Esme sets up her first classroom very creatively and discusses her feelings and words to students on the first day of school. She tells us about some of the personalities in her class as well as their parents. She deals with the theft of classroom books and tells us abou her 'secret favorite.' Esme starts an after-school book club.
What did you learn about Esme's teaching style as you rad about how she sets up her classroom and introduces herself to her students?
How would you have handled the theft of classroom materials? Do you agree or disagree with the way she disciplined her class?
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We had a great discussion about this portion of Esme's book! Esme set up a classroom that many of us would have loved as students, but would have a rough time with as a teacher. Hats off to you, Esme! You're braver than I!
ReplyDeleteEsme's interactions with Twanette's mother led us into a great dicussion about "sandwiching" our concerns between positive comments. Also, I'd encourage everyone to take some time (though I know what little time we have is precious) to make a positive 'first contact' with parents in your class(-es) early in the year/term/semester. It will pay off big later on in the year!
We also had a very interesting discussion about how Esme disciplined her entire class for behavior of one (or a few) who stole a comic book. Our collective knee-jerk reaction was that she did the right thing since she warned the class ahead of time what would happen if someone took or misused the books. She HAD to be consistent and follow through to let her class know that she meant business. However, we also debated that, in the absence of a warning like she gave, how appropriate such a classroom 'punishment' would be. In that case, we decided that a whole-class consequence would not be appropriate, especially at the younger grades.