This past year, I learned a lot from my students and I hope they learned some things from me.
I wanted to do a quick reflection on some of these lessons. You can watch the video version of this post here on YouTube.
What I Learned
- How to teach reading: I worked a lot with my mentor (a reading interventionist) to help me improve my large group instruction. I used a combination of Fundations, Handwriting Without Tears and ABC See Hear Do to help my students learn sounds and letters.
- How to work with small groups: At the beginning of the year, I was pulling groups willy nilly and not based on my students' academic skills. Together with my mentor, I created a schedule and system that allowed me to focus on math and reading, while giving my paraprofessionals more responsibility over games and themed activities. I saw so much growth in my students and myself after implementing this new system.
What I Taught
- What makes a family: We defined a family as a group of people who love and take care of each other. This included the people with whom we live, but also other groups like siblings who live far away, extended families in other countries, and our class. We built this foundation of taking care of each other and kept enforcing it all year so that students would feel loved in our room.
- What makes us different: We also learned the importance of our differences. If everyone were the same, it would be so boring. We highlighted all of the things that make us special - our dance moves, computer skills, etc - and celebrated them. After all, there's a reason crayon boxes come with so many different shades.
- How to respect others: The most important lesson I hope my students learned this year was to respect everyone around them. By calling people what they wanted to be called and keeping physical boundaries, we can make other people feel seen and feel comfortable. We learned to ask before we give hugs and make adjustments when someone changes their name. We also learned how to apologize when we make mistakes, and how to make it better. This practice of restorative justice is a pillar of many belief systems like Black Lives Matter, and would make the whole world a better place, so I hope my students take this lesson and others with them as they grow into productive, caring community members.
Overall, it was a difficult but worthwhile year. I learned a lot from my students and their families, as well as from my coworkers. I will miss them all next year, but look forward to using what I've learned in the future.
Thank you all for helping me along the way!
Miss D
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