Thursday

Hi parents,

Today was a very, very difficult day for our class, maybe the most difficult day I've had since I started teaching. It made me realize that I will need to make some big changes moving forward to help the students build their listening skills.

I told the students that I would have to take a vacation next week because I was feeling so frustrated, but I was just kidding. Next week might be a bit less "Montessori" than usual, however, because I think we need to do more structured lessons to ensure everyone is on the same page during work period. I felt like 90% of my time during work period was spent breaking up wrestling matches, dodging by paper airplanes, and confiscating toys and slime. The classroom felt kind of like one of those rowdy sitcom classes. It was only when I used by absolute meanest, most serious teacher voice that students finally started to listen. I really hate having to do that because I want to create a classroom environment where we listen to each other out of respect and not out of fear.

Anyway, in spite of all that, the spelling quiz this morning went quite well. We also got to do some Math Word Problems, and then students wrote about what they would do if they were the teacher. They tended to be very supportive of free choice and unlimited snack. Maybe that's what I should try...

Have a nice weekend,

Zac