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Mo’s Kids Are Our Kids -2
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5 thoughts on “Mo’s Kids Are Our Kids -2”
Balance is what is needed. At first glance, the school where I work is well mannered but there are many students facing problems of pressure, economic issues and other things not mentioned.
I hung out with my level ones a lot last year. Was is best practices? No! I connected with a few but this is an area I am trying to improve on. What is the point if your super stars do not bring you joy in class? What is the point if your superstars are tracking your every single word if they think that it’s all that you care about?
Yes. I choose to focus on the relationships in class to uplift the forgotten kids. The ones not on the face of the institutions and media.
Why can’t more teachers think like you!! Through our human interactions we create a community that WANTS to learn because we believe in them! I have really stopped focusing on what we are learning and have learned to laugh and enjoy each class. We are still working but at a slower pace which suits everyone. It is not a race but a journey!
Polly said:
…it is not a race but a journey!…
This gets to the bone marrow of what we do. So many teachers think it’s about the gains made by the students. It’s not. It’s far more grand than that. And it can’t be measured. The race to become the best, the fastest, the richest, the smartest, to get the most Pokemons – all those things are about to unravel. Polly’s is no idle comment.
I’m allowing myself all sorts of room to do exactly this:
“Maybe our kids need more of our human attention in class. Maybe they need, in class, to have a more personal relationship with us and with their peers. Maybe they need more human interaction and less language interaction going in our classes. Maybe we need to figure out ways to get our instruction compelling enough so that a real community forms in our classrooms instead of all of us accepting the old mantle of stressed out language teacher whose real goals are the ACTFL proficiency levels.”
Just finished day 5, no targets, no lesson plans* aside from a cryptic list I put on the board to make it look like I have a plan. ” 1) Chime time 2) check-in 3) activity 1 4) activity 2….etc
Chime time and check in are done in English. “Activity 1” and “Activity 2” are in Spanish and right now that means OWI and on Monday we did “weekend chat” which was 2 truths and a lie using only “I went” as a structure. Not gonna lie, I stink at OWI. And that’s ok bc I get to start over the next day with a new actor / image, etc. I’m enjoying not having to focus on a structure and making myself slow the heck down. Kids have been great signalers to help me with this! Yippee.
Bottom line, I am facilitating interaction whether it’s Spanish or English and keeping it light and training procedures because we all need safety (emotional especially) in the room. Today I had them circle up in their groups and gave them 2 mins to “find out a fun fact about each person in the group”. In English. I sat back and smiled while they all chatted happily. Then we got in the big circle and practiced “listen without talking” while they shared. It’s fun. Honestly fun for me and so I think for them.
I’m exhausted but “good happy tired” and that is because I don’t do transitions well (still putting together my space and figuring out how it flows best). And I ran out of chairs bc kids kept dropping out of French to join my class. That makes me feel a bit queasy bc it is not my intention to eviscerate the French program.
Next week I will hammer down on my intractable lunch time space for me to go outside and space out and to leave school early since my infrastructure will be more settled!
* at faculty mtg today we got the orders to “upload our lesson plans and unit plans to the “google doc or drive” or whatever because they need that for our upcoming NEASC interrogation. I’m trying not to think about that now, since I want to connect with the kids. But I will have some serious documentation to do soon. Including a buncha rubric-y stuff with “measurable outcomes” and such. Hm. Yeah.
Jen said:
…I am facilitating interaction whether it’s Spanish or English and keeping it light and training procedures because we all need safety (emotional especially) in the room….
Jen used the term “emotional safety” last spring, I remember it. I like it. We should use it a lot. Without it, we have nothing, no gains. And yet we keep talking about and focusing on gains as if they can be accomplished with no consciously planned regard for a child’s emotional safety.