Greenhills is G.R.E.A.T.!

I cannot believe that it is nearly the end of the week already! Days at school really do fly by. Reflecting on my first few weeks at Greenhills, it is safe to say that I have grown a lot already. The more lessons that I plan, the better I have become at knowing what is appropriate for their levels. I am also working on my classroom management skills. Tanya has been a great role model because she is always "switched on" and gets things done! She is also great with the students and encourages them to think for themselves first before she will help them. At the beginning of school, I found myself rushing to help anyone who needed help, but I have learned to hold back and let the students do the thinking.

Because I started with my students at the beginning of their school year, they sometimes still act very much like preps (kindergarteners). I have found that it is very important to give explicit directions and to model what is expected of them. There is also a lot of positive discipline and reinforcing the rules of the classroom. Each child has a paper person on the window and they put a dot sticker on it as a reward for good behavior. Once they get ten stickers on their person, they get to pick a prize from a prizebox with fun pencils, rubbers (erasers), etc. We have been working on the school's values "G.R.E.A.T. = Generosity, Respect, Enthusiasm, Acceptance, and Teamwork." We have read children's literature that covers these concepts and put together a booklet with activities each child completed for each of the five G.R.E.A.T. letters.

There are a handful of students who are more advanced than the rest of the class so their work is always finished way before anyone else. I have become pretty good at thinking up “challenges” for them to do that expands their thinking. At the library, I found a few books with ideas for activities for children to do when they finish early. I am in the process of combining those ideas with my own to make a box of slips with brain benders on them. I feel very passionately about not giving quick workers more worksheets to do when they are finished, because they are typically the ones that need the least repetitive practice.

On the other hand, there are four students who take almost double the time to finish their work. Two of them are “chatterboxes” as well as low-level writers and readers. We changed seats yesterday, and that has helped some people concentrate better. Tanya’s approach is to give the students more freedom so that they are able to self-monitor their behavior. She only steps in when someone is distracting others or obviously not doing their work.

Tanya has had a lot of training in the area of how the brain influences learning in children. We read the book “A Walk in the Rain with a Brain” which is about how every brain is different and how brains get stronger when you use them. I am going to do more research about the brain because it is a great way for students to feel empowered about learning and treating their brain in the best way.

I am looking forward to Monday because it will be my first full day of teaching. Up until then, I have done full afternoons or the entire literacy block. Over the upcoming weekend, I am going to get together a bunch of ideas for quick transitions to keep the kids going all day. For example, Tanya has the kids touch the door, get a drink, touch their chair, and then come back down and sit on the floor. Not only does this help develop their auditory recall and their ability to follow instructions, but it is also fun and gives them a quick break before they come back to learning. It is important to keep them active. During read-aloud, sometimes I will have them stand up and do a quick action that goes along with the story, such as flapping their arms like a bird. Other times, if a story is repetitive, I will have them read along with me.

It is a great feeling to be able to be in the classroom full-time and learn how to keep an entire day running smoothly. I love seeing what my students can create because they are so clever!