From “one day” to “day one.”
I know that blog title is cheesy, but goodness does it make sense for this week.
Tuesday August 13th, 2024 at 9 am, I had my first group of microschool students in my home. I was strangely at peace with all of them coming. I was ready. I just wanted to get started and see how everything was going to look and work. I had questions that were ready for answers. Would the kids mesh together? Would like the curriculum choices I was working with them on? Would the students even learn? Would they participate in the stuff we were doing? Would it be too much time? Would it not be enough time? What am I even doing though?
It is currently Friday after all my students have left, and my heart is filled with so much joy. SO much joy. All the parts about teaching that I loved in my traditional classroom, I have been able to enjoy them all week. And all the parts that made teaching so hard, have been left behind. It’s like, THIS is what teaching was supposed to be. I mean, for me, this is the most joy I’ve felt about education in a really long time.
My worry about students meshing together went away within the first day. Because my goodness! Those kids are connecting and building friendships like nothing I have ever seen! Something about this small group environment can really build community so naturally. Even students that don’t necessarily have the same interests are still being genuine friends with one another. And some of my shyest, most timid students, by Friday were coming out of their shell so naturally. It’s been incredible to see and experience firsthand.
Academically, I have already seen work ethic, growth mindsets, and joy in learning that I haven’t really seen in secondary students in a while. Of course, there are some habits in learning that will probably need to be unlearned, but overall this group seems to be (at least for now) intrinsically motivated to learn.
Now, I have had a lot of stuff that I have learned, (or better yet, will have to unlearn) this week. I guess I didn’t realize all the baggage I have picked up from being a teacher. The timing and pacing with a microschool is SOOOOO different than a traditional classroom. There’s actually time to let the educational day SIT and BREATHE. In my traditional classroom, it felt like a marathon. But this week with Noema, has felt like…aw man…why did I start a simile about running? Running is the worst. Let’s do it again. With Noema, I have had TIME to connect, give feedback, and allow students to have quality time to think and let a moment rest. With my traditional classroom, there was always this pressure to keep the students “busy.” And this week, all of our academic blocks have been used to its full advantage, even if they weren’t “busy.” I don’t know if that made sense, but it’s been the biggest surprise I’ve noticed this week.
I have a lot more takeaways, but you can always ask me anything about this week if you have specific questions.
I want to end with a list of reasons why I loved this week:
ability to use the bathroom whenever I needed
because of that ⬆️, I have been the most hydrated I’ve ever been
ability to eat an actual breakfast before students get here
trivia games!
learning about D&D, comics, and anime stuff that I have never known about before
fun discussions about life and culture with Gen Z & Alpha
seeing, in real time, new connections forming
Thank you to everyone that has seen me grow Noema into what we’ve started this week. I don’t want to get all emo, but I’m so grateful for this journey.
