Peek into Room #408

I have deliberately refrained from looking ahead to upcoming prompts on the Reflective Teaching 30-Day Blogging Challenge, so I didn't know today's would ask for a classroom picture. Nevertheless, looking through my phone I see that I took 18 photos of my students' learning this week. Here are six:

What I see: My classroom is not confined by walls.

What I'd like to see: Lawn chairs!

What I see: Boys taking selfies for their new press passes--and my new blue wall.

What I'd like to see: Student work on the wall.

What I see: Students using their new MacBook Airs to take a quiz.

What I'd like to see: More authentic measurement of their learning.

What I see: Seniors sharing after a group activity designed to build connection.

What I'd like to see: More relaxed body language.

What I see: Our awesome new First Amendment wall.

What I'd like to see: Inside this quiet student's mind.

What I see: Journalism students adding story ideas to our Todaysmeet.com story-idea page.

What I'd like to see: Some of these pictures printed off and posted on that bare cabinet.

Day 5: Post a picture of your classroom, and describe what you see–and what you don’t see that you’d like to.

Reflection: This might not be a very interesting blog post to read, but I enjoyed looking through my week's photos with a an eye to what is working and what I can improve. This reminds me that blogging is (yes) partly for readers' benefit, but (YES) also for my own reflection.