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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Questions for a Joyful, Kind and Reflective Classroom

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Over the summer I read a post by a teacher who asked her students in the morning class meeting what he/she was most looking forward to that day. I loved that question and the stage it set for each day in a classroom. I decided we'd use that in our morning meetings this school year.  As I continued to plan over the summer, I started to think about how all of our workshops have share times that could connect in some way. I wondered if we could connect learning across content with reflective questions that set the stage for joyful learning as well as reflection. With the help of Gretchen, our new literacy coach, I came up with a list of 10 questions to focus our conversations.  

I I wasn't sure how it would go but I created a sign for each question and posted the 10 questions in our meeting area. Before I even mentioned the question, kids were talking around them. They had noticed the questions and started thinking about them. So it has been easy to use these for general conversations and the kids have been amazing in the ways they are thinking about themselves in our classroom.  We use them throughout the day when we are gathered together for conversations.

I I have the questions posted and I plan to give them a copy of the questions on a single sheet for their notebooks.  These questions were a great way to kick off our school year and to help kids begin to think about what our year will be like. 

    What are you most looking forward to today as a   learner?

·         What do you have to celebrate today?

·         What did you learn about yourself as a learner today?

·         How were you kind today?

·        How did you get through something challenging today?

·        What do you understand today that you didn’t   understand before today?

·        What are you excited to share with someone today?

·        What did someone do to help you today?

·        How were you brave as a learner today?


·        How did your thinking change today?

9 comments:

  1. I love these questions! They make ME want to think about them and answer them for myself, too. ;-) I also love that you mentioned working with Gretchen. How great to be able to collaborate together. :-)

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  2. How were you BRAVE as a learner today? I love that! (all of them are great, but that one sticks with me today!)

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  3. Anonymous5:41 PM

    I love these! Like Holly, I want to think about them for myself, too. And look forward to reading some of the students' responses throughout the year.

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  4. LOVE how you are pulling all the shares into similar questions. I am excited to think more about this idea with Gretchen. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Great questions! I want to share them with the teachers at my school!

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  6. What a wonderful idea! I want to post these as a reminder to myself as well as my students. Thank you for sharing this.

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  7. Love this! Can't wait to post and share with our partner schools. Thank you.
    Clare and Tammy

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  8. These are so, so incredible, and I love everything they say about you, the community you are building, and the children you are building. Considering stealing this entirely ... :)

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  9. Love these questions! I am adding them to my list of questions for morning meeting and closing circle. Thanks for sharing!

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