Sunday, September 10, 2006
School Highs and Lows
I have been away for a few weeks. That is what the start of school does to a person. It has been a very rough start again.I had a student who is emotionally disturbed. I don't want to go into it because I think the child has a right to privacy but, it was draining for me and the other children. The child has been moved to another class in another grade. So, we have had one day of normal learning in my room. Now my class is wonderful. What a good group of students I have. I have two hearing impaired students so I wear a microphone and have surround sound. It is actually great for all the students. I think they are very tuned in to my voice.
Friday I did 'Celebrity Writer.' I have the students write a piece. I always give them one thing to work on, ie capitalization, punctuation, etc. Then I pick one piece of writing that has good sentences and make typed copies for the class. We correct it together talking about the errors in detail and using editing marks. Then I return everyones papers and they try to correct their own papers. The Celebrity Writer gets a big gold star on their paper and it goes on the bulletin board along witht the students picture. The Celebrity Writer also gets a certificate to take home. Well, the little boy that I picked for the first Celebrity Writer said to me on the way out the door at the end of the day, "This has been the best day of my life." Then he brought his father back to the room so I could tell him "the good news." That was just the best. If you are not a teacher, you just could never know what that means to have a child respond so positively. That was my bonus for the year! I hope that my grandson will have that good of an experience when he becomes a writer. Teachers need to realize that they can make a child's school experience wonderful or cut them to their soul with just one unkind remark. I just pray I never harm a child with my words.
I have some more high moments to report! Students from everygrade have asked me if I have heard the news about Pluto! It has been so fun to hear so many kids asking me that question. I have had some great conversations about Pluto and also about how science changes and grows along with new discoveries. It has been very rich.
| posted by feldmom at 1:03 PM
