So today was the first day of school. It went well although BOY is there alot of energy in that classroom! I have been really encouraged (as we played some opening games today) that the kids may be capable of some really deep exploring with some ABL. I am reminded of how useful it is for forming groups, for bringing out positive (and negative!) character traits and taking the kids on a journey.
I thought I'd come up with a really powerful first-day speech, lots of importance based on motivation and pushing though our barriers. However, it didn't have the effect I wanted. Again, when we wrote down our ideas it felt like we were all just paying lip service to a classroom culture that doesn't actually exist yet.
Now is the time to build this culture, despite some kids being missing today! This is the place where we can build a firm structure before we start learning, before the books arrive. But...it's not easy, it takes careful planning of games and expert leading of conversations after.
Now for some research into some games. The ultimate aim to be to take some of the kids barriers down and start the class seeing each other as friends.
I thought I'd come up with a really powerful first-day speech, lots of importance based on motivation and pushing though our barriers. However, it didn't have the effect I wanted. Again, when we wrote down our ideas it felt like we were all just paying lip service to a classroom culture that doesn't actually exist yet.
Now is the time to build this culture, despite some kids being missing today! This is the place where we can build a firm structure before we start learning, before the books arrive. But...it's not easy, it takes careful planning of games and expert leading of conversations after.
Now for some research into some games. The ultimate aim to be to take some of the kids barriers down and start the class seeing each other as friends.