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August 29, 2005
Great Beginnings
The year has begun and we are working through the rough spots that show up when schedules are put to the test. A/B day has been a little confusing but the kids are working together to make sure everyone understands (including Mrs. Wooten and myself). Our new students are getting the grand tour on the fly and everyone is settling down to the procedures of how everything works.
We worked on an interesting thinking map last week entitled “How We are Similar and Different” in small groups. I assigned seating so many of the students are just now getting to know each other. The discussions were interesting and the comparisons and contrasts told us a lot about each other. In Social Studies we study other religions, customs, and traditions and the students will hear me say over and over again that it is not our job to judge others – simply to learn from them. Even though we engage in a healthy study of major world religions – we study it as academics and not practitioners. This activity also went a long way in furthering the idea of effective group work and showed the students what materials are available to them to help ensure their success.
We have STAR tested in Language Arts and are preparing to begin our AR component. Student’s goals are set and they are learning how we utilize AR on a daily basis. In Social Studies we have begun learning about the available resources and discussing how great it is that our text book comes on a CD so the kids do not have to take their book home.
We began our Autobiographical Poems today and will be using the digital camera tomorrow. We will also be looking at classroom jobs. My motto is “Everybody needs a job.” With all that is going on in class, I need all the help I can get!
Posted by hlperson at August 29, 2005 08:27 PM