Independent Workers

I know it may have been hard heading back to school in mid-August this year, but what a great feeling it is sitting here on Labor Day knowing that when I pull small groups tomorrow, the first graders will be able to work independently when they are not working with me!

The first few weeks of school are all about setting up the structures and routines of the classroom. We learn a lot, but we do a great deal of whole group work and are continuously practicing independent work activities.

Our hard work is paying off and the first graders are getting better and better at working independently; this enables me to work with small groups.

I use workshops to teach reading, writing and math. The following is the layout of a typical workshop schedule:

• Short whole group mini-lesson (teacher teaching the whole class together)
• Student application/small group or one-on-one instruction (The kids are given a chance to apply what they have learned in the small group mini-lesson independently. During this time, I confer with students one on one or work with them at their level in a small group)
• Sharing time (We all gather together to share what we have learned about ourselves as readers/writers/mathematicians that day.)

Using this workshop format gives me the ability to work with each child at his/her level while the other students are engaged in meaningful activities.