The second semester is always a time of wonder and sadness for me as a teacher. It is rewarding to see the growth of the community we have worked the first half of the year to establish. Today I passed out the first vocabulary sheets of this semester. The students grabbed dictionaries, thesaurus, pencils, and clip boards. As I wandered the room I quickly realized I was of minimal use. Don't get me wrong, I am earning my keep today, but for this activity the students were very self-sufficient. They were able to find the words, decide on the definition, add prefixes and suffixes to create new words, draw an example, and find a synonym. This is what it is about. And this is where I start to let go of their hands. I start to think of their next step in education and their journey after my classroom.
I am so proud of your students and their ability to take responsibility for their own learning. I continued to wander and redirect a conversation that had morphed from the vocabulary word to a bit off topic. I commented on pictures I had not thought of as examples and verified or denied prefix words. Take a moment today to talk with your student about their responsibility in their own learning and what a difference that makes in their life. Reinforce persistence to a task, effort, and doing your best work. Thank you for sharing your children with me each day so I can continue to do what I love...teach!
