Three weeks in ...

After three weeks of school, routines have been established, expectations clarified, and we're really moving now on learning all the things a fourth grader needs to learn. This week I finally managed to print the children's photos for their "All About Me" posters, and they have now been displayed on the wall outside our classroom. They look great, and are attracting lots of interest from both my students and others who happen to walk along the hallway. (See photos below).

The big project each child is working on now is a "Book Butterfly". These are some lovely book report posters that I got from Scholastic last year, as a great way to start the year. Everyone is reading a book of their own choice, and writing a poster about the book. I finally finished the full-size sample today, so now the children are even more excited about doing their own.

We've also been busy learning about our body, and some of the systems that keep us alive. Yesterday the children enjoyed discovering a little more about "Why we yawn?" and the fact that scientists actually don't really know! Next week we'll look at broken bones, and then start making some "Read and Write Booklets". Should be lots of fun.

One of the biggest challenges I'm working on with the children is "Reading Directions". Some of the children are really good at reading questions or directions and completing assigned tasks, while others seem to be totally unable to read and follow simple directions independently. Others try hard, but struggle because their English doesn't quite allow them to be fully independent yet. Starting next week, I'm going to do some specific activities on following directions, which I hope will help.

I'm enjoying teaching "Go Maths", and I think the children are learning well. It's not always easy as some of them are not confident in basic skills, while there are others who are excellent with basic facts, but struggle to apply them in new situations. The joys of teaching.

This week I had some wins, and some losses, but overall it has been a great week. God is good, and I thank Him for the opportunity to love these children, and help them learn, as well as to learn from them.