Show and Tell

One of their favorite parts of the week is show and tell. I personally think it's a materialistic waste of time, but they love it and who am I to rain on their parade?
Usually I just facilitate but today I had something to share...it was time for them to meet the happy gram. All of my dorkiness somehow made it seem like the coolest thing in the world - exactly the effect I was looking for.
After sharing we open the floor for questions or comments.
"Did you make it?" a boy asked.
"Yup," I said, in true 2nd grader fashion.
"Cool!" they replied.
I just about fainted.
Something I did was cool.
Miracles happen everyday...

We focus too much on the negative behavior in our classroom.
Even when I say, "I really appreciate how so and so is sitting," most of the time it's not for the purpose of complimenting that student, but getting a majority of the others to also sit.
We use too much sarcasm.
The 'good kids' - who are attentive and actually participate - get looked over.
If I were them I would start acting out just to get some damned attention.

Tomorrow that will change.
I will go to school armed with happy grams - blank note cards decorated with stickers and magic markers that will be put in kids' homework folders when they have a particularly good day, telling their parents something specific that their child excelled at that day.
I'm going to figure out how to modify and steal Amy's lottery idea to meet the needs of my students and I'm going to email professors for ideas of other ways to positively reinforce behavior that fosters more intrinsic motivation...
Something has got to break.
Most days I hate our classroom - they've got to, too.
I've got 5 weeks left to change that.

Where I Am Today

In a large city in Minnesota teaching at an inner city reform model school.
Stories of my successes and failures as a teacher trying to find herself in her classroom will be documented here as I have the energy to post them.