Hey soon it's a new school year! Therefore as most teachers do, I am sure, I am reflecting on what I want to do differently this year or more of this year.
My students are very visual- I will continue to present using MS powerpoint (yes I have tried other tools including Prezi but I still like the most flexible visual presentation tool )
My files have many images that are clues to the classroom rules; students love that game.
I want to include more student generated research. For 3-5 I plan to ask each student or possibly pairs to research an "I wonder" question; they will have to make a presentation of their research within 2 classes. Great to have some done by Back to School Night for a Showcase. Hmmm...
Grades 1 and 2 are discovering what they can use that is in the library. We will look more closely at the atlases, map skills are fun in my book. Second grade moves into research with encyclopedia, note taking is part of this lesson.
Kinders are coming into school with less and less knowledge of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Sesame Street notwithstanding I hope to offer more of these language builders and social idea frames. By that I mean social expectations, not necessarily western "fairy tales". I do have a great collection of BigBook round the world tales that were given to me by a retiring teacher. so valuable.
New program for me is evaluation of student skills. I am still processing way to understand, score and improve student skills; I need a more formal evaluation for grade book purposes,
That's the first five weeks of school.
