"I want to be a leader in creating a place where each of you become more keenly aware of the possibilities in yourself, the people around you and the power of knowledge. In this place, I want us to find together a good way to live."
-Hello, classroom community! It is so important to me as a teacher to establish this thought with my students the moment they walk in the classroom. I want to create the place they feel comfortable, safe and reassured of their self worth. Yet, I also want my students to know that the respect that we all have for our classroom needs to be also for one another and for me as a teacher. I want to be able to lead my students but also be able to have my students come to me with their concerns with the way our classroom is being run.
"Our goal is to help each person and our class become as capable as possible."
Wow! This quote says to me that the teacher is place the power of the environment in the students hands. The responsibility to make sure that all students are successful and engage comes down to the students coaching themselves and their peer to succeed! This is so powerful and awesome!
"The energy level in the room is great as students talk with one another and the teacher about their ideas.."
I love that the teacher in the story notices the little things like allowing her student to stay in at lunch and work on their science projects with their peers. This allows the students share their hard work with their peers, have the freedom to move at their own rate, be successful on their own time and have the opportunity to communicate with their peers openly. Often times students during class time need to be quiet and hard working. A lot of students really want to share with their peers their ideas and success. Allowing for an open time at lunch for students to do this really boost their self esteem as well as keeps their focus during class time.
Students taking responsibility for their own learning is an important key...one I struggle with every semester.
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