In households around the city families are carving pumpkins, preparing costumes and more than likely taste-testing the Halloween candy. Parents will send their princesses, pirates and ghostbusters to school tomorrow.

Let’s face it: students enjoy Halloween much more than most teachers. Yet if you teach in an elementary school, Halloween comes with the territory. It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus… enjoy the day!

Last week I was reminded of the thrill of emergent writers when I spent time in kindergarten and grade one. In both classes, the students were eager to write, thoroughly engaged in the process and enthusiastically able to explain what they had written.

Despite the various levels of their writing – pictures only, mock letters, a string of letters, invented spelling or more conventional spelling – all students were engaged in the process. Each stage is an important one for emergent writers.

Although our ultimate goal is to teach students to be effective writers, teachers of emergent writers must be careful not to overcorrect. Overcorrection quickly dampens the enthusiasm of our young writers. When they are still experimenting with language and letters, proper spelling and punctuation are secondary. We must celebrate their attempts at language and honour what they have written.

Rather than correct their work, we can teach the elements of good writing through modelling and explicit instruction. And by the way, good writing includes much more than proper conventions… just ask our kindergarten and grade one students!

Last week I was reminded how important it is to teach with intention. My reminders came in the form of adults working with special needs students. Everything they did and didn’t do, everything they said and didn’t say was purposeful.

The result? Students who know that the adults in the room care for them, students who are engaged and students who are learning at their own pace. In other words: education.

We are changing the world, one intention at a time.

 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am writing to express my gratitude.

To those of you who greet me with a hug every day without fail, thank you for beginning my day with a smile.

To those of you who hang onto my every word, thank you for giving me the validation that what we do is important.

To those of you who share a cracker or a candy from your lunch, thank you for showing what it means to give.

To those of you who find learning challenging, thank you for demonstrating the true meaning of perseverance.

To those of you who have experienced abuse, neglect or trauma in your young lives, thank you for inspiring me by your courage. Thank you for giving me perspective and reminding me that life is precious.

To all of you, thank you for making my work both rewarding and enjoyable. Thank you for making me a better educator and a better person. And thank you for ensuring that I laugh – every day.

Sincerely, your teacher.