*One of our goals for this blog is to make a greater effort to share more about our teaching practices and the learning opportunities that go on in our classrooms. There’s no time like the present, so, let’s get started!
Our third full week of school is now underway (how time flies!) and it is so exciting to see how wonderfully our classroom community has developed already! During our first weeks of school we participated in several activities that allowed us to get to know each other, settle on classroom rules and expectations, and practice using manners, so that our classroom community is a healthy and happy place to learn.
On the first day of school we worked together to create our classroom rules. In order to build a strong community, each student must feel ownership over, and connected to, our rules. Together we created a long list to do’s and not to do’s, but quickly noticed that we could condense our many ideas into 3 basic rules that we can all remember:
1. Be kind
2. Be safe
3. Always do your best
We created a poster together and everyone signed it as a pledge to follow the rules in our classroom.
Students created their own name tags, which allowed them to use colors, lettering and designs they preferred. This was a fun and simple way for me to learn a little more about each child.
Buddy checking was introduced right away, and will be used regularly throughout the school year, particularly during math. When students finish their assignment, they gather on the big blue spot and join together with the first available person to check their work. The pair (or group of 3) will sit side by side, and TOGETHER, check EACH of their responses. If a student pair notices that their answers differ, they work through the problem again together to determine which answer is correct.
Well done, buddy checkers!!!
We’re O’fish’ally in First Grade! Ba-dump-bump! 😉 Together we created our classroom bulletin board by painting fish name tags with watercolors. This also served as an opportunity to learn how to treat some of our art supplies and build on our painting skills. I am SO impressed with how carefully our students treat the supplies, the great craftsmanship they use when they paint, and how helpful and responsible they are when it comes time to clean up.
In first grade we use ACTIVE LISTENING. Active Listening is such an important skill, and it requires learners to use 5 different body parts.
Ears- should be listening to what the speaker is saying
Eyes- should be watching the speaker
Brain- should be thinking about what the person is saying
Hands- should be still, or raised if you have a question
Mouth- should be quiet
After introducing active listening, students worked in groups to create classroom posters explaining each body part’s job. These posters now hang in our room as colorful, creative reminders of how to use Active Listening.
In addition to the activities above, we’ve participated in a few other community building activities. We’ve played fun games that helped us learn each others’ names and provided team building opportunities. Before we head home we review our schedule and reflect upon our day. During this time each student has the opportunity to share their favorite learning activity with the class. Feel free to ask your child what their favorite learning of the day was when they get home. Lastly, one of our favorite community activities is our end of the day dance parties. While they don’t happen every day, we make every effort to pump up the tunes and show off our dance skills whenever we can. We had a lot of shy wallflowers during our first few dance parties, but just about everyone bounces around now!
We are off to such a strong start, and I am so excited to continue building our classroom community throughout the year!
