I have a confession. I was not a very good guided reading teacher this year. Between students being pulled out at various times throughout the day, to a schedule that was rarely the same from one day to the next (we have a 6 day cycle, and my music and physical ed classes were sporadically mixed), guided reading was often forced to take a back seat.
But you know what? When I did my reading records for the year, each and every student that was assessed was meeting or exceeding grade level expectations. And when I looked critically at their writing, same thing. And math? Yep. Meeting or exceeding grade level expectations.
So, what does this tell me? Nothing new, but certainly reinforces what I have been saying, and believing for years. It isn't so much what we teach in Kindergarten that matters, it's how we set the stage for our students to learn. We need to trust the process. Sometimes I think that's the hardest part about teaching 4, 5, and 6 year olds. We have so much information being thrown at us from so many different directions, we forget to listen to that small voice in our heads that says, "It's going to be alright!"
In my class we sing. A lot. And one song we sing is Bob Marley's Everything Is Gonna Be Alright. That's been my theme song this year. Between Covid lockdowns and isolations, to my father's passing, to just... teaching and life. I often needed to remind myself that everything *will* be alright.
So, that's my message to youuuu 🎶-
Don't worry, about a thing. 'Cause every little thing, is gonna be alright...
Trust your students. Trust their process. Trust their timing. Trust their intellect. Trust their learning. They will get it. They will excel. We just have to step back and let those birdies fly!
This is what trusting their process looks like in my classroom:
This guy came into my classroom in the third term. All of his play was very contained, and everything had an academic outcome. He really had a learning curve when it came to creativity, but it was only about a month before he stepped out of his "box" and started to play with others. And now, here he is, fixing my sink.
The girls play with the blocks in a different way than the boys do this year. We had a day where we were able to bring our stuffies for a Teddy Bear Clinic. We then were able to play with them in the classroom. Here, the girls built homes for them, with layouts that included rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Each stuffy had the best home!
We have recently discovered the joy of building puzzles together. This puzzle is of children from around the world. What this group seems to enjoy, more than others, is building a puzzle together and them acting out the picture. Here we are dancing around the puzzle. So much joy and creativity flows when we give our children the time and space to do things.
We always love a good 3D shape unit. Here, one of my students made their own 3D shapes with play dough. There was a time when I would have had the whole class do this together. There was a time when I would have spent so much time talking about 3D shapes. This year, I let them tell me what they knew, and demonstrate their own learning in their own way. My lesson learned? Don't waste their time with nonsense. They have too much to do, they don't need to listen to me, just so I can feel like I have been a "real teacher" That's not what they need. What they need is to build, create, and explore. Just like this one did with the play dough, and just like the ones below did with the blocks:
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Reading and writing are always such a huge portion of our afternoon. I do believe direct instruction does have a place in Kindergarten, don't get me wrong! But I also believe that they are perfectly capable of demonstrating their learning and their knowledge in a way that best represents who they are. We had some pussy willow branches that grew and the leaves began to bud. This prompted one of my students to name the plant Jake, and then he labeled the jar. I love that they are given the independence to do this!
Giving students a chance to build, design, draw, tell their story, all before encouraging them to write it down also sparks a new way of thinking for them. I have seen some amazing stories, both fiction and non-fiction come out of this group. Not because they are naturally gifted in this area, but because they have been given so many opportunities to tell a story before they have had to worry about committing it to paper. Here, one of my students was telling the story of her day, and she included "I am building" into it.
If your are getting to the end of the year and are afraid they might not be ready to move on, "don't worry, about a thing. Every little thing, is gonna be alright". Step back and watch what they can do. I am so glad I have been able to give them this time to grow, to learn, and to work together in community! I always reflect back to my masters in 21st century learning. It's a new age we are living in. Our students are going to grow into a world we haven't even seen yet. But we know what skills will be necessary to live in that world:
Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity.
When we allow our students to learn through play, we are not only preparing them for the next grade, we are preparing them for life.
