What a great first week of school! This week we focused on building an inclusive, collaborative, and reflective community in our classroom. We started getting into the routine of starting the day off with morning meeting. This is the time of the day when each student is greeted by another student, everyone gets a chance to share with the group, and it is a time when we all participate in a team-building game. A class favorite is Mum Ball!
Each day, I switched up table groups so that everyone in the class had a chance to work together to accomplish different group tasks. One task that each group completed was building a marshmallow tower. The goal was to build the tallest tower using only half a bag of marshmallows and as many toothpicks as needed in 30 minutes. The teamwork that I witnessed was inspiring! I heard the following comments as groups worked together: "Don't rush, take your time," "This is looking good, guys," "I think we need more support," "How can we make it stick more?" "I think we should have a Plan B," "I really like your idea." They were really thinking like engineers!
We also thought deeper and deeper about our goals for the year. Everyone started by brainstorming a few goals they had for the school year. Many students wrote that they wanted to make new friends, graduate, or do well at the sport they play. I challenged each student to make an action plan so that everyone could think about what they need to do to achieve their goal. Then, everyone created a comic and really brought their goal and action plan to life. I was amazed at how creative some students got with this!
Next week, students are going to be introduced to their Chromebooks. Everyone will begin their first official writing assignment about the book they read this summer. I am looking forward to hearing about the different books everyone read!
Each day, I switched up table groups so that everyone in the class had a chance to work together to accomplish different group tasks. One task that each group completed was building a marshmallow tower. The goal was to build the tallest tower using only half a bag of marshmallows and as many toothpicks as needed in 30 minutes. The teamwork that I witnessed was inspiring! I heard the following comments as groups worked together: "Don't rush, take your time," "This is looking good, guys," "I think we need more support," "How can we make it stick more?" "I think we should have a Plan B," "I really like your idea." They were really thinking like engineers!
We also thought deeper and deeper about our goals for the year. Everyone started by brainstorming a few goals they had for the school year. Many students wrote that they wanted to make new friends, graduate, or do well at the sport they play. I challenged each student to make an action plan so that everyone could think about what they need to do to achieve their goal. Then, everyone created a comic and really brought their goal and action plan to life. I was amazed at how creative some students got with this!
Next week, students are going to be introduced to their Chromebooks. Everyone will begin their first official writing assignment about the book they read this summer. I am looking forward to hearing about the different books everyone read!
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