3/20/19

Today was one of those teaching days that I live for!  Yes, we learned about invertebrates and vertebrates, about radial, bilateral, and asymmetry, about similes and hyperboles, and more... but my absolute favorite lesson of the day was a surprise.  You see, last week, I gave these students a hefty at-home work load.  They had a lot of writing to do, a presentation to write and create, literature questions to answer, chapters to read... it was a lot, and I knew it!  As one student finished up his presentation, he looked up and announced, "I just want you all to know that I lost my Nintendo Switch privileges over these paragraphs.  I didn't want to do them, and I got in trouble!"  With that, the class all just stared in amazement.  I could tell they were all thinking, "What?  I'm not the only one who struggles with assignments?!"  I thanked the brave student for his honesty, and took this time to have a very real discussion.

I explained that I knew this week was a tough one... but I wanted to push them just a bit.  I asked the class to raise their hands if they had cried, struggled, gotten mad, or gotten in trouble due to assignments in the past month.  Everyone except two raised their hands, and a wave of relief crossed the room.  We talked about how struggles and bumps and painful work weeks are important to help us grow.  If we were never challenged, we would never improve.  As a teacher, I believe that it is important to have balance in the classroom.  Too much of a challenge is overwhelming and stressful, which is not conducive to learning.  Too little challenge creates academic stagnancy.  I like to intentionally and appropriately challenge and reward in order to help the kids grow and improve without feeling inadequate or full of anxiety!




We also talked about how everyone seems to feel that they are the only ones struggling, and that everyone else surely has it "together".  They were surprised to know that even adults do this!  I asked them, "How many of your parents cry out that everyone else's houses are clean, so why can't we keep OURS clean?!"  They all laughed.  This was the case for everyone!  We all seem to put others up on a pedestal and think that we are the only ones that can't be perfect.  In my opinion, the lessons learned from today's impromptu lessons were incredibly important.  I love my job!




















The geography presentations on Asia were excellent!  We enjoyed oral presentations, Power Point presentations, posters, and even some amazing food from the Philippines!  We're wrapping up our Asia unit next week.




The class just wrapped up Shackleton's Stowaway and completed multiple essays along the way.  As a fun wrap-up, we are putting away the pencils and creating dioramas of a scene from the book.  This book was a challenge for many of the students, and they did an amazing job!  We have only one more literature book left this year: Swiss Family Robinson!






Pysanky eggs have been completed!  The kids spent their art time today melting off the beeswax to reveal the beautiful colors underneath.  This class rocked their pysanka this year!  I am so impressed.  It takes patience and focus... and delayed gratification.  I love teaching the art of pysanky!