Making connections

Slice of Life Tuesdays hosted at Two Writing Teachers

This year I had many families stop by my room during two days of portfolio sharing.  This shouldn't be a surprise, but in years past, I had maybe 3 or 4 of my students convince their parents to stop by my room once they had shared everything in their homeroom.

This year, I'm all about making connections.  Not the text-to-self and text-to-text connections.
Connections with students.  I want my little reading room to be a place of respite, a place to learn, a place to speak and be heard.

At one point during the portfolio sharing evening, I had a second grader and her parents come in and get comfortable at the table.  My student was taking them through her reading response journal, speaking like a proud tour guide, as her father tried to find answers to the many questions he has about her reading progress.

Meanwhile, one fourth grader lingered outside my room with his mom.  I stepped out and chatted with them, explaining in my halting Spanish (something to work on!) to his mom how polite and hardworking her son is with his peers.

I'm sorry to say that I missed seeing one family.  Another fourth grader walked past the room twice, trying to get my attention as I spoke with another family.  I called their house later that evening to apologize for missing them.

It's an important part of my job to build the decoding skills, comprehension and vocabulary of my students.  Most importantly, I'm here to help build the self-esteem and confidence of my students by giving them an opportunity to grow as learners.