Today I had a lot of time to reflect on my teaching at our regional professional development day.
The last couple of days have been challenging. The students were beginning to go through the routine of the day with fewer reminders from me, so I took a couple of steps back, and as soon as they smelled the freedom, they went wild. The last two days have been me stepping back into my vigilantly strict role, which has left my classroom a little somber and a little boring, at least to me. I have a hard time being strict and fun simultaneously.
However, today, I declare no more! I am determined to be fun and strict simultaneously. Students that cannot handle it will just sit out of the fun. Problem solved. I've noticed that some of the best days that we've had have been days with little surprises, little quirky joyful moments, little rewards. One of my favorite moments of this school year so far was when a student taught our whole class, including me, how to shuffle, (see below).
With this recent memory in mind, I have a plan for tomorrow. In listening to me go on and on about all of the attention seeking behavior in my classroom, my husband suggested that I have a mini-talent show at the end of the day on a semi-regular basis if the students earn it. I'm so excited to see how it goes. I'm going to have three different randomly selected judges that write positive adjectives on their white boards after each round instead of scores. I'm also going to have a theme song (Huskies got talent, yes we do, huskies got talent, we'll show you!). And, last, but not least, I'm going to have a game show host. Now, all I need is the talent! I know there are dancers, rappers, joke tellers, magicians, and singers all looking for a little extra love in my room. Here's to hoping that they come out of their shells and participate tomorrow...
I'm determined to make it fun, damn it. For their sake and mine.
2 comments:
What a great idea!
Something fun and out of the ordinary that Ollie's teachers do are rainy day walks. They told us at the beginning of the year that they hate indoor recess on rainy days, so they passed out field trip forms for ongoing walking field trips around the block on rainy days. She said that they will conduct mini science experiments and jump in puddles, so we need to proved rain gear for them to go.
Love it Chloe! I'll have to add that to my bag of tricks.
They loved the talent show and were AMAZING. One girl got up and sang Bruno Mars' Grenade and all the kids waved their arms in the air like a concert, pretty awesome.
:)
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