The first few days of school are always exhausting. . .for the students AND for the teachers! We practice procedures over and over again so that we know exactly what we expect from one another and so that our year will be successful, productive, and one we will never forget!
I've been teaching many years and I never cease to be amazed at the unique and creative abilities of each class. This one is no different. When we sat down yesterday to set our reading goals and talk about the kinds of readers we want to be, I was blown away by what my precious students had to say. I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with all of their ideas! Just look at what they said! (Forgive the messy handwriting--I was so excited and writing so quickly so I wouldn't forget a single word and so that we could get as many ideas as possible. We ran out of time and had to stop or they would have kept going.)
I've been teaching many years and I never cease to be amazed at the unique and creative abilities of each class. This one is no different. When we sat down yesterday to set our reading goals and talk about the kinds of readers we want to be, I was blown away by what my precious students had to say. I couldn't write fast enough to keep up with all of their ideas! Just look at what they said! (Forgive the messy handwriting--I was so excited and writing so quickly so I wouldn't forget a single word and so that we could get as many ideas as possible. We ran out of time and had to stop or they would have kept going.)
See what I mean?
I have readers of varying abilities, with strengths and weaknesses in different areas. When we have discussions like this, we are all on the same playing field. We ALL want to be better readers (yep--even me!) and we have set goals for ourselves to become the kind of readers we dream of being.
We created posters this week of our reading lives. On the poster, we wrote and drew about what kinds of readers we are. (We wrote about what we like to read; when we like to read; where we like to read; how we like to read.). We wrote about our favorite reading memories. We had our families write about their favorite reading memories. (Check out the video on some of ther reading memories of some of our staff at CES). And then we wrote about our reading goals. Parents got involved, too, and shared a special reading memory. These are always so touching and I LOVE to read about what other people remember reading. We took pictures of ourselves reading to remind us what a class of readers looks and sounds like. We are a class of serious readers!
I have readers of varying abilities, with strengths and weaknesses in different areas. When we have discussions like this, we are all on the same playing field. We ALL want to be better readers (yep--even me!) and we have set goals for ourselves to become the kind of readers we dream of being.
We created posters this week of our reading lives. On the poster, we wrote and drew about what kinds of readers we are. (We wrote about what we like to read; when we like to read; where we like to read; how we like to read.). We wrote about our favorite reading memories. We had our families write about their favorite reading memories. (Check out the video on some of ther reading memories of some of our staff at CES). And then we wrote about our reading goals. Parents got involved, too, and shared a special reading memory. These are always so touching and I LOVE to read about what other people remember reading. We took pictures of ourselves reading to remind us what a class of readers looks and sounds like. We are a class of serious readers!