The End of One Journey. The Beginning of Another.

Friday was my last day of field work in a 6th grade class.  I was sad to go!  Over the course of those three weeks, I grew to love those students and enjoyed the opportunity to take the role as teacher for the last two days I was there.

A handful of things I learned (selected from a great list) from this journey:

1. There will be unknown circumstances in your students lives that affect them emotionally, which hinders their ability to work.  Love those students, love all your students, because you never know how much of that they need.  Care about them, because if you don't, you'll never be able to help them - you'll never be able to differentiate what you teach to help them be successful.
2. You can't do everything.  Face that fact now.  You'll have times where all you have to give and offer is never enough.  Don't be discouraged.  Tomorrow is a new day.
3. Give students the opportunity to learn from one another!  A great way to differentiate is by creating opportunities for students to take responsibility of their learning by sharing what they know with others AND being willing to ask questions when they aren't understanding a concept.
4. State your expectations clearly to students.  Write them on the board.  They will respond better and you won't waste time going over it again and again with each student.
5. Give students responsibilities: they track their own progress of test scores throughout the year, set goals (behavioral, academic, and others) each term and reflect on reaching those goals each week, give them class jobs (the class can't run without them performing their job to the best of their ability).  Help them understand that their learning and the learning of others depends on them.

Classroom community is the key to successful students. If students feel at home in your classroom, with an atmosphere of trust and respect for all the members in it, then and only then can learning take place. Then and only then can the protective walls we, as human beings, put up be taken down so that we are able to see the true individual and learn how best to teach that individual. I believe building classroom community is the heart of responsive teaching.