As I begin my reading, I am reminded of how important it is that we, as educators, provide rich literacy experiences for our students. It is true that more and more children enter school lacking many of the basic early literacy experiences that we would expect them to have been exposed to. And so, it is even more vital that we provide opportunities that immerse them in quality literature on a daily, ongoing basis.
We must also keep in mind that as we advocate for children, we must keep our expectations high and believe that all things are possible. Let's not start off another school year checking and chatting over each other's class rolls to "warn" others about students that we share. Let's give ourselves and our students the opportunity to demonstrate and discover strengths within our learning communities from the very start of the school year.
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Great point, Christy!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree:)!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Christy about looking over the class rolls before we even meet the children. And who is to say that the child and last years teacher just didn't hit it off. Let's start them all off on the same playing field with no preconceived ideas, knowing they all can learn and be successful. Meet them where they are and take them forward.
ReplyDeleteChristy, I totally agree with your point about not discussing class rolls. Every child deserves a fresh start every year. I think we should stick with the motto "if you can't say something positive, don't say it at all". We need to start each child's year with a clean slate. Every child comes into our classrooms with their own strengths and weaknesses, but it's up to us to give them all an equal opportunity to grow and learn.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with not discussing class rolls. Children do deserve that fresh start each school year. I do think it is helpful, though, to be told by administrators when you have parents that need to be handled with "kid" gloves. That happened to me this year and I think I would have handled it differently had I known the parent had had issues in the past.
ReplyDeleteI too agree with this, Sandy! I had a parent that no one warned me about, and they had some expectations that I might have done better with, had they been mentioned to me before that first day of school! Maybe a comment on the parents, without any negatives regarding the students, right?
ReplyDeleteSo often things can change over a summer and the child is "ready" to learn and participate in ways he could not or would not the previous year.
I really agree with Regie and all of you that maintaining the positive is crucial!