Sunday, November 18, 2012

Staying in the Game

Friday was a good day. I wrote a few weeks ago about a student who wants to do better than what he currently knows. I was able to connect this student with a friend of mine in the computer world. The picture is one I will treasure. I look forward to watching this young man grow and reach for his hopes, dreams and goals! 

I finally treated myself yesterday to a much needed massage. I have to laugh at myself. During the massage, I found it quite difficult to relax and not try to help the masseur with moving my arm or leg. He kept having to repeat- this is my job, relax, let me do this. Funny for the massage but not so funny when I stop to think how I am like this with students. I am the one directing them, trying to get them to understand that being in the computer lab is not about coolmathgames.com! Even the 1st graders ask to play this game. Old habits are hard to break. I feel like I am making progress in the rituals and routines department and for some classes with the blogging I've started. The 4th graders were excited to hear they could jump on the blogs if they have Internet access at home. This made my day! I had older students going to the younger student's blogs and giving them some comments. It was cool to hear them say, "I had a seventh grader comment on mine!" 

I was observed through our districts LEAP program week before last during the seventh grade class. The peer observer and I sat down a few days later to reflect upon what he saw. We talked about how the blogging is teaching them HOW to communicate. The group he watched are middle school students. These students want to be heard but honestly have no idea how to do it in a way that will give them positive results. The blogging they've done, at times, is less than what I expect and want but I have to realize it is a start. I reached out to the world via social media and was able to have them walk in the room last week and see they all had comments from other people. They were heard. I hope to continue this for just a bit longer and then get them on some digital storytelling. I won't completely abandon the blogging but need to keep it fresh and engaging in my room. 

I feel like I'm all over the place with this post but that's how I am these days with my thinking. I have a million ideas, thoughts and feelings that flow through me each moment and it's hard to organize and capture them at times. I woke this morning at the usual 5 AM (darn body clock) and was able to get to my Google Reader- came across this blog post by Vicki Davis- "You May be the walking wounded, but Teacher, stay in the game!" that made my morning!!! I love being reminded that I am not alone and even though I don't hear it said outright, I'm helping kids. The important lesson I'm now being reminded of (heard it from a friend on a personal level a couple weeks ago) - How people feel is sometimes better shown not directly said.


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