Respect

Today we worked in stations and accomplished much. The stations were set up to incorporate technology (a game using shapes to make figures on I pads), sentence study, direction following skills, and sight word studies. Working in stations creates a productive and organized classroom. The students cheer when they get reminded that its centers day.

In my station we worked on following directions. Students were attentive and followed directions well, for the most part. When N came to my station, he started out by saying that he didn’t want to do the activities. I let him know that everyone has a choice and even if he decided not to do the activity, I expected him to remain seated and be in control. When I gave directions to color the turkey’s neck orange, he would color the neck blue. There were multiple instances where N semi listened but altered the directions. I was concerned that other students would follow suit, but they didn’t. They were happy to follow the directions as given.

I noted my desire to make N follow the directions without variation, but I also know him and know that pushing him rarely results in better behavior. So I loosened up and let him do his thing. I noticed that even though he wasn’t following the directions perfectly, he was listening and on task. As a teacher, I felt like I needed to acknowledge his rebel heart and let him express himself, as long as it was done in a safe and respectful way. Later on in the day, I sat down next to him and we worked on flash cards. It was productive and peaceful, more so than I expected. I’d like to think when I give, he will give, but that pattern hasn’t been consistent.

During stations I also noted how some children were using environmental text to help them spell. The students were asked to write the word on. We decided that o was the correct first letter and when C got stuck on the second letter, he started looking around the room. I noticed his eyes fell on the calendar which had November written across the top. He stared for a while, then returned to his paper and wrote a capital N. I asked him how he came up with that and he told me he match the end sound of on with the beginning sound of November. I appreciated seeing his thought process in action.

The field experience is flying by. I am still enjoying.