Years of teaching have taught me that the kids need time to think back on the year to realize how much they have done, learned, and grown up and together-those are the types of activities and questions in academics and social situations that shaped the past two weeks.
One Morning Meeting, I did a typical greeting with crayons and asked them to say the color they were feeling and why at that moment. MM had taken on the usual end of the year tenor--that of, 'oh, I know this is important and I am supposed to care, but all I can think about is NO SCHOOL soon !!!'
When the greeting had met its 5th pair with the enthusiasm of a wet noodle, I hopped up and said, "Let's go outside!" Startled, they followed. I took the box of 8 crayons and placed each color in a different spot, posed the same question as inside, and asked them to choose a color and discuss in a circle with others who had also chosen that color. Then I posed the next question,"What color has this year been most like for this crew and explain why?" Movement and talking. The two colors not chosen were brown and orange. After focused discussion within each group, we headed back inside and I asked some one from each color group to share what they heard, sum up, basically.
Here is where the activity takes on its teaching moment... When the 6th graders shared what they thought the question was which was definitely a different question, they defended their responses with ... "Someone said that, I thought you meant, and Didn't you say"....
My responses were "Who said, Did you ask, and Is this how we attend to an activity with partial understanding?"
Group Silence. The Sharing was then stopped to the shock of the 5th grade especially. I spoke and said, "Well, this is disappointing, but when an activity implodes and loses its way, one must change course and adjust.
Group Silence and Head Nodding. You could see the thought bubbles, "That's right, we are still supposed to be responsible to each other and ourselves."
So, we finished the MM talking about how the start and finish of things are similar. We are at the beginning of the end. That means that we must attend to details in order for us all to leave with feelings of accomplishment and friendship--these are the evidence that we have worked together so much this year.
One of our closing crew chants sums up how we feel each day and the power of belonging and finishing strong, and reminds us to nurture our connections even when the end is in sight.
It goes:
Kow-a-bunga, I love to be among ya! We soar all the more because we are one score and five more!!
One Morning Meeting, I did a typical greeting with crayons and asked them to say the color they were feeling and why at that moment. MM had taken on the usual end of the year tenor--that of, 'oh, I know this is important and I am supposed to care, but all I can think about is NO SCHOOL soon !!!'
When the greeting had met its 5th pair with the enthusiasm of a wet noodle, I hopped up and said, "Let's go outside!" Startled, they followed. I took the box of 8 crayons and placed each color in a different spot, posed the same question as inside, and asked them to choose a color and discuss in a circle with others who had also chosen that color. Then I posed the next question,"What color has this year been most like for this crew and explain why?" Movement and talking. The two colors not chosen were brown and orange. After focused discussion within each group, we headed back inside and I asked some one from each color group to share what they heard, sum up, basically.
Here is where the activity takes on its teaching moment... When the 6th graders shared what they thought the question was which was definitely a different question, they defended their responses with ... "Someone said that, I thought you meant, and Didn't you say"....
My responses were "Who said, Did you ask, and Is this how we attend to an activity with partial understanding?"
Group Silence. The Sharing was then stopped to the shock of the 5th grade especially. I spoke and said, "Well, this is disappointing, but when an activity implodes and loses its way, one must change course and adjust.
Group Silence and Head Nodding. You could see the thought bubbles, "That's right, we are still supposed to be responsible to each other and ourselves."
So, we finished the MM talking about how the start and finish of things are similar. We are at the beginning of the end. That means that we must attend to details in order for us all to leave with feelings of accomplishment and friendship--these are the evidence that we have worked together so much this year.
One of our closing crew chants sums up how we feel each day and the power of belonging and finishing strong, and reminds us to nurture our connections even when the end is in sight.
It goes:
Kow-a-bunga, I love to be among ya! We soar all the more because we are one score and five more!!
