Friday, October 23, 2015

Friday Musings: A Very Busy Week

It was an unusually busy week both personally and professionally.

The highlights of the professional week included students' showcase portfolio creations, a deep review of math assessments, math posters, and the continued success of our shared teaching model. Students continue to be happy and engaged, and I look forward to the chance to begin deepening our community by adding a few cozy chairs to the classroom, slowing down the pace a bit, differentiating instruction more, and letting students take the lead with regard to more choice and voice about team times and efforts.

The curriculum in math and STEAM have made a good start. There's so much that's available to teach, and the focus continues to target efforts to bolster students' learning to learn mindsets and behaviors as well as strengthening knowledge, concept, and skill related to the standards, other curriculum areas, current events, and students' interests.

I'm grateful for the great grade-level and specialist team I work with--a team that brings a myriad of skills, talents, and perspectives to our efforts to teach these 71 fifth graders with care and skill.

The greatest challenge is my desire to embed new learning, research, tools, and structures into the learning menu. I'm enthusiastic about developing schools and teaching in responsive, state-of-the-art ways including successful traditions and new ideas, yet it's often difficult to use new ideas in traditional structures of time, space, styles, and goals. I'll continue to think about this challenge, and if you have any ideas, let me know.

In the meantime, the weekend is here and it's time to catch up on other matters in life so I'm ready to return to the class with vigor next Monday. Onward.