Okay, so after reading the article from last week about the “two minutes, two times a week” theory my usual casual chit-chat was given educational value. I tend to get distracted my small talk conversation with a student when there is downtime (like walking in line down to PE), but now I don’t have to feel like it’s distracting from their education.
On the first day of school, I noticed one of my students was a bit of an ADHD candidate. He’s a sweet kid, but he can’t stay still for the life of him. I was talking with him on the second day of class on our way to the playground. I asked him what he likes to do outside of school. His eyes brightened up as he told me all about his electric bass and how his favorite bands are REM and The Cure. At this point, I totally understand him more. He’s the kid with the “cool parents” (read: Laissez-faire) and when he makes comments like, “I have no rules at home,” I really do believe him… for better or for worse.
Another thing I learned about my students is that you cannot judge a book by its cover. One of our new students, a little girl named ‘Soharia’, instantly seemed to be a “below level student”. My MT had me do the reading and math assessments with her to see where she was at within the school-wide assessment program. She was an amazing reader, at least two arbitrary levels above “normal” for her grade. An hour after her test, I learned that she is an ELL student as well. There is no English spoken at Soharia’s home. With such a disadvantage with the English language, she is still ABOVE grade level—and to think I thought less of her?!
One other thing that I learned about my students is that small groups really are more effective for some students. I was able to take 3 students to the back of the class during reading time. These three, normally very low performing students proved to be very interested and connected to their reading. They benefited so much from slowing the lesson down and really dissecting each page of the reading. It was their pace and they were taking ownership of their learning.
On the first day of school, I noticed one of my students was a bit of an ADHD candidate. He’s a sweet kid, but he can’t stay still for the life of him. I was talking with him on the second day of class on our way to the playground. I asked him what he likes to do outside of school. His eyes brightened up as he told me all about his electric bass and how his favorite bands are REM and The Cure. At this point, I totally understand him more. He’s the kid with the “cool parents” (read: Laissez-faire) and when he makes comments like, “I have no rules at home,” I really do believe him… for better or for worse.
Another thing I learned about my students is that you cannot judge a book by its cover. One of our new students, a little girl named ‘Soharia’, instantly seemed to be a “below level student”. My MT had me do the reading and math assessments with her to see where she was at within the school-wide assessment program. She was an amazing reader, at least two arbitrary levels above “normal” for her grade. An hour after her test, I learned that she is an ELL student as well. There is no English spoken at Soharia’s home. With such a disadvantage with the English language, she is still ABOVE grade level—and to think I thought less of her?!
One other thing that I learned about my students is that small groups really are more effective for some students. I was able to take 3 students to the back of the class during reading time. These three, normally very low performing students proved to be very interested and connected to their reading. They benefited so much from slowing the lesson down and really dissecting each page of the reading. It was their pace and they were taking ownership of their learning.
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