6th Grade Connections
Mrs. Lising
6th Grade Connections
Mrs. Lising
In September, we will spend some time getting to know ourselves and one another. Identifying who we are as learners is an important part of being a successful student. We will participate in a few different inventories to help us learn our strengths and areas of growth.
Your students will bring home a brochure about Connections that you will be asked to please sign. Your students will then return it to me as their first assignment. They will take a pencil pledge to promise to always bring a pencil to class... but they can rent one if they forget. They will learn to sign into Genesis and check all of their grades. They will break up with one bad habit that might be bringing negative effects into their lives. They will learn about our classroom economy and complete job applications. They will complete a "Find your quote" assignment as part of an All About Me Hexagon. Then they learn about goal setting and set an individual first trimester goal. We will do some following directions exercises and finish September by introducing the idea of executive functioning.
The first half of our year is largely spent on executive functioning skills. Executive functioning are the processes we use to complete daily tasks and live a manageable life: problem solving, mental flexibility, time management, organization, planning, working memory, etc. First students are introduced to the idea of executive functioning in general, then we break down the skills to learn about and practice each one.
There are also some things we incorporate on a weekly or biweekly basis. I have already mentioned the classroom economy. We also participate in Meditation Monday, where we practice being still and silent for a period of time. On Fridays, we will engage in Failure Friday, and students will write about something that went wrong for them that week. Learning from our mistakes, evaluating where we went wrong and what we can do differently next time is so important for our personal growth. We also participate in Free Play Fridays. Students play board games, learn to play new games, read instructions, be good sports, and talk with students they may not know. It's the perfect way to spend some time on a Friday!