Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Creating Community

Hello Families!

Many of you met our new assistant Gabi.  She will be with us now and I am so glad to have her.  She brings such a pleasant energy and has already been connecting with the children in meaningful ways.  If you haven't met her yet, please introduce yourselves!

Today I was noticing the connections that the children are already forming.  They are so willing to be partners and work with new friends.  And our discussion times were feeling like a discussion with many friends sharing ideas.  This is a big deal!  We are working with them to move from needed to tell me, to telling everyone, which includes everyone, and essentially asks all present to be active listeners.  Another element the children are working on is when they are speaking with friends to make eye contact and look for facial cues to learn what others are thinking and if they are speaking to you.  These are big and important steps!

I am so excited to get to know these children.  I can already see that each of them are excited to learn and share their ideas.  I look forward to documenting and sharing what I have learned from them!

After such a great day of togetherness, I am going to make a cup of tea.  Enjoy your evening, Jennifer

2 comments:

  1. Jennifer we really appreciate you taking the time to keep the parents informed of what goes on in the classroom. I know it takes a lot of effort and it's time you're not compensated for. Please know that even though we may not post comments on your blog we still read it and appreciate your sharing the experience you have with our children in the classroom.
    Sonia Mahmud

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  2. Thank you so much, Sonia, for your kind words! I hope you have a nice evening, Jennifer

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