Lyla Reflects and Takes Action

We want to recognize our teammate Lyla today. In our classroom we have clothespins that we regularly interact with to recognize those who are exhibiting the learner profile traits. This morning during morning meeting Lyla said that she would like to share something. She proceeded to tell us that Ms. Winta is a very caring person and that she felt Ms. Winta deserved to have a clothespin on the 'caring' sign. Lyla then took out a clothespin that she made at home and clipped it onto the appropriate sign, telling us that Ms. Winta was caring yesterday when she noticed Lyla at the nurses' office and inquired into what had happened. Lyla took action and showed us what it truly means to reflect. What a great example of how we can all take the learner profile to heart.

Starting the Day Off Right

We have added a new element to our morning routine in KG-B, which involves being mindful and finding balance. We have been using the amazing resource "GoNoodle" in our classroom from day one as we find we need to get up and move or need to refocus. This week we began to use this website to help us calm our bodies and minds and get ready for the day. Through the use of short one to two minute videos, we have begun to learn how we can change our mindset.

Today during our morning greeting we went around the circle saying the chant, "Hey, hey (name), how are you doing today?", and we noticed that many responses included the vocabulary 'sad, angry, or tired'. We realized we had come to school with a lot of strong emotions. It was quite serendipitous that the video "Find Joy" was already queued as our mindfulness video of the day. You would have been amazed to see the seriousness with which we approached our video, and then at the transformation that happened after taking this one minute to reflect. So many more smiles were present after opening our eyes, and the room was filled with quiet chatters of "I feel better" and "Now I feel happy". To take a look at this video and others, click here.  

Taking this moment even further, Anastasia quickly jumped up after the video and grabbed the learner profile poster for "balanced" off the wall. She excitedly exclaimed, "We were doing this!!" What a wonderful, authentic introduction to this word.

We Are Inquirers

The hail storm today provided a perfect opportunity for us to be introduced to the Primary Years Program (PYP) learner profile trait inquirer. We were amazed to see, in Anastasia's words, "the sky raining ice". We wondered why this happened and from where the ice came. We are interested in seeking answers to our questions. We will use this word a lot during our journey through the PYP and invite you to use this vocabulary at home as well.