Build a Bridge

Here I am again, the beginning of a new year, and the mid-way point of the school year.  It is always a time to assess, to dig out what has been forgotten but needed, and to leave behind what is not working. This has been an on-again, off-again activity this break, as usual, and I'm here to report my progress and aim.

It began in earnest when I heard this song for the first time, even though it is at least a year old:

Upon hearing Mavis sing, I immediately knew that "building bridges" will be my focus for the coming year. This is needed as I'm  coming off a semester where many student conflicts affected what I was able to accomplish in the classroom, and the student surveys helped point the way to how we should proceed.

Part of what I have decided is to have the reading classes create mission statements of six words. It is time we came together around a common theme, and it can't be mine. But then, I knew I also needed a mission statement of my own: six words that will point the way to exactly what I should be doing every day. I already know a relaxed environment yields higher rewards, and it is up to me to make that happen.

I tinkered around with words and ideas for a few days, and today I hit on it: use the word BRIDGE as an acrostic. It flowed right out after that:

Building
    Relationships
Illuminating
    Discovery
Generating
    Expression

I made a list of what activities go into each category. Examples:

Building relationships: discussions, mindfulness & kindness practices, partnering and teaming up.

Illuminating discovery:  observation, creating questions, mentor text sequence, analyzing, most important word, tension of opposites, higher level questions

Generating expression: writing activities like carousel, write-arounds, letters, found poems, charts, tweets, distributive summaries, reflections, pluses & deltas, along with mind maps, one pagers, slideshows, using new words, students as teachers

And as I was preparing this blog, I realized I could have "Build a Bridge" time, where they can just converse with others in the room as the song plays.  This was actually a request by one class, begging for just a little time to talk to each other at the beginning of class. It would give the activity a name and a purpose.

I'm sure the ideas will keep coming, and I'm aware only so much will get done. It's a start. It has possibilities. It's a new year!