworkresponsive classroomsocial emotional learning