Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Making Room for Celebration and Joy

There's a couple more days of school prior to the holiday break. Honestly, I wish we had ended school last Friday since I think we're working too close to the holiday for effective learning. Children's attention to school is quickly dwindling which makes teaching much more challenging than usual. Also some have already left for family holidays which means what we teach now will have to be reviewed in the new year.

Like their teachers, the children are ready to play, relax, and enjoy close family and friends rather than buckle down, focus, and learn right now. But, the reality is that we have a couple more days of teaching and learning. I'll use the time to assess students' first semester gains, meet as a class, clean up the classroom, watch a valuable film, read, and catch-up with individuals regarding specific learning/teaching issues.

Most importantly, it's time to keep the focus on peace and team which can be difficult with a host of excited, and sometimes overtired, students (and teachers). Yet, we'll persist today with joy in mind. After hours I'll focus on family and holiday preparations so we're ready to enjoy one another at the end of the week. Onward.