How in the world did it get to be December? I am shaking my head in disbelief at how quickly this school year has gone. Maybe it is because I adore the students. We laugh...a lot. We share, we work hard, we exhale, we laugh some more. We recently had the fifth grade students in for their preview visit. They spend a day with a sixth grade buddy seeing what middle school is like. I can scarcely remember these young people behaving as timidly as their fifth grade counterparts. Middle school has brought to them independence, responsibility, and freedom. Guiding them along through the day-to-day activities seems to be a harried cycle of scheduled commitments. Stepping back, however, I realize just how well they are doing as young people. They have adapted to the challenges set before them. Many are developing into leaders, assisting their peers who are struggling with the volume of work.
Reflection need not only be about ways to improve. It is also an effective tool for acknowledging successes. Recognizing the positives helps me to feel good about what I do day in, day out, year-round. The time I spent preparing for the year while on my so-called vacation was worth the effort. I'm confident that the impact of the course of learning is an exceptional one for many of the students I am teaching. I am, interestingly, less concerned with the details of the content area (How much has their writing improved? Is the prewriting process effective? Are they using resources to attend to details? Are they comprehending and transferring literary elements to understanding of a story?) than I am with who they are as individuals and whether they are developing the skills necessary to meet success head on. Through it all, I'm still here, laughing my head off at the response from one of them when I complimented him on his effective use of planning. "Strong with the force, I am," said he. Indeed.
Reflection need not only be about ways to improve. It is also an effective tool for acknowledging successes. Recognizing the positives helps me to feel good about what I do day in, day out, year-round. The time I spent preparing for the year while on my so-called vacation was worth the effort. I'm confident that the impact of the course of learning is an exceptional one for many of the students I am teaching. I am, interestingly, less concerned with the details of the content area (How much has their writing improved? Is the prewriting process effective? Are they using resources to attend to details? Are they comprehending and transferring literary elements to understanding of a story?) than I am with who they are as individuals and whether they are developing the skills necessary to meet success head on. Through it all, I'm still here, laughing my head off at the response from one of them when I complimented him on his effective use of planning. "Strong with the force, I am," said he. Indeed.