Although we hope that our students’ learning won’t stop just because school does, it’s good to help them reach a sense of closure during the last few weeks of the year. Good endings leave students with feelings of pride in their growth, a strong sense of themselves as capable learners, and excitement about the learning communities they’ll build during the next school year.
Here’s a handful of quick, fun, and easily do-able ways to achieve those good endings.
Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting is a great way to set a positive tone for the day of learning ahead while also having fun and building community. It’s also a great way to give students rich experience with the language arts. Into each meeting component—greeting, sharing, group activity, and morning message—teachers can incorporate quick, engaging language arts activities that offer practice in skills and concepts students have been learning or that pique their interest in new skills and concepts they’ll soon be introduced to.
The beginning of the school year is a time for building relationships. I purposefully plan morning meetings, energizers, and other activities so students get to know each other and so our class community can begin to develop. I spend time observing, working with, and talking with students so I can learn more about them both personally and academically. But a few years ago I realized I was neglecting an important relationship at the beginning of the school year—my relationship with my students' families.
I teach a class of fourth graders with a span of academic skills, developmental characteristics, and cultural and economic backgrounds. If I had to describe what makes such a diverse class work and learn together productively, I’d start with one word: Relationships.
The relationships we form with each other are the foundation for a strong learning community. People who know and care about each other are more likely to listen to each other with respect, to support each other in taking the risks inherent in learning, and to show compassion when mistakes are made.
"Maybe we'll get to teach in February." That's been the joke at my school after snow, ice, and extreme cold, plus holidays and teacher workdays meant that last month we had only nine full days of school!
Recently I've been thinking about how enthusiastically the students in my class take on challenges, and how challenging them has helped us build a more positive community and made learning more fun for all of us.
Scanning around our Morning Meeting circle, I noticed that students' eyes were riveted on the sharer—all except for Justin, a child with a high need for sensory input and physical movement. Justin was ramping up. His eyes were flashing from me to the sharer. His hands were flapping, and he was beginning to lean towards the student sitting next to him. I knew I had to intervene before his behavior escalated and disrupted our Morning Meeting.
When they are working towards a common goal, engaged in a fascinating topic, or trying to figure out a solution for a meaningful problem, students feel more connected to school and each other. Engaged learners have lots to talk about, including discoveries and interesting facts, experiments, predictions, and what they are looking forward to learning next. Here are some ideas for planning units or lessons that will foster this powerful sense of connection through learning.
One afternoon in late October, my third grade class laughed together for the first time this year. It happened as we were getting ready to transition from science to math. "Okay," I said, "we need to put away our ecosystem books, our papers and pencils, and then make a standing circle in our meeting area. How long do you think it will take?"
"30 minutes!" Owen yelled immediately.
We asked four Responsive Classroom consultants,
Here are their responses:
So you want to reduce the amount of time that your students are required to sit and to give them more chances to move. Could you build more movement into your lessons?
Here's one idea. Let's say you've just taught a lesson on subtraction with regrouping, and now you want students to practice. Instead of passing out a sheet of problems and having everyone sit at their desks, post chart papers around the room with a couple of problems on each chart. Students move from chart to chart with clipboards, solving the problems and recording their work.
I wrote last week about things you can do to ease classroom stress during testing and other high-anxiety times. Here are three more tips for keeping the atmosphere of your classroom calm and productive!
It’s spring, and end-of-the-year-testing looms. The children are stressed.You’re stressed. You need to ease the tension—but how?
