My small group of nine students were finishing up making a twelve inch ruler using a sentence strip and colored tiles. We were focusing on the words unit, inch, and hashmark. We carefully numbered our ruler discussing the placement of 0 and 12. My student teacher had the rest of the class working at a bit faster pace on measuring and creating inch rulers. The room had a good hum. I was happy we planned different things based on the needs we saw. I never expected what happened next.
Across from me at the table sat C. She looked up from her work and her brown hair had a little bounce as she smiled ear to ear. I quickly thought, she looks so happy when she said, "I love math!" with an even better grin. I had to stay strong and prevent some tears that wanted to surface. C didn't like math when school started. C takes time to think as a mathematician. C has to work hard some times during math workshop.
As we were transitioning from math workshop I sent an email to her parents with the subject - C said... and thought wouldn't it be great to listen in more and send more emails with that subject. As a parent, I'd love to get that!
Thank you Two Writing Teachers for fostering this writing community.
What a great idea! Noticing, naming and celebrating what kids do -- it is the most important data we can collect. I love these classroom snapshots. They draw me in and then leave me thinking...
ReplyDeleteYes! Those moments are lovely and wonderful when we can take a moment to capture and/or share them. The first act, however, is to notice. As a parent I would be delighted to receive that e-mail.
ReplyDeleteLove how present you were in that moment--enough to witness her recognition and to receive her gratitude.
ReplyDeleteI love these moments!
ReplyDeleteIt's always special when we can stop to look and listen to what kids are doing in our classrooms. What a great thing to share with parents.
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