It is my belief that each new year can be a chance to start fresh; an opportunity to reflect on what is working or what needs to be modified to help better achieve the the goals set for my students…
This New Year…2015…my final year of teaching, gives me my chance to give my students this opportunity to give it my all…
This New Year…with all the challenges and demands, my students deserve no less than the best…I can only advocate that those with the power felt the same…
Our class and school makeup, represent a “Rainbow of Diversity”…
We are fortunate to be part of a school district that is within a university community… Because of this population, many of our parents come from other countries to attend the University of Florida;
Our school characterizes a rich blending of cultures and ethnicity… We have had many children from such countries as : Asia, Central and South America, and Africa…
In addition, to such cultural diversity, many of our children come from biracial homes… I have come to the realization, because of this colorful “rainbow” of diversity; our children have a better understanding;
Moreover an appreciation of our similarities, and acceptance of our differences…
This time of the year,“Winter, a Season of Love and New Beginnings”, is the perfect time to facilitate and model through a variety of activities blended into the curriculum; Those important values of love, acceptance and an appreciation of our differences… My first graders, are so very willing to accept and appreciate our diversity…
What an opportunity this makes!…
Through my teaching experiences, I utilize so many creative activities through literature, poetry, music and the arts to help teach these essential values…We learn how we and other cultures celebrate this time of the year… We even take our children on a field trip to experience a ballet… the “Nutcracker”…Our children are dazzled by this experience…
My children write poetry as a winter project to share with their family utilizing recycled Holiday Cards …They write thank you letters to teachers and helpers at our school… We even put on a play to share with our book buddies…All showing our love and appreciation…
Through our creativity and the arts… Love and Acceptance of our differences is valued, appreciated, and accepted…
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I have always enjoyed the Friday before the beginning of the school year to meet my new students and their parents…I rely on just that brief meeting to begin making an assessment, when parent and child come in to meet me…
One important piece of pertinent information gained from this meeting is that I can begin to assess those children that may be outgoing or those that may be quite reserved….
The first week of school is the crucial time when I focus on establishing… “Our Relationship”, one that lets my children know I will love them unconditionally; providing a classroom for structure to inspire learning, and moreover, feel safe to accept and appreciate our differences…No matter what is presented…The foundation for a successful year ahead…
My Classroom is ready for learning….Hopefully when my new first graders arrive Monday, August 18th…Our class will provide them a place to feel safe and learn to appreciate their love of learning…
This will be my final year…I will be retiring…
Back in 1972 when I first began, there was such hope and idealism…We just survived civil unrest…We just integrated our schools; hopefully providing all our children a strong education with such wonderful programs such as: Head Start and Parenting Programs …We teachers were ready to teach and inspire all our children!
And now, sadly as I embark on retirement, I so very feel we have lost what is truly important..Inspiring and teaching all our children…
However, I am still hopeful that we will not let this continue, allowing powerful businesses taking control of our public schools…We will find our way back to what is essentially Important…
Teaching all of our children!
Summer will soon be over for me, as I always like to start back early to set up my classroom…
Starting back earlier than the required time, gives me the much needed time to plan, organize, and utilize my creativity hoping to make it a “great year”…
I have found through my many years of experience;
Setting up a well organized classroom is fundamentally crucial to the success of the beginning of a new school year…
Supplies are essential, and I do hope my new students will be able to contribute…However, because our school has such a diverse population, I do realize, and understand many will not be able to help…We teachers do receive a small budget, so in order to provide for our children, we do have to pay for much of our supplies out of our own pocket…
I can always hope after the many years of teaching, we would have the necessary funding and support for our precious children and our public education system…
I do love utilizing my creativity in decorating the classroom…I do believe a classroom, especially with young children, should be warm and inviting…one that will inspire
learning…
My hope is to have such a classroom, even with all the rigors and demands…My children will want to learn, and want to return each and every day!
This 2013-2014 school year is over…With each year, the summer gives me that chance to reflect…
My first thought, this year especially, is acknowledging how exhausted I am; All the extra demands of testing and keeping up the pace of a more challenging curriculum…While striving to keep the children motivated and engaged…
I do also worry how my children spend their summer’s free time…
Throughout the school year I spent my teaching time encouraging them the “love of reading”; encouraging parents to take their child to the public library…And now with this extra time, I so do hope my parents “if” they have the time in their challenging lives… to take their child to the public library… to become the owner of their personal library card, that will open up their “World” to all the joys of the Public Library; SummerPrograms..Movies…Reading Books…And free Computer time!
I will most definitely worry about my children; and how regularly they will eat…So many of them come from such chaos, and our classroom providing them that safety net.. At school they would have their breakfast, lunch, and many snacks that I would routinely provide…
Most of all, I too will be able to come back to school in August ready and recharged to be the best I can be… even with all its demands and rigors…Our children deserve no less…
A week to rest and recharge… My Children need that time for a break too!
I do have concerns with many of my children… They have a week off to be in very unstructured lives… Many do not eat well, nor sleep well… I do try to instill and empower them with the desire to make safe choices, I try to provide reading and math work to do over this break….But of course they are little ones, and I do worry…
Teaching should really be about making learning fun and interesting…. It really is so much more than tests and collecting data….
Monday, February 3rd will be our “100 days” of the school year celebration… This is a milestone for us… On this special occasion, learning activities, especially in math will commemorate this special milestone…
” What can we count using the magical number”100″?
“If you were given $100.00, how would you spend the money?”
At this time, first graders are realizing they can do more learning becoming active in their learning; listening and following teacher directions; becoming more independent…I can read!
Now, we are more than half way on the path to becoming a second grader!
Being a teacher has been my mission on my life’s journey; It is my passion… From my very beginning in 1972, I had no idea what an impact it would have on my life…
There were other roads I could have taken, administration; guidance counseling, teaching at the college level…. All these I opportunities to leave the classroom, but I did not choose those paths… I am a teacher…
I felt my need was to teach and inspire all children, especially those children who needed my love and safety…How that makes me feel with this choice, as a teacher and an individual… impacting children’s lives for me has been a gift…
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Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 