A Little Perspective
9/26/2018
Word scientists. Mathematicians. Writers. Readers. Inventors. Explorers. Stop motion movie makers. I refer to our little ones as all of these things throughout the day, and it works a little magic. Suddenly, our kindergartners do not just see themselves as kindergarten students. They start to see themselves as the things I call them, as scientists, explorers, mathematicians, writers, and readers. This week, we studied authors' works from our book bins to get ideas for our own nonfiction work. "Oh, we're authors," one of our sweet little ones said when I told them we would study other authors' stories today. Another excitedly told me that he is an author and that he even wrote a book at home because he's an author. He offered to bring it in and read it to us. Perspective is a powerful thing. If we trust that our students are the things we want them to be and can achieve more than they think, they trust it as well... and they meet (and exceed!) our high standards and expectations. One of my favorite quotes about teaching says, "My teacher thought I was smarter than I was, so I was." I love that. It so perfectly sums up what most teachers aim to do for their students, what high standards and expectations with just the right scaffolding do for students. It transforms them. They are no longer just students or 5 year-olds. They ARE scientists. They are writers. They are explorers, mathematicians, and readers. They are inventors and stop motion moviemakers. When we truly believe it, they truly believe it. And when they believe it, they can do amazing things.
The Gift of Reading
9/17/2018
One of the most exciting things I get to do as your little one's kindergarten teacher is teach them how to read. I hope to help each and every one of my students fall in love with books, with traveling to another place and experiencing an adventure within it's pages, empathizing with the characters: laughing, crying, celebrating. I have always loved reading. I am mesmerized by the way authors craft a great story and carefully string words together to make it sound just right. Reading teaches us new things, transports us to new places, opens up new worlds to us, shows us new perspectives, and shares people's stories with us. As an educator (and lover of words), it is always one of my goals to share the wonder and joy of reading with my students. Kindergarten is an especially fun and important grade in which to do this because kindergartners find such joy in not only the stories we read, but in discovering that they can, in fact, read! They start the year thinking, "We can't read!," and quickly transition to using the pictures to read independently (to approximate reading or retell stories) and then finally to reading the text. In just these first few weeks of school, I have already seen tremendous growth in our little ones' reading skills and stamina, and perhaps more importantly, in the joy that they find during independent reading. "Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift." |
Saania AliMs. Ali graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. She specializes in Early Childhood Education, ESL, and Special Education. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, and painting! Archives
April 2021
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