Professional Symposium Paper
My "Ah ha" moment:
In a writer’s workshop lesson there is an author’s chair that is done with a select number of students at the end of each of these lessons. The author's chair is to be used as a celebration of the children’s writing. Its supposed to motivate the students in their writing and give them the opportunity to share their stories amongst their peers. One day I had decided to choose a little girl for the author’s chair. This student had a really lovely temperament in class. She always tried her best, cared about her peers, had a positive attitude, but was very shy and at times would almost be trapped in her own head. I noticed during morning meeting she had raised her hand and participated in class discussion, which was something I had not witnessed her do during my entire internship. I decided to take advantage of this bought of confidence and had her present her story to the class in the author’s chair after a writer’s workshop session. We all gathered as a class on the mat and this girl was just about to be pulled to practise her letters with a resource teacher. I asked the teacher if she could wait just a moment while this little girl presented her story. It was real moment of pride as she shared her story with the class and had no problem with answering some of the 5 W’s along with her classmates' questions about her story. She was slightly flushed in the face after she had presented her story but I think it was a real step in the right direction as she had never been chosen before to do an oral presentation in front of her peers.
It was so gratifying to see her come out of her shell and be able to encourage her in building her confidence. I feel like this experience opened my eyes to that even the smallest of victories are extremely rewarding as a teacher. I noticed to by the end of my practicum this little girl was building more and more confidence. Some of her school work was “clicking” into place and she was really making progress. When children are this young there can be a lot of change cognitively in a short amount of time. This is fascinating to witness as a teacher and also adds to the gravity of making school a positive experience at such a precious time in these children’s lives. Everyone learns at their own pace, and through positive reinforcement, encouragement and being taken outside your comfort zone at times, these are key components to growing and thriving as a student.
It was so gratifying to see her come out of her shell and be able to encourage her in building her confidence. I feel like this experience opened my eyes to that even the smallest of victories are extremely rewarding as a teacher. I noticed to by the end of my practicum this little girl was building more and more confidence. Some of her school work was “clicking” into place and she was really making progress. When children are this young there can be a lot of change cognitively in a short amount of time. This is fascinating to witness as a teacher and also adds to the gravity of making school a positive experience at such a precious time in these children’s lives. Everyone learns at their own pace, and through positive reinforcement, encouragement and being taken outside your comfort zone at times, these are key components to growing and thriving as a student.