First of all, students are always shocked to see us out in the grocery store or other area stores. I think they believe we never leave school! I guess they think the storage closet is my personal closet. Almost every time we see a student out in public, their first question is "How/why are you here?" followed by "Where is..." either Mrs. Ward or Mrs. Watson, depending on which one of us they are talking to at the time. Every year we have to explain that we are friends and we work together but we do not live together and we are not sisters. This week we had a brand new question! We were working on making our map book. I explained that we would be making a map of our bedroom and labeling items in our room. I would model the activity first and then I would let them make their own map of their room. They were all eager to get started. They named several thing I should put in my room: closet, bed, etc. We talked about how our rooms may have some things that were similar and some things may be different, for instance some students may have a t.v. while others may not. I started mapping my bedroom by labeling doors, closets, dressers, etc. I added my bed and said, "Now I need to draw my nightstand and lamp." Then I pointed out that we had one on Mr. Watson's side of the room too and I started drawing and labeling. Immediately I was interrupted by students that seemed upset. They were almost shouting as they said, "WAIT!!! STOP!!! You forgot Mrs. Ward's side!!! Where does she sleep? You are not finished; you forgot her!" I had to reassure them that I had not forgotten her but her side of the bed would be on a different map because we lived in different rooms in different houses with our own families. It made me want to laugh under my breath but I was also struck by how compassionate they are; they did not want us to leave Mrs. Ward out! Mrs. Ward had stepped out of the room, so when she came back in someone asked her and she reassured them that she had her own room at a different house and everything was fine. :)
The next afternoon we were writing about a character of their choice. I gave them a partner so they could brainstorm together and decide on what ideas they had that could make an interesting story. I told them that I was looking for a few things in their writing and drawing; I wanted to see a character, the setting, and an action that we could write about, but the details were up to them. I walked around the room to discuss their illustrations with them before we started writing. I walked up on two students sharing ideas about what details they should draw in their setting. I listened closely without interrupting and realized they had chosen Heaven as their setting and they were making a plan to get it on their paper. Their illustrations were great but I was mostly impressed with their conversation about what to include and how it should look. They made many changes as they discussed their work but before they made any changes on paper, they talked about why they thought they needed to and how the changes should look. I saw the real value of collaboration while watching them work out the details. I stood back thinking that would be a difficult task to undertake but they had no hesitation or intimidation. They were proud of their hard work and final product! Students can teach us a lot...have no fear, be confident in your abilities, and value others' ideas!
Finally, I walked up on several students that were talking to a student that speaks limited English. They were all smiling and cheering so I listened closely to see what was so exciting. What I heard made my heart smile! They were sharing words with her and having her identify the object and repeat the word. For instance, they would show her a picture of a cat and tell her what it was, then have her repeat the word in English. They would tell her how great she was doing before teaching her the next word. The look on her face was priceless! She was so proud when she realized she could name the objects. I have never seen her more excited or happy to be in class. Her whole face lit up! We are truly blessed with a sweet, compassionate class this year! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with your students and share in moments like these. I hope you enjoy sharing in these moments too.
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