Scene from an elementary school classroom this morning. Students working on determining the difference between sentence fragments and complete sentences. The fragment prompt: ‘many kinds of candy.’ Working towards making it complete? One eager student offers: “Many kinds of candy are delicious!” Another student adds: “Many kinds of candy are…. excited?” A teachable moment. The [...]
Some pretty hot and humid weather these past few days… thankfully, a break coming with a cooler front coming in later tonight. It’s hard for it not to affect teachers and students in their still-aired classrooms. The lucky ones with fans, or the super fortunate ones (I met one today!) with air conditioning units. One [...]
Scene from a classroom this morning as the teacher transitioned students from their writer’s workshop lesson to their class time focused on reading. The routine being for students to start with some independent reading, during which the teacher would conference with individual students. The teacher giving some ‘white noise’ directions like we do—verbalizing the well-practiced [...]
Scene from a high school classroom this morning. The teacher having recently introduced playing some background music during certain parts of class—during the start up activity or tasks where students are directed to do work individually. Some kind of smooth jazz station streamed from the internet. They seemed to like it and were productive (though [...]
Scene from an elementary math classroom today with the sounds of another group of students joyfully having recess just outside the window; a beautiful spring afternoon, the sound of bouncing balls punctuated by happy yelps. A math lesson on the topic of making solids from their two dimensional patterns. And a share out session with [...]
So what’s another way you might describe those beaches in this sentence, the teacher amiably inquired of her elementary school students in the room. Projected on the overhead was the beginning of a modeled sentence: The awesome beaches in the D.R. are … An excited voice of one student in response, his answer inflected with [...]
Great moment between a teacher and student today. The teacher making steady moves to get this particular elementary school class focused and moving along. Using encouragement, patient re-direction and otherwise heroically urging the students along in their work. A few moments into a smooth transition to the rug for a shared reading. Some sudden squirmishness [...]
Scene from a middle school classroom this morning. Halfway through the instructional period, the teacher making somewhat of a strategic move to bring up the behavioral goal sheets that students were instructed to complete at some prior point in the year. A bit of confusion about where this conversation was coming from, but enough students [...]
Scene from an elementary classroom this morning. The teacher having a difficult time getting the class organized and focused–their task to spend a morning session working on test-taking strategies by taking a sample grade-level assessment. A droll reading passage with accompanying multiple choice questions and an open response. The teacher sitting at the rear of [...]
Reflections from the Forced Reflection Table
I read through a number of elementary student writing reflections during one afternoon this past week—ill-gotten products from the five-minute ‘time out’ table. A mix of samples from first to fifth graders, from native speakers to English Language Learners. A kind of sullen, brutally-honest (and unrevised) poetry. I was flicing cubes at people Mr. _____ [...]