I attended my first staff meeting this morning. There was a great slideshow that recapped special moments the teachers wanted to share. The 2006-2007 school year's theme, chosen by the staff, was Interdependence: interdependence among students, adults, families, and other organizations.
Afterwards, the head first grade teacher and I met with the Kindegarten team so they could pass on information regarding my soon-to-be students. Hearing about the kids I would be working with was very energizing and has made teaching feel all the more real. And I will say, based on their headshots, it is going to be an adorable year ahead of me.
I imagine the purpose of the information hand-off is to create a sense of consistency for the students so it's not as though they are starting at the beginning with a new teacher. This way, new teachers know not only what level they are in when they walk through the first grade door, but also what their progress was like over the past year so we can continue to encourage the students in ways that worked in the past.
Themes revolved around strengths, weaknesses, what students might make good partners, degree of parental involvement, and inter-personal relationships. Some words to come to mind after hearing about the students (we only covered half the class):
sweetheart
brainiac
victim of divorce
goal-setter
mischievous sneakster
loner
artist
perfect
crier
affection-hungry
"hella tight" (as used by one of the kindergarteners)
pleaser (gives the last crumb)
risk-taker
While the information was extremely useful, I couldn't help but think about the potential damage that was being caused by planting certain seeds of prejudgments about these students. The head teacher said that it is helpful to hear about the students (and parents, which I found particularly interesting), but that she doesn't really refer to her notes. I took this as very good news because then students are less likely to be pigeonholed. Even six and seven year olds deserve a chance to redefine themselves. The Nature v. Nurture argument is no new debate; it’s a fine line between biological personality traits and self-fulfilling prophecy. Determining where this line falls is just another challenge to add to the long list for educators.
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3 comments:
Did you know that Mischievous Sneakster is also then name of a ska band based out of Eugene Oregon?
I'm not sure if this is true, but it should be.
way to be strong and resist the urge to pigeonhole your students. It will prolong the inevitable urge to cubbyhole your students next year.
Not so sure I'm being strong yet. I'll let you know after I decide who my favorites are...!
(I feel a need to let everyone know that I kid. Just for the record)
how do you think your first grade teacher would have described you?? I tried to pick a word from your list for myself. but you can't pigeon hole me, baby...
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