We’ve been at school for four days, and I’ve realised that all the planning I did in preparation for this class was a complete waste of time (probably a realisation had better sooner rather than later). The programmes I had organised and wanted to do, the work I had set are all too hard. The children in my class (all of them) are far less independent than I had thought they would be, and a lot of them do not know how to ‘be’ in the classroom. It’s simple things that I’m picking up on - hanging up school bags, what to eat and when, setting up books neatly, writing on a single line, manners on the mat, lining up quietly, keeping our hands to ourselves, colouring inside lines or without major scribbling (I expect some, but I mean… come on!).
In order to combat some of these things, I have completely redesigned my learning programmes. However, I do not want to make them dependent on me, even more than they are. So, I have organised a system where students are allowed to choose two or three activities to complete for literacy and another set for numeracy. This should ensure that students are still able to have choice in their learning, a powerful tool, but I can also ensure that students are still completing work and meeting expectations more suited to their levels. Each week, students have 10 activities to complete, in addition to teacher time. Each day, they choose what they will complete that day, display them in the order they want to complete them in and get started when our workshops start. Once an activity has been completed, students have to move that activity into their completed boxes, to ensure that they are not completing the same activity all the time.
After a really, really tough day, I am hoping that by reorganising all of this (I have yet to do my planning, but that is tomorrow’s job), things will run a lot more smoothly tomorrow and my programme will be manageable and meet the social and academic needs of all the students.
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