Writing with my mentor group
I have seen amazing growth and progress in a number of writers and it is heart-warming to see. Several writers I had thought of as quite reluctant are now asking to write everyday. Pinpointing why is hard as i’m not one to sell myself and i’m sure there is lots of things at play, however I do believe that the relationships I have built with my mentor group, and the trust that there is, is paying off. These children know I want the best for and from them and as we celebrate success (in a fairly whoop whoop low key way) they want to do their best. They are moving from writing and reading for me to doing it for themselves - finding their voices and giving them an audience - knowing that we (all mentors) want to read their stories. The level of enthusiasm is quite exhausting but well worth it to see the joy on their faces. Must share this joy with their families, just incase they haven’t!
Tetli, it is great to see some joy in your teaching and learning..Yay! I love how you are beginning to make the connections to relationships being that 'crawl' stage of teaching...without them we can't walk, run or sprint.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear that you are really getting to know your learners and feeding forward to them - expectations are so NB to them so this all links nicely with your above post. Celebrating their successes is also a key factor you have identified - shout it from the rooftops (I used to stand on the chair and do a dance if I saw good writing sometimes!) Praise, praise, praise....
Thoughts: How are you going to manage to motivate kids that you have less of a relationship with?