Counting my Blessings

It is Tuesday night, and so many cool things have already happened this week.

• 'My kids' are great. I love teaching Grade 4 and in week 3, my class is really starting to come together as a team. I'm getting to know the children and develop relationships with individuals. I really believe that my first forays into Morning Meetings are helping with this.
• Our class blog is really taking off. I was brave this year and opened it up so that anyone in the world could comment, with great results. My students are so excited.
• Relatedly, I decided to ditch what I'm supposed to be teaching this week (in terms of writing genre and content) and asked the students to make their own choices about what they blog about. We have articles from 'How to choose a new bike' to 'How to care for a Praying Mantis' and 'How to keep your child from hitting the piano'. I have a couple of young boys researching jet-fighters with impressive energy and enthusiasm, using search skills I might never have otherwise known about. These kinds of results are well worth breaking the rules for.

• I had a meeting with a parent today who told me her son has completed a home learning project of his own already. This is before formal homework has even begun! My colleagues and I have been working really hard to come up with a framework to support the students in their home learning inquiries and trying to 'take it slow', and this kid just took things into his own hands and went for it! I am stoked! Hooray for self-motivated, lifelong learners! This has to be a sign that we're moving in the right direction.
• Kids from my last year's class visit me every day for chats and hugs. I really like my new class but it is so great to keep up with the wonderful group I worked with last year. I am so proud to watch them continue to grow.
• My leaders want to work with me. I have had a couple of meetings with leaders lately and it is so reassuring to feel like I am being heard. They don't always agree with me and they don't always pat me on the back but they engage, they listen and they give me guidance when I ask for it. I really feel like they are doing the best they can to help me do my best, and not just 'managing' me.
• Saving the best for last: I have some of the greatest colleagues who are also dear friends. They love, enjoy and are passionate about what they do, they inspire me, care for me, make me laugh and most importantly, they are there when I need them.