It was really nice seeing the students after the Turkey Break. Our morning greeting was filled with hugs, especially since the week prior to the break half the students were absent due to a COVID outbreak. All the students wanted to know if I was teaching a lesson and actually sounded disappointed when I told them that they were going to have to wait until next week. I'm going to miss these kids soooooo much, they are the sweetest kids on the planet.
My MT was absent today and I guess it was a last minute thing because there was a bit of confusion as to who the sub was going to be. I was able to get the student in the room with their regular greeting which includes either a wink, air hug, wave, or elbow bump. The students are programed to their morning routine and settled into eating their breakfast and doing their morning work. The sub was able to get all her technology in place while the students were doing their morning work. Just to give you an idea of how use to the routine the students are, when the sub was about to jump into her assignment that she had for them this morning the student were quick to remind her that they did not go over the calendar and the weather. because she was not familiar with what they are use to, I was happy to step in an do that part of the day with them. We went over the date and the day of the week, we sang the days of the week song and we talked about the weather. When that was over and the students were happy they did a part of what they were use to, the sub did remind them that they should not expect everything to be the same as when their regular teacher is in the classroom but that they should expect to have a fun and productive day.
Fun and productive it was. It was awesome to observe another teacher in the classroom that has a completely different teaching style. She was incredible. Her teaching style was very relaxed, but she still had a high level of behavioral expectations for the students. I was able to help out so much more today and I enjoyed every minute of it. As a gift to the class, I purchased four books from the website that we created in 4570 for the class to have in their library. Towards the end of the day the sub chose one of the books that I gifted the class and had them write a narrative on the story and draw a picture. The book is called The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson. National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner Rafael López have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone. The students were really into the book and I was able to insert a few critical thinking questions at the end of the book that I believe added to the read aloud. For example, "what is the illustrator trying to express by using rulers in the pictures?" I believe the important message of this book is not to measure yourself to anyone else because you are perfectly perfect just the way you are.
The students were required to write on a time in their life when they felt like any of the characters in the book. Some of the students were able to finish their writing before the school day was over and I read some of them. One of the little girls that may be one of the lower performers in the class wrote that she felt like the characters in the book when someone bullies her. I asked her if she has ever been bullied at school and she said no, because it was the end of the day I was not able to elaborate, but I hope to talk to her about it more next week. It's very interesting how one story can bring the most out of the quietest person in the room.
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