The Croft School
The Croft School: Jamaica Plain, a high-quality private school built around the attributes of “rigor and spark,” “student-centeredness,” “balance,” “strong relationships,” “outstanding teachers, collaborative improvement,” and “diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism,” opened in Summer 2020.
As I don’t want to violate any of the children’s privacy, I am writing blog posts. Feel free to read about my experiences!
Week 1
Today was my first day at The Croft School, and I’m already feeling excited for the weeks ahead. Each afternoon is a good mix of learning and play: from 3:15 to 4:20, I work with 3rd graders during their Marine Biology block; from 4:20 to 5:00, I join the 1st graders for Free Play; and from 5:00 to 5:30, I help with clean-up and pick-up. In Marine Biology, I helped students research aquatic mammals and create slide presentations. We focused on foundational skills like spelling, research techniques, and presenting, which helps with building confidence and curiosity along the way! During Free Play with the 1st graders, I got a glimpse into how to foster creativity through hands-on activities. We played mermaids in the rain, and their imagination really came alive. Bonding with the kids and beginning to form those student-teacher relationships gave me a glimpse into what it really feels like to be an educator. I can already tell this experience will be both joyful and meaningful.
Week 2
This week is my second time coming to the Croft School. The kids take a minute to adjust to my presence, but after 10 minutes of questioning who I am, they warmed right up! The kids had free-play from 3:30-5 and they love it. A group of 8 kids and I played some tag, duck-duck goose, and most of all, I taught them how to make a ton of paper fortune tellers. I found that paper fortune tellers are such a great way to learn and practice spelling, identifying colors and numbers, using imagination, and of course, interacting with other students. Overall, it was a quick day, but we had a lot of fun working on these basic skills through engaging activities!
Week 3
My third week was packed with activities. We started off with some independent time where the kids could work on homework, classwork, or just read. While they were busy, I walked around and did quick check-ins with each of them. Later, we headed outside to play. The swings became a hot spot, and the kids started fighting over whose turn it was. To keep things fair (and avoid more arguments), I decided on a system where each kid got three minutes on the swings before switching. It worked out well and everyone eventually got their turn.