The Start of a Success Story
1/13/2018
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Richard Branson says, "Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision, and change." I am sure that a combined kindergarten first grade classroom midyear is not what you had envisioned for your child's school year. I know our sweet little ones did not expect to welcome 11 first graders into our cozy classroom of 7. However, I am positive that we will all grow as a result of this change and that we will be stronger and more successful as a result of it. "Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision, and change." Building structure and routine is something that we spend a lot of time on in the beginning of the school year and typically only review midyear. I know it can be overwhelming, and even frustrating, to focus on structure and routine midyear. (And I know that change itself is often overwhelming, frustrating, and uncomfortable.) That being said, it is the structure and routine that will allow me to simultaneously teach kindergarten and first grade and meet the needs of all of my students, to challenge the students who need to be challenged and give support to the students who need support. The routines and structure are integral to making any classroom run smoothly, but will be especially important for our newly combined classroom. I want to make sure that your child will continue to be engaged and learning all day, whether they are working as a whole group, independently, or individually or in small groups with me or Mr. Redhead. For this reason, I am taking the time to ensure that students know what is expected of them and how to meet those expectations. Although it might be frustrating right now, this will pay off for the rest of the year in our combined classroom. Our kindergarten and first grade students have a tremendous responsibility to focus on their job or task (while other students are doing other jobs and tasks), listen to and follow directions the first time, work independently while I am working with other students, and transition from one activity or task to another calmly, quickly, and quietly. I am so proud of our kindergartners, who for the most part, have been an excellent example for the first graders. They have had many opportunities to make mature and responsible choices, and they have done so almost every time. I am a proud teacher! In reading, we are practicing building our stamina as a whole group, and we grew our stamina from 2 1/2 minutes to 7 minutes. Kindergarten can sustain independent reading for longer than 7 minutes, so practicing with the whole group solidifies the concept that we are a community of learners that needs to support each other and work together to learn and grow. Our kindergartners were a great help in explaining and modeling our reading expectations to our first graders. Thank you for your trust, patience and understanding as we build this new community of learners. I look forward to when we can all look back and see this as a success story.
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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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