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Posts from the ‘September Snapshot’ Category

Sep 14

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Opportunities Abound

Consider seven surprises from the start of the year:

  1. A 6th-grade girl dancing and leaping like Isadora Duncan all by herself. Easily 100 yards away from everyone out in the fields by our school–a happy little pink speck twirling and flickering across the grass.
  2. An 8th-grade boy handed me a knitted blue heart on his way out of class and said “there’s a really interesting project going on with these”: The Peyton Heart Project.
  3. I saw $25 dollars in cash outside. I’m “used to” seeing kids’ smartphones left unattended outdoors, but we’re doing cash now?
  4. The student who said: “I. Am. SO. Going. To. Raid. Your. Bookcase.” 
  5. And then there is the email titled “Writing” from a student on Sept. 3rd.
  6. And the boy who wore a full Spiderman costume to Picture Day and the rest of the kids didn’t blink.
  7. And the magic that happens when we provide kids colored chalk, an asphalt surface, and time.

Educator’s curate and plan. Administrators curate and plan. The top-down model of “doing business” is real. Yet, so much of our vocation is steeped in holistic responses–the “intimate and inexplicable connections”–generated within our small communities.

The seven surprises shared above may seem unconnected but that isn’t true. They all have something in common.

Me.

I was there.

And each act of creativity, sincerity, or folly can be impacted by my responsiveness…or silence.

I haven’t shared if or how I may have responded, but I know I can be better. I am reminded that, even after twenty-five years in the classroom, we have so much to learn…and give.

Opportunities to give emerge in unexpected ways every day.

Sep 1

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September Snapshot – Classroom Scavenger Hunt

Happy September and welcome back to school! In an effort to tap into the wealth of knowledge our PAWLP team has to offer, we are running a regular feature focused on sharing ideas about how we start the school year. Please check in daily to enjoy our September snapshots. If you are interested in contributing one yourself, please contact us!

The Classroom Scavenger Hunt

For years I, like many teachers, spent time early in the school year telling students about the various resources available to them around the classroom. I wanted them to feel comfortable and orientated right from the first week. However, for years, I had students asking where to find the bathroom hall pass in October, or how to sign a book out of the classroom library in November, or where they could sharpen their pencils in December.

So, a few years back I designed a classroom scavenger hunt. As you can see from the image, the hunt invites students to study a map of the classroom, move around the space themselves, and discover through investigation where and what resources are available to them.

scavenger hunt.PNG

I gamified this activity by borrowing an idea Read more

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