First Graders Rock!!!

Sorry it's been awhile since posting!  Recently, our school family suffered a lost when our beloved IDA passed away after battling colon cancer.  She was a remarkable lady whom we will love and remember forever! <3 <3 <3

Every other Monday, we have a staff meeting after school.  This past Monday was a staff meeting day.  Upon walking in the room, we saw that all of the chairs were in different areas of the room.  We were not to move the chairs at all from their spots.

Once the meeting started, one of the 3rd grade teachers led the meeting.  This teacher is AWESOME.  She inspires me everyday!  Each year, her class creates an original opera.  They work on it all year and in May, the students perform it for the school, their parents, and community members.

Mary Ruth, the teacher, said there was one empty chair in the room.  Our job was to make sure she didn't sit in the empty chair.  We basically had to move 1 chair at a time.  So if I got up to go to the empty chair, someone would then have to take my seat, and someone would have to take the seat of whoever took my seat, etc...We had to make sure we were safe when moving.  We had to make sure that once we committed to moving, that we moved.

Watching us adults do it was amusing.  She asked us for our reflections throughout.  I told her that one of the reasons I moved almost every time was because she had given me a task, and I didn't want to fail at it.

Mary Ruth says she does this activity with her 3rd graders and it's amazing to watch them do it.  I loved it so much, that I asked her to do it with my firsties!!  She accepted!

She asked that I push the desks against the wall and spread out the chairs.  She said I could sit in one chair but that I shouldn't move.  She wanted me to sit back and observe.  

Let me tell you, my kids were EXCITED about this game!  They were also AMAZING at it!  They picked up faster than us adults did!

It was interesting to see who moved a lot and who didn't move.  One of the girls who moved a lot, her personality is such that she wants to make people happy.  I see her a lot like me where she didn't want to fail.  By the end, everyone had moved at least once, if not more than that!  They lasted about 40 seconds!  It was awesome!!!

I gave them a collaboration grade AND an analysis grade for this.  I was AMAZED!

I just wanted to share these 2 pictures.  The first one is how the chairs were set up.  The second is the kids in the seat talking with Mary Ruth.

After the exercise, they drew and wrote about what happened.  I'll have to post those next time.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love my job!  I love my students! I love teaching! :-)

Enjoy your weekend!