November Update

Hi! It’s been a couple months! A couple of you, (literally just two people), asked if I had an update about how things are going, so I thought it was probably time for a blog.

Nothing about this will be profound, or dare I say, interesting. But this is just where Noema Learning Microschool is at the moment. Enjoy!

Okay so basically, everything is great!

Blog over.

I mean, that is basically it though. My students are thriving, my attitude is much better than it was last year, I am seeing progress and growth, and it’s been so great! I think about where I was this time last year and things are exponentially better than that. “Better” is actually an understatement. If I were to talk with last year Mrs. Hernandez, I would want to give her the biggest hug and tell her one year from now, you will not be counting down the days to Thanksgiving break. Because I am truly not. I LOVE having these students every day.

My Kiddos.

Let’s talk about my amazing group of students. These guys have gotten so close to one another. As much as they think they learn from me, or their curriculum, they all learn the MOST from their discussion with each other. I would love for people to come in and see the discussion my students have. They are not your typical junior high or high school conversations. They are respectful, understanding, silly, and just so stinking smart.

I haven’t had ONE instance of disrespect or unkindness. It’s not perfect; there have been reminders of needing to calm down or use better language, which is to be expected. But in over 3 months of my microschool I have had better behavior than literally ANY week in my 11 years of being a the classroom. This is not an exaggeration.

My students are just amazing. They are so creative! Since I am able to put their learning back into their hands, my students are able to CREATE their assignments and lessons to their interests. I can change things on the spot for them and it has yielded incredible results in their learning.

My Day to Day.

Some have asked about what my day looks like. A bunch of cool things happen! Very basically, we break up our day into about 5 academic blocks: Math, ELA, Social Studies, Science, and Enrichment. They all have their own personalized curriculum chosen by their parent with help from me. We usually start each block with a warm up, silent reading, or something together; then they work on their own curriculum with me floating through and helping when I can. Between all the blocks, we also do some trivia or play a game, or just sit and talk! We also do a lot of activities together, including: current events, debates, novel studies, projects and so much more. Students are encouraged to work with us, or continue to work on their curriculum.

Overall, I’m so happy and content. I don’t think I will ever go back to the traditional classroom. I love where I am.