Back to Grinding the Stone...

Back from Fall Break! Thanksgiving was awesome--so good to see family! Now it's back to work. The due date for term papers is now alarmingly close...I can't believe it's December already! Lots to do for my Penn classes before the end of the term. Lots.

Today, before beginning a new unit, I gave my class a questionnaire. The questions focused on their family background (languages spoken, number of brothers/sisters, etc.), likes/dislikes, and preferences/suggestions for our class and the learning that takes place within our classroom. I filled out a questionnaire myself and shared it with my students before they filled out their own. The response was overwhelmingly positive. My intention in doing this was to let my students know that I care about them as people, not just as students in my class. I also hope it will help cultivate a learning environment where my students feel confident and comfortable--with the additional hope that classroom management will be a lot easier in this type of classroom.

Anyway, we'll see what happens, but sometimes it's the little things that really make a difference. In this case, my students seemed really excited to share things about themselves with me--all I needed to do was ask.