Reflecting on this School Year

Jun 23

In just a few days, after many hugs and high fives, my fifth graders will board the school buses and head home to begin their summer break. I will stand on the sidewalk alongside my colleagues and wave as the buses make their victory laps around our school parking lot. But today, I am on a train heading to NYC to meet my best friend from college. With the Hudson River outside my window, I am choosing to set student essays and report cards aside to reflect on this school year.

Quite simply: It has been a great year. I have loved this group of students- all 41 of them. They are kind, compassionate, and creative. They make me laugh. What really makes this year stand out is that I got to share them not only with Stacy (with whom I have team-taught for 5 years- she teaches math and content areas while I focus on ELA) but also with two exceptional student teachers from Skidmore College: Martita and Anna. Martita started the year with me and Anna with Stacy and then mid-way through the fall, we switched. Here are a few ways that they enriched my year.

Getting to know my students

Martita’s and Anna connected with our students’ immediately. Having a team teacher with whom to discuss and reflect on student behavior is invaluable. But adding Marita and Anna’s insight enabled me to get to know my students earlier than in previous years. Additionally, sharing teaching tasks freed me up to kid-watch and be more present.

Navigating curricular change

This year brought curricular change. Big change. I admit to feeling hesitant to host student teachers while navigating a new reading curriculum. I was upfront with Martita and Anna and explained that they would see me work through this in real time. Fortunately for me, they became valuable contributors to this process.

Planning: Martita and Anna helped me digest lessons and consider which aspects might work for our learners and what needed to be modified. They took an active part in vetting texts to enhance curriculum and crafting learning experiences that honor student identities, and learning styles. Knowing that my role as a cooperating teacher included modeling best planning and teaching practices made me mindful about articulating my professional choices. This, too, made me a more thoughtful teacher.

Co-Teaching: While I took the lead at first, Martita and Anna quickly and enthusiastically began teaching alongside me. With students gathered on the rug, we sat side by side and took turns leading parts of the lesson. We co-facilitated class conversations and pulled in resources for in-the-moment support. I experienced the joys and energy of ongoing co-teaching.

Reflecting: We processed lessons together, discussed how the students responded, and planned next steps. This experience helped me be metacognitive about what I do as a teacher and demonstrated the power of reflective practice for Martia and Anna.

I could go on about the creative and thoughtful ideas that they brought to our class community but overall, sharing my classroom with Martita and Anna was a joy. Through laughter, and some tears, we grew to truly care for one another. Probably my all time favorite moment this year took place a few months after Martia and Anna returned to Skidmore. Each year we take our fifth graders there to visit campus and record podcast episodes as part of our podcast curriculum. This year, Martita and Anna greeted our bus as it pulled into the Skidmore parking lot. I cannot describe the absolute joy of witnessing this sweet reunion.

More reflection on curricula

With curricular change comes adjustment, reflection and growth. I was able to hold onto teaching practices and structures that grow readers, writers and thinkers while also teaching the new curriculum. Here are a few ways.

What I held onto

Devoting September building a reading life and ongoing reflection and goal setting throughout the year.
Writing notebooks
Podcasting as an engaging, empowering and authentic text response.
Book clubs!
Collaboration with Skidmore Educational Studies professor Jessica Sommerville-Braun
Feature article unit
Ending the year with an essay unit inspired by Katherine Bomer’s book, The Journey is Everything: Teaching Essays That Students Write for People Who Want to Read Them.

What I added

Poetry Mondays
Time for Kids Thursdays
Biography presentations (a modification of our new curriculum).

What I want to refine for next year: Writing

A lot of today’s curricula privileges reading and writing in service of reading. This leaves little time for writing experiences where students select topics, genre and form. My heart ached as I looked through my students’ half empty writing notebooks. In past years, I often passed out extra notebooks when they filled their first. I plan to spend time this summer considering where I can add time for writing, even if it is quick, so that students end the year with a solid writing practice. Stay tuned!

So there you have it! This was a year of change but more importantly, connection, relationships and joy! I end my 23rd year of teaching filled with gratitude and energy and am excited for the year to come. But now, I rest and head off for some summer adventures.