Each day is a new day. As our students file into school in the morning, the air fills with excitement. Their hearts and minds are ready to adjust to a full day of learning and fun! As they unpack their backpacks and get our hugs and high fives, we see an opportunity to make a positive impact in their lives and I see an opportunity for them to make a positive impact on others. Treat others the way you want to be treated is our motto, but this comes with lots of teaching and practice throughout our day.
I teach in a Title I school that is made of up families who experience living in poverty and a high percentage of students on the free or reduced-price lunch program.
These kids come to school excited to learn and develop social and emotional skills that will help them lead happy and successful lives. As they learn these skills, there are ups and downs, but we make sure to use diverse situations as learning experiences to have a positive effect on each and every student.
My Project
Books are a fabulous way to fill the room with excitement and teach across all content areas. They are also an important component to helping kids develop socially and emotionally. Kids can make connections to characters and pull out important life lessons from a good book.
These specific titles will help us focus on and develop these habits of the mind...empathy, flexibility, persistence, resilience and optimism.
Titles such as Yo! Yes?, Big Red Lollipop and Leonardo the Terrible Monster will help guide discussions and activities on developing empathy for others. Lily the Unicorn, Elephants Cannot Dance and Almost will be used during lessons that focus on optimism. Oh, No George! and Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle will help kids become resilient learners. Almost will also help with helping kids discover persistence. The Amazing Spider-Man will be of high interest to the kids at the first grade level and will help them become flexible in their thinking. Each and every title has a good lesson behind the story. I plan to use all these titles to build upon these 5 habits of the mind throughout the entire school year. We will read and reread, discuss, role play, practice and inquire and discover ways on how we can all be more successful after we are able to shape our thinking using these five stances.
Once kids are able to think in all these ways, the effect on student learning can be astonishing. They will be able to transfer these mindsets to all areas of their life academically, socially and emotionally.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Behnke and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Fond Du Lac","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[3723610],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"WI","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":1,"name":"Early Education"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":3393659,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/books-to-energize-learners/3393659/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":true,"numStudents":18,"teacherScreenName":"Mrs. Behnke","isEquityFocus":true,"authorIds":{"3723610":{"owner":"Mrs. Behnke","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[3393659],"proposalHash":"-877465060","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp3723610_272x272.jpg?width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1470340496931","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":20805680,"photosPublished":true,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":["NTg5Mzg3OA==","NTg4OTg0MQ==","MzczMzg4Mg=="],"teacherId":3723610,"schoolCounty":"Fond Du Lac","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"WI","name":"Wisconsin"}}
