Reflecting on teaching

Waiting for my next parent/teacher conference, I am able to sit back and really reflect on what we do every day with our kids. It’s so nice to hear that the parents are noticing improvement at home with what we do at school. It’s a nice reassurance. I remember being a student and being so nervous about parent/teacher conferences. It’s nice being on the other side.

I only have four weeks left. It’s hard to believe.

Last week on Monday, we all enjoyed a sleepy owl day. Tuesday we continued our unit on community helpers and learned about mail, mail carriers, and the post office.  We wrote letters to Nurse Anne to thank her for taking the time last week to show us what she does as our school nurse. We made mailbags that we could carry and delivered the cards to her.

Continuing our mail theme, we painted with bubble wrap. The children loved that the harder they pushed, the more bubbles popped! Following our project of making thank you cards, we made get well cards for children at Shriners Hospital. They turned out very cute!

As part of our Second Step curriculum, we talked about looking and focusing our attention using our “attent-o-scopes” (paper towel rolls) like a telescope. We also talked about how we use our brains when we look and focus and how it helps us be good learners.

Lastly, we enjoyed a leaf walk around the school. We picked up leaves and studied their colors, shapes and sizes.  Each student will choose one to put on our bulletin board tree.

Lauren Muellner will receive her master’s degree in early childhood education with an endorsement in special education in December. She is student teaching in a self-contained special education preschool classroom in Oak Park and is a part-time nanny. Born and raised in Chicago, Lauren likes culture and adventure. She received her bachelor’s degree in theatre from Columbia College Chicago. She plans to integrate music and theatre into her curriculum and teaching.