MHJH Room 121 - IT's a CommUNITY - Day 1

Our first week of school has been spent getting to know each other.  I have consciously chosen not to post or go over any rules or expectations for my classroom, with the exception of a class syllabus since that was passed out at Open House.  The first several days of school are typically spent allowing students to choose where they sit, observing them interacting with each other and with me (spoken words and actions).  Once a few days of observing are done, those observations are used to develop a classroom philosophy.  A process of how anyone in Room 121 (student, adult, and/or guest) will treat others and be treated.  This adopted philosophy is more often than not very simple.  One single simple sentence. This year for the first time, a three- part series has been planned, and these lessons will lead us to our 2016-2017 class philosophy.

Day 1 of our journey to developing it brought about a chance to use our Chromebooks and a site called, Kahoot. Students answered a six- question series that focused on a time when they felt like they didn't belong.  After responding to the first question of, "where did you have that feeling of not belonging" the students answered the remaining five, which built off of question number one.

Above - The Kids & Kahoot; Right - The Kahoot Questions

After completing the Kahoot activity, the students were redirected to Google Classroom and to a Form where they wrote a paragraph reflecting on the time they recall feeling like they didn't belong. It is with these reflections that I hope to continue the journey of learning about my students and getting a sneak peek of their writing style and abilities in an informal way.  Day 2 of our 3 part series took place today and introduced the students to our class anthems.  Two songs that embody the philosophy we will be adopting as we build our Room 121 commUNITY.