March already?

Wow! February has flown by! with February being a short month and extra snow days, I can't believe we are already in March. As we approach Spring, I think about the progress that I have made with my students so far and where I hope to take them in our last few months together.

I have to celebrate the growing interests I see my students  in math as we talk about geometry and measurement. Also their interests in Social Studies as they begin to make personal connections with historical figures. It's rewarding to see my students' interest increase. One thing in particular that I have changed is creating a smoother transition from my whole group to small group/independent instruction. From reading my coach's feedback, I realized I was releasing students too soon to work independently that they would often become lost or confused during the assignment. Since I've increased the "gradual release" model , I have prepared my students for greater success in the classroom. In Social Studies, I have taken lessons a little deeper by allowing students to make personal connections with historical figures and allowing them time for discussion. It was wonderful to hear my students talk about what they had learned about the civil rights efforts of previous leaders and connecting them to their personal civil rights.

 Our work with our action research project has increased opportunity for my students to create social change. When my students realized that we were going to do a fundraiser to raise supplies for our classroom they were very excited! My students instantly wanted to take on leadership roles to lead the effort of fundraising and they eagerly begin discussing the ways having supplies in our classroom could improve their classroom atmosphere. After being worried about the direction my action research project was going, my students and myself have become very interested in the possibilities of changing our class.

Lastly, I have to celebrate a young girl in my class named Asia. I haven't talked about her much in my blogs but she is someone that I come home thinking about almost everyday lately. Asia is a fun- loving, sweet and smart girl who is very thoughtful. One day she bought me an Oats and Honey breakfast bar from a fundraiser because she noticed that I eat one almost every morning. She is also the child that stops by my classroom every morning to see if she can help to sharpen pencils for me or prep work for the day. Overall, Asia is a great student with a caring spirit. Like many of us, Asia also struggles with her own personal issues. She was heavily bullied at one of her previous schools and has issues of anger and trust. Asia has had outburst against students, stormed out of the classroom and has even threatened another student. She expressed to me at her previous school that she was bullied by a sibling pair and in one of her previous classrooms, she lost control of herself and knocked over chairs and desks in her class. Needless to say if we were still doing the DRC, Asia would be the student I'd highlight. Last week, she and I had a private conversation before class started and I told her to let me know when she feels those rages of anger and to tell me if someone bothers her before she takes matters into her own hands. A few days after our conversation my class was out on the playground. One of my boys mistakenly threw a ball that hit Asia. Asia stormed towards me infuriated assuming that he had singled her out and attacked her on purpose. After she told me what happened,  I did something that I think threw her a little off guard....I thanked her. I told Asia that although she was angry she made the choice to come to me and talk to me about rather than impulsively react. I told her she made the right choice. Afterwards I told her to take a few deep breaths and explain to me what happened. Long story short...the boy was able to explain to Asia that he was aiming the ball at another boy to catch it and he mistakenly hit her, he apologized and Asia accepted. This was a HUGE step for Asia. She has been carrying around the emotions from being bullied with her all year. She has often found it difficult to trust her other classmates and control her anger. For her to make the conscious decision not to give in to her emotions when she was feeling angry was something to celebrate.

 Looking back I wished I had began to understand what Asia was struggling with earlier in the year. I realized it was because a lack of developing close relationships with my students and understanding who they are is people before rushing to teach them. One quote that has resonated with me in our course reading is from William Ayers "The first and fundamental challenge for teachers is to embrace students as three-dimensional creatures, as distinct human beings with hearts and minds and skills and reams and capacities of their own, as people much like ourselves" (Kridel, 2009). For the rest of the year I want to focus on understanding my students more not just as students, but what lives they have outside of the classroom, their past and their dreams for the future.  As I think ahead, I know next year when I return for a third year of teaching, I want to make sure I take more time to understand who my students are as young people, what they heart, what scares them and what they hope for. I believe if I establish those type of relationships earlier it will be amazing year.