Monday, March 12, 2018

31 Teaching Truths

Photo by Fischer Twins via Unsplash
12. Improvise. (A mashup of yesterday's Mix It Up and The Power of Routines from the day before.)

There was an unused spot at the top of the word study section of our big language arts bulletin board last fall. On a whim, I used one 12x18 sheet of paper to write "Be" and another next to it to say, "_______". Our first word was AWESOME. We started the year being awesome.

Somewhere along the line, we decided it was time to change up the word, and at some point it was decided that would happen when we change desks/spots every two weeks. The person who chose the word gets to choose the next person.

A routine was born, not because I planned for it, but because I accidentally made the space for the class to invent it. We improvised. We made it up as we went. It's one of our favorite routines because it's 100% ours. (Bonus payoff--it keeps us looking at the word study section of our language arts bulletin board!)

So far this year we have encouraged each other to Be...

awesome
creative
respectful
cool
responsible
positive
calm
risk-takers





2 comments:

  1. Some of the best things happen when the kids run the show. My students are handling the quote of the day and the date on the board. I never say a word. It just happens. These kinds of things build a class community.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is my favorite 'Truth' so far. Thank you. =)

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