Fifth grade is a very hard transition for all students. Their bodies are changing, they are taking on new responsibilities, they are developing more and more independence, and they are finding their own way into the world. This can be a scary time for our students as well. As I develop my expectations in my classroom with my students this week, I can't stress to them enough that I have one rule in my room. RESPECT! IF they can follow my one rule, everyone in the room will have a wonderful year. Bullying was our focus this week. Our class will continue to discuss bullying each month. The idea is that your words cannot be taken back. Your words are damaging to those on the receiving end. Each student was given a coffee filter and a tube of toothpaste. The were not given a reason why. I simply asked them to spill all the toothpaste out of the tube into the filter. The kids worked hard to clear the tube. Many of the students wanted to know why, some thought it was fun to make a mess, and some were grossed out by it.
After they squeezed all the contents out, I then asked them to put it all back into the tube. The look on their faces was priceless. They started saying that it was impossible. They wanted to know what tools they could use. They even asked if they could cut open the tube. I stopped the class and asked them what the point of this activity was. When I told them that their words were represented by the toothpaste and the filter represented the person on the receiving end, their mouths dropped. They got it. We had a great talk about how they can't take those words back (the toothpaste can't go back in the tube), and how the coffee filter looks fine until you move the toothpaste around. The filters were ripped and discolored. Some were wet. The lesson we all learned was that we need to make sure we watch what we say. We need to make sure our words are not going to hurt anyone or that we might want to take back. This blog will allow for me to update you on things that are happening in our classroom this year. I would like for our students to use this blog as well to share their work and what they are learning.
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