Back in the grind…

So today I headed back into the grind of regular life. It was actually kind of nice to come back and be a part of school again. Aside from a little virus blip on Scott’s computer it was actually a pretty nice day too. The kids were relatively sane… but then again we were also missing three so that could have been another compounding factor as to why today seemed so calm. Today what I tried to be more mindful of was something that came out of my last observation and that is to be more transparent in my thinking. Deciding I would be more mindful of it, led me to try something new…And the crazy thing is, I think it might actually have worked. During independent reading time four boys self selected to be sitting on the couch; seeing that I said, “ I’m going to share my thoughts with you about your seating arrangement. It doesn’t seem to be the best idea and I would maybe try to come up with another one.” Then I resumed working while (obviously) still watching them. Low and behold, IT WORKED. One of the boys left the couch and sat on the floor… So feeling good, I tried it with a group of girls who were sitting in a line against the wall all near each other. “Girls, I’m going to tell you that I don’t think that is our best idea for independent reading. I would maybe think of a different one” Slightly different wording but same idea… ANDDDDD….. it didn’t quite work as well. They all stayed sitting next to each other but aside from a few giggles seemed to actually be reading. The kids are now over in Emily’s room watching a movie so I doubt I will get another chance to try this new way of teaching today but I will continue to try to think about it and implement it in the coming days….