Last year, Hurricane Harvey ravished our community wiping out 80% of homes and several campuses in our school district. More than half of my students' homes were flooded with several families from my class displaced even after months of rebuilding. My campus was one of the schools flooded, and unfortunately, we lost our classroom before we had a chance to start the first day of school. Thankfully, a local church stepped up and made arrangements with our school district to house our students.
My first graders have had plenty to complain about not only losing their homes but their school as well.
But being the resilient and positive little people they are, they have adapted to having school in a church, having daily sack breakfasts on the gym floor, tiny classrooms, lack of books and resources, and several schedule and transportation adjustments throughout the year. Not only have they adapted, they have done so with a smile on their face and a willingness to go along happily with the unorthodox school setting.
Really, they have taught me more than I could ever teach them about resiliency, staying positive, and making the best out of a bad situation.
My Project
Using audio books as a resource for early literacy is something I have available for my students in their daily centers. I feel cooperative groups should have a designated area where they may sit comfortably and follow along with an audio book at a listening center.
Hurricane Harvey damaged our listening center, and our player no longer plays compact discs and often "eats" our cassette tapes.
Having a new listening center will allow my students to have more variety in what they can listen to including books on cd.
In addition to this, I have asked for a table designed for cooperative grouping. Hurricane Harvey also took our large furniture including our previous table. Here our listening center will be placed and groups of four students have their own space designated for them to cooperate and collaborate.
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