a meeting with DJ

my long awaited meeting happened today and despite my apprehension it was actually quite successful. I gave her the low-down on where i'm at in the classroom and where i'd like to be and asked for guidance on getting there. we went over different methods and ideas and i left feeling quite confident. let's see how long the feeling lasts once i'm back in the classroom...

now for a grand brain dump of what we spoke of:

there are two schools of thought - 1. formal teacher centered learning 2. student centered learning
i'd like to be in the 2nd category but am straddling between the two

the 2nd is hard in terms of accountability and parent/other teachers' standard expectations but when followed through the successes for the students are far greater.

during these first 5 years when 90% of the brain develops we need to foster as much brain strength and creativity while it still has a major effect on the child

KEY POINT: children learn best when emotion is involved e.g. a child touches the stove when its hot and learns very quickly not to touch it again because a negative emotion was associated with it - the same works in positive terms

when a child guides learning and discovers things - the emotional level is much higher because the learning/discovery comes with excitement

fostering this excitement and child centered learning includes going with what the child is doing/saying/feeling and guiding it vs. stopping it when it is misplaced.

working on behavior modification with stories is far more effective than telling a child what to do

and a few more examples and stories and laughs - it was a great meeting....i'll have to add more to the recap and a followup as i implement the techniques.