When I arrived in the school this morning, I asked the question Which class shall I visit today? As it turned out the acting principal was not present today, so there was another teacher in charge, but there are also some wonderful people working in other administrative roles, so each of them tried to answer my question.
Normally, I try to make the rounds of all classes before returning to any given group of students, but sometimes that's not possible. Given the pace at which most schools operate, it happens from time to time that one classroom or another mght be empty because the students are away on a field trip, or engaged in an assembly or ... As it turns out, I was scheduled to have breakfast with the Grade 5-6 class today, but they too had a supply teacher (since their regular teacher was the teacher in charge today). Normally this is not a problem, but I chose to visit with a class who I believed would have its regular teacher in attendance today, so I made my way to the JK class, only to discover that there was a supply in that class too today. I suppose the joke was on me.
From the time I set foot in the JK classroom, students came running over to me, one (and sometimes more than one) at a time. They excitedly called my name, and hugged my legs in a gesture of welcome. As the teacher tried to complete the attendance records, the Educational Assistant distributed grapes and gilled cheese sandwiches. I just made my way from one table to another engaging as many of the students as I could in conversation.
Breakfast time can also be an opportuntity for learning, so students took turns arranging their grapes in geometric shapes, and counting them. At times I think they were having more fun with this exercise than they were with trying to eat the grapes themselves. I was told by one boy that the grapes are sweet, just like juice. One girl struggled to remove her grapes from the stems until I showed her how to use both hands (then she promply returned to the one-handed method). I think she was having much more fun watching the grapes fly all over the table than she was interested in the mechanics of removing the stems from the fruit. Ah to think like a child!
Once the ritual of eating is complete, each child is free to find a book in the book centre, then to return to his or her designated place and to read quietly (or as quietly as JK students can). It wasn't long though before one then two, then more and more of them wanted to show me the story corner, complete with a rocking chair for me to sit in, and of course a number of stories for me to read. It didn't take too much pleading for me to sit, and for them to gather around so that we could read a story about the letters of the alphabet who set off on an adventure of their own. Of couse the children had heard the story before, but even for this reader, the experience is not so much about telling the story as it is about watching the reactions of the students as the story unfolds. They told me to change my voice and make it much more gruff when a certain character was grumpy or not happy about how the story was unfolding, or to lighten my voice when there were happy things to be told.
Needless to say, when story time came to an end, they didn't want it to stop, but some routines have to be observed, else we find ourselves with other challenges, and especially for the younger folk among us, it's important that the established routines (including washroom breaks) be observed as closely as possible.
I wonder if the Grade 5-6 class had as much fun with breakfast as we did in the JK class today!
Normally, I try to make the rounds of all classes before returning to any given group of students, but sometimes that's not possible. Given the pace at which most schools operate, it happens from time to time that one classroom or another mght be empty because the students are away on a field trip, or engaged in an assembly or ... As it turns out, I was scheduled to have breakfast with the Grade 5-6 class today, but they too had a supply teacher (since their regular teacher was the teacher in charge today). Normally this is not a problem, but I chose to visit with a class who I believed would have its regular teacher in attendance today, so I made my way to the JK class, only to discover that there was a supply in that class too today. I suppose the joke was on me.
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| Julie was one of the first to welcome me |
From the time I set foot in the JK classroom, students came running over to me, one (and sometimes more than one) at a time. They excitedly called my name, and hugged my legs in a gesture of welcome. As the teacher tried to complete the attendance records, the Educational Assistant distributed grapes and gilled cheese sandwiches. I just made my way from one table to another engaging as many of the students as I could in conversation.
Breakfast time can also be an opportuntity for learning, so students took turns arranging their grapes in geometric shapes, and counting them. At times I think they were having more fun with this exercise than they were with trying to eat the grapes themselves. I was told by one boy that the grapes are sweet, just like juice. One girl struggled to remove her grapes from the stems until I showed her how to use both hands (then she promply returned to the one-handed method). I think she was having much more fun watching the grapes fly all over the table than she was interested in the mechanics of removing the stems from the fruit. Ah to think like a child!
Once the ritual of eating is complete, each child is free to find a book in the book centre, then to return to his or her designated place and to read quietly (or as quietly as JK students can). It wasn't long though before one then two, then more and more of them wanted to show me the story corner, complete with a rocking chair for me to sit in, and of course a number of stories for me to read. It didn't take too much pleading for me to sit, and for them to gather around so that we could read a story about the letters of the alphabet who set off on an adventure of their own. Of couse the children had heard the story before, but even for this reader, the experience is not so much about telling the story as it is about watching the reactions of the students as the story unfolds. They told me to change my voice and make it much more gruff when a certain character was grumpy or not happy about how the story was unfolding, or to lighten my voice when there were happy things to be told.
Needless to say, when story time came to an end, they didn't want it to stop, but some routines have to be observed, else we find ourselves with other challenges, and especially for the younger folk among us, it's important that the established routines (including washroom breaks) be observed as closely as possible.
I wonder if the Grade 5-6 class had as much fun with breakfast as we did in the JK class today!
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