Just finished a crazy school year. Mask covered, remote learning, not remote learning, some kids quarantining, some not. Man oh man….what a year! In many ways it was a great, rewarding school year. In other ways it was tiring. Nevertheless, here are 2 things I learned this year:
Desks in Rows are Fine
I put my desks in traditional rows. Guess what? It was just fine. Students still worked in groups. They got up and moved around. It went well, and I don’t feel this need to have desks in groups anymore.
Messages Matter
Students cared more about my daily message than Social Studies. Every day I write a new message on my board for students. I don’t read them out loud. I don’t even ask students to read them. The messages are there. Sometimes a poem, sometimes a life lesson, sometimes my thoughts on what school should be. I go through the year not knowing what these messages mean, but I discovered they mean a lot to many students….what I thought they didn’t read, they do read. So, check in with students. Share messages with them. Sometimes it means more than the subject and/or content.
With the school year coming a close, I’ll share with you my final message to the students:
Moler's Musings 