Differentiation/morning meetings

From reading the textbook, "differentiation in PRACTICE" I was able to make some connections to my own life. The main connection I made was with the quote from the book, "The teacher must balance two factors, the needs of her students and the requirements of a curriculum." This statement made me think of my own elementary school days. I definitely had some teachers who tried to do this and some who did not care at all. I have also seen many examples of a good teacher in my own home. I grew up with eight brothers and sisters and my mom did a good job of treating us all according to our different talents, capabilities, and needs. She gave each child what they needed. Growing up I often felt like one of my brothers got much more attention then me. I know realize that he needed that extra attention, where I did not need so much to feel loved and confident. This helps me realize that as a teacher I need to be able to really understand and empathize with my students while still being able to expect alot from them. This can be a hard balance to find! I have been in many classrooms where the teacher is too much of a friend to her students and not enough of a teacher, and I have seen others who are too much of a teacher and not enough of a friend. It will be hard to get a good balance.

I liked reading about all of the different components that make up a good classroom. As a teacher it would be a good list to keep to go over and make sure your classroom is well balanced. It would be hard not to focus on just one thing at a time but try to incorporate everything! I believe that there is so much more to students then teachers allow themselves to see. So many different factors good and bad make up a person.

I was excited that in this class we are doing morning meetings! I love morning meetings! I first saw them in a field experience that I had and was really impressed by the unity they seemed to create in the classroom. I think it is a great way to start the day. It is fun, positive, and interactive. I think it gets students off to a good start for the rest of the school day. I think the four components sharing, greeting, game, and news and announcements are very important. All four of these give the morning meeting a certain tone. It can be fun, serious, inspiring, accepting, and funny. I think this is a great way to create a routine in the classroom where students have a chance to express themselves and get to know their peers. As it talked about in the article it is also a good way for students to take on responsibility and be in charge. It is a good time for them to have the spotlight and a time for them to be the teacher for a little while.
I really think I will use morning meetings in my classroom! I know that I have enjoyed doing it in our class this semester. It is fun and I am able to get to know my classmates better. I am seeing the positive results of having morning meetings in our own class. It creates a caring community in the classroom which will contribute to my students learning as well. I am excited to continue getting ideas for this throughout the semester!