I have access to their prior grades, their neighborhoods, their IEPs and 504s and whatever else defines them on their permanent record. I even have their photos (which, as a parent in the same district, I find a tad creepy).
But I do not know them yet.
And that is all the difference.
And yet I try each year anyway.
The triumph of hope over experience.
The triumph of hope over experience.
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I just get my room ready. I make sure my shelves are stocked with good books, my tables and chairs are inviting, and the first months of assignments are my ways to get to know them. I make sure I have a stack of paper, a stack of journals, and a basket of pens and pencils. I ask a lot of questions. What books do they CHOOSE to read? How well do they read for details? Can they write a complete sentence and a complete or complex thought? How do they work with each other? How well do they work alone? Do they trust their own thinking? Can they laugh at themselves? Can they laugh at me?
That's a start. It takes a while.
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