It's always been there.
Sometimes I use it, most of the time I don't.I started to notice something a few days ago.
My students have taken over the easel.
First, they would write who was sharing during Morning Meeting.
Then at the end of the day, they would write the date.
The other day, I did a double take.
Unknown to me, they asked a question of the class, and the class answered, on the easel!
OK, call me a bad teacher, but I do not know when they wrote it or when the kids responded, it was just there.
"How was your day?" was the question.
The answers ranged from "not so good" to "awesome." (I wish I knew who wrote not so good so that I could find out why. Hopefully, I had already resolved that issue.)
I could have blown a gasket. I could have started yelling about how the kids were writing on "my" board. I chose not to, instead I encouraged it.
Why?
I am an advocate for student ownership.
Our students need to feel like it is "our" classroom,not mine.
If they were confident enough to commandeer the easel without even discussing it with me first, I think my job is done.:)
I am ecstatic that among the many other things that happen in order to make this classroom theirs, they have started their own trend.
I love reading their questions and responses.
Today's question was about our field trip, whether they enjoyed it or not.
I still don't know who is writing these messages, and I really don't care.
The easel is theirs now,and I can't wait to see what their future messages look like. :)