Seedlings- What's Going Well?

I got this idea from a new-to-me blog I'm really enjoying, Read, Write and Reflect.  From the post "Seeds:"

It amazes me how little time I feel that I have at the beginning of the school year. I feel that I’m constantly racing to get things done only to stop at the end of the day and see everything I didn’t do. This year I’m making a conscious effort to look for the seeds that show what is going well and marvel over them. 

This is me and not just at the beginning of the year.  I have a habit of focusing on how far there is to go. It is what compels me to strive, work hard, and push forward. However, I rarely take time to notice all that I have accomplished.
What's going well?
That is the question. And I've decided to answer it using artifacts.

Jagger wrote a really great blog post in response to the book,  Out of My Mind, which we are reading for the Global Read Aloud. Here is part of his post:

In Melody’s class there is a girl named Maria who has Down syndrome. She is always happy. This connects to me because my sister, Sydney, has Down syndrome and she is always happy. I really feel offended by knowing that people treat people with disabilities very poorly because even though they might be disabled or act differently doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings; they do and they care. Every time my sister gets a piece of candy or something it’s “Jagger too, get one for Jagger too” so they do care, they can learn. They are more like us than different. I want you to really think of that next time you see someone who appears to be “different.” Comment in the section below telling me if you have met someone different. Also, if you really want to make a difference go to a place like Hope-Haven and help out or donate to organizations that help kids with disabilities like DSAJ (Down Syndrome Association of Jacksonville).Wait don’t leave I have one more thing to say I haven’t been meaning to say different whenever talking about kids (or anyone really) with disabilities because like I said before, we are more alike than different.

I've started to introduce classroom jobs to 5th grade.  There are three students sharing the job of global connector. They are doing a great job tweeting from the class Twitter account.

Emily is one of the class documentarians. She is doing an amazing job taking photos without being distracting or disruptive. I have already seen a big improvement in her photos and the way she is using them to tell a story and document learning. Here are some photos and a Pic Collage she emailed me this week.  

             

I love how she showed the different jobs with this collage.

In 4th grade, we discussed the importance of taking time and effort to do quality work.

Students learned how to edit their own videos using the iMovie app, and they each filmed and edited a book talk. 

Kingdom Keepers from MJGDS Classrooms on Vimeo.