Slice of Life: When the Lights Go Out

Another year comes to a close, yesterday was our final day of school. This year presented several different challenges. My group of learners challenged my thinking (how to handle different types of behavior) I am still thinking about that blog post. There were moments when I thought I had the most thoughtful planned out lessons and as I opened the lesson I knew quickly it was a dud! There use to be moments in my teaching  career when I would fight though a bad lesson forcing it to work. One part of teaching that I am thankful for are the years of experience, I now have the courage to stop at that specific "dud" moment. Hit the breaks - take a huge right turn and change directions. I was honest with my class and if you could have been a fly on the wall, you would have heard this conversation.

• Me "I notice that not everyone is engaged during the opening of the mini lesson."  "Can someone tell me why you appear to be bored?"
• Student "It feels like the same thing as yesterday - we've done character traits with evidence sooooo many times."
• Me  "How could we change this lesson so it doesn't feel sooooo similar?
• Student: "We could choose a character from our read aloud."
• Student:  "We could break into small groups and use our read aloud."
• Student:  "Could we write a script and choose two favorite characters?"

After these conversations, my response was Yes, Yes, and Yes.  There was a different type of buzz and especially their the attitudes and looks on their faces. The lights are out in my classroom but the reflection time of summer is one of most valuable times that I find as an educator.  

Thanks to The Two Writing Teachers for encouraging me to reflect and share my Slices on Tuesday even though I'm a little late to the party.   

I'm extremely thankful to the learners in Room 234 for helping
me continue to grow as a teacher.