How can I incorporate Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Communication?
No, I am not going to have the perfect answer to that right now, BUT I am working on figuring it out. This week, I went with 12 other CMMS teachers and our principal, Mrs. MacWilliams to the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of teachers. We really dove into what "learning" looks like. We discussed the huge difference in "looking smart" and actually "getting smarter", which are two very different things. We looked for ways to transform the classroom into a creative place where students can find their passion and really thrive. To say the least, it was AWESOME! While I was gone, students reviewed for their Quarter 1 test, took their Quarter 1 cumulative test, and visited Mrs. Deaton's spooky reader's theater (and the book fair) in the library. Today, we did an overall reflection of quarter 1 where I asked students to share with me some important information. I asked them to tell me what I could change, things that worked best, and why they thought I had them focusing on grammar, vocabulary, text evidence, and narrative writing. I have really enjoyed what has come from that. One of the below photos is of our totally student led/run school store. I am SO proud of these students. Shout out to Tyler Adams, Skylar Masterson, Grace Zalkind, Megan Barnas, and Jubenal Arzate-Rios for inventorying, creating a website (check it out by clicking the button ), and running it. We will need some parent help in the future with donations to keep the store running. If you can help with this, please let me know.