As I plan for the school year ahead, I keep thinking of that child--it's not one child, but it's the combination of factors the fourth grade teachers shared with me about the upcoming class, descriptors that include bright but doesn't show it, energized but doesn't always know where to put that energy, socially uncomfortable, great desire to play, needs repetition, not sure of where they fit in. . . .
I'm glad we had that chance in the spring to connect on who the students are because as I've read and planned all summer, I find myself thinking of what I'll do to make the classroom more welcoming, develop a strong caring team, scaffold the learning opportunities, provide extra help, and foster lots of positive play.
I'm sure that I'll learn a lot more about these students as the year takes hold. Our team will invite this knowledge in a large number of ways including playing games with the children, talking to them at recess, asking them to fill out surveys, asking their parents to fill out surveys, asking the children what they need, want, and desire, and lots of observation and questioning too.
I love the challenge to serve and partner with every child in the best possible ways--this is the part of the job I look forward to the most.
