This has always been a great group of kids. They were my favorite group of kindergarten students, back when I was teaching the little tykes. They were easy to work with last year, even in our first months. So when I think about how infrequently I deal with behavior issues, I've wondered: Are these kids really this good? Or have I grown so accustomed to their bad habits that I no longer notice them? The problem is that I've been standing next to these particular trees for so long that I really can't see the whole forest. I've been wondering about the "big picture" of our classroom culture, which is hard to see with my biased perspective.
We have a high school cadet teacher this fall. His instructor stopped by to observe this week. After a few minutes in the room he pulled me aside and painted the forest picture I've been wanting. I asked Andy to write down his thoughts so I could share them. Here's what he said:
I am the cadet teaching instructor at DeKalb High School. In this role, I
travel to 5 district schools and multiple classrooms. Recently, I
visited Jane Foster's third grade classroom at McKenney-Harrison Elementary.
My first observation was not focused on my high school cadet, but
rather on the extraordinary behavior of the students. They understood
procedures, displayed exceptional manners, engaged in positive dialogue
with each other, and seemed perfectly comfortable with their
environment. These characteristics are expected from students, but I was
pleasantly surprised to witness them in September! There could be many
factors at play here, but I'm sure that one of them has to centered
around the fact that Jane has looped with these kids from second
grade.
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