We have made it to the last two weeks of school! This year has been full of hard work, struggle, new ideas, learning from mistakes, being vulnerable, stepping out of comfort zones, and successes. It's important to take some time to think back over the year and reflect. Right now, if we take time to look back, this year is fresh in our minds. It's "closer" to us right now. If we wait until August to think back on the year, we will most likely forget parts. Here are a few questions and reflection prompts to get you thinking about the year, to help you look in the rearview mirror.
Reflecting on the 2018-2019 school year, I am proud of...
2 ideas/new learning/experiences I will take with me into next year are...
Something I wish I had done differently...
Ways that I have grown professionally this year...
Now see if you can picture a particular student for each of these prompts, and think of what you learned or how you will grow as an educator as a result of your interactions:
Think of a student that challenged you...
Think of a student that made you proud...
Think of a student that you felt lucky to teach...
Think of a student that made you better...
Think of a student that you will miss...
I went back to find my first post to all of you and found this quote that I had shared back in September:
As we wrap up this school year, I know I will be asking myself...were children the priority in our school? Were they at the center of every decision we made? A change in leadership was certainly your reality this year. I look forward to gathering feedback from you at our last staff meeting. I consider myself an educator who always needs to hear constructive feedback in order to keep improving my practice. Did we live up to the statement "Collaboration is the strategy"? I think we took some baby steps and some big steps in terms of collaboration.
I really do enjoy these last few days, thinking back over all that has been accomplished. Thinking about where we all were on the first day (when I was just getting to know all of you and you were getting to know me) and how we have gotten to this point right now. I also think about what did not work and what are ways to make changes for next year. I like to think about all the new innovative experiences that our students had and how we will have even more new and innovative experiences next year. And I am looking forward to growing myself professionally even more this summer, taking time to read, write, connect and reflect.
Once you are done reflecting on the year, be sure and think ahead to this summer. How do you plan to be mindful over the summer break and rejuvenate yourself?
I found time this weekend to finish listening to Brave, Not Perfect. It was a great book to listen to and certainly has me pumped up to be brave and fail forward. It's a great book to get me warmed up for Empower Our Girls. Excited to read a book written by a good friend of mine, Lyn Colon. The next book I started listening to was Grenade by Alan Gratz. I loved his book Refugee so much so I am thinking I will enjoy this one.
We usually go to the public library after gymnastics on Saturday mornings. This week, I added a picture book to Emerson's pile. It was called How to Teach a Slug to Read. This is such an adorable book! I think many of our kindergarteners and 1st graders would enjoy it. Might be added to the Facebook Live Bedtime Story list.
I also finished reading Mountain Dog. I love finding good books written in verse. Amazing how the author can use fewer words, but still tell a story and paint a picture of the character's thoughts and feelings.
Monday - Bird Man presentation in 1st grade @ 10:30, Roy Lane presentation in 5th grade @ 10:30, KM Authors' Celebration @ 2:00
Tuesday - Grade 3 Field Trip to Holden Center, Liz meeting w/superintendent @ 2:30
Wednesday - Last Staff Meeting of the Year @ 8:00! Grade 5 Field Trip to Sturbridge Village, Grade 4 Earth Science Enrichment Program, Grade 3 to Senior Center @ 1:15, KL Authors' Celebration @ 2:00
Thursday - Kindergarten Screening all day in the gym, Reading Assessments (DRA and F&P) should be completed, Grade 2 Field Trip to Boston Children's Museum, Book Swap set up after school in the gym, Staff Gathering in the library @ 3:30
Friday - Field Day! Book Swap during specials! Grade 3 Wax Museum @ 9:30, PTA Pizza Social @ 5:30
Great things I noticed last week:
- The 5th grade End of Year Carnival was a blast on Friday night! https://www.facebook.com/LEMayoSchool/videos/692880291142956/?modal=admin_todo_tour
- I had a hard time keeping up with Principal Mastro, the principal for the day! https://www.facebook.com/LEMayoSchool/videos/664195010689275/
- The 4th Grade Math Olympiad group was recognized for their competition participation. We had one student perform in the top 10% of all 4th-6th graders! And a few students who performed in the top 50%!
- Mrs. Hilton shared her love of National Parks with 4B. Did you know she has visited over 25 parks?! And did you know that 4th graders and families can get into the parks for free over the summer?
- I stopped into kindergarten and everyone was excited to show me the stories they had written as well as the butterflies!
- What an amazingly awesome concert put on by the 3rd, 4th and 5h graders! Thank Mrs. Popek for working so hard and including so many fun songs and dance moves!
Check it out:
Loved reading this post about rewriting our stories as teachers: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/unshakeable-angela-watson/
Also loved reading this diary entry of a first year teacher reflecting on the school year: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/first-year-teacher-looking-back/
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