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| Happy learning/teaching times are times when children are engaged. |
Children began the day with math practice, recess, and reading. Later they played instruments, experimented with salt, water, and eggs, investigated topics of choice, listened to read aloud, and viewed a wonderful one-man play about Ben Franklin's life.
It was also a fruitful planning day as I prepped lots of materials for the rest of the multiplication unit and the volume project to come.
I ordered more comfy chairs--the cost was worth the fact that we'll have less arguments over who gets a comfy chair and the team made plans for meetings and teaching to come.
I really like working with the team to craft a robust program, and to evaluate that program as we move along. For example this summer we laid a foundation for the new social studies standards with a beginning past-present-future timeline project and writing class constitutions. Later we visited Sturbridge Village and today we learned from the Ben Franklin presentation. Next students will dig into the study with more reading and writing.
Finally I was able to reorganize the room to support the physical science study with better material management and a focused organization for science explorations including a pattern of introduction, review of lab report, prep, explore/experiment, work on lab sheets, clean up, and share. The more students follow those steps, the better they will get at the process.
So with lots of good science, math, and ELA teaching/learning ahead, it's time to start the weekend. Onward.
