Wednesday, February 15, 2012

When Teaching Goes Right

I could tell you a lot of stories about teaching gone wrong, my friends. But every once in while it just all comes together, and when it does it's simply magical!

Last week, I was introducing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" as a poem/song to my small group of Kindergartners (I teach K-1 students with hearing loss - no sign language involved, just a lot of oral language remediation.) We had just finished "singing" the song and learning the gestures when I happened to turn the page in the teacher's manual.

It was a page I hadn't seen before, and it suggested making spider snacks as an extension activity. With a start, I realized that I had ALL of the ingredients on hand! So I made a split-second spontaneous decision and decided to go for it... we ditched the worksheet and had some good ol' fashioned Kindergarten FUN instead!


The kids were well behaved and loved every second of it (especially the eating part!). And I felt more happy and fulfilled as a teacher than I had felt in a long time. So, win-win!

Have you had any victories lately?

8 comments:

  1. hooray for magical moments!
    how could they not enjoy a craft you can eat.
    this makes me miss teaching.
    xxO

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  2. That's wonderful!

    http://mandycrandell.blogspot.com/

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  3. Hooray for a victory at work...I need more of those lately :) Love the spiders and wish I had all the ingredients on hand now!

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  4. How adorable! I made my daughters teacher so cute stuff for valentines day! those are cute though.

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  5. How fun! Aren't moments like that in the classroom, just the best?! :-)

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  6. Love those spiders! Maybe with some chocolate chip eyes? Super cute!

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  7. How amazing Sarah!!! That little treat looks so adorable!!

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  8. What fun! And so glad it had a happy outcome!

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