Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Winding Down the Year

Last week was the first week back from spring break. And we're all feeling the end of the school year's approach. 

I don't normally do a countdown. I'm too busy going from assignment to assignment to pay attention. But this year, I actually sat down and counted. 30 days. 

So, on Wednesday, I found a spot on the board and wrote "days left". 

At the beginning of the day, two of the students take care of changing the dates on the board. We have a little calendar with velcro numbers. Jennifer puts up the number for the current day. And then the date is written out by Jonas. 

Jonas has trouble writing up the date. We point out where Jennifer placed the correct day. We'll tell him to add one to the previous day. But it's always a bit of a struggle for him. 

Because I'm lazy Because Jonas needs the practice, I've decided that the countdown is now part of his responsibilities. I assigned it to him on Friday. 

I explained that he would need to change the number down one. I asked him what one less than nine was. (He could leave the tens-place two up. That's a whole other discussion on how hard it is to get him to grasp that concept.) But he got to eight pretty quickly. Success. 

We'll see how Jonas does with the countdown. (Obviously, he doesn't do this alone.) It'll be good practice for him.

(When you read this post, our countdown should read 25 more days left of school. Woo-hoo!)

17 comments:

  1. Go, Jonas! Hurrah for the days he recalls how to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That will be good practice for him. I'm glad you had the idea.

    And Woo Hoo for only having 25 days left of school!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love what you are doing for Jonas - that is such confidence building as he succeeds. 25 days wow. Enjoy each day and the memories with those kiddos.
    War Torn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just hope to keep things together until the end of the year.

      Delete
  4. Not laziness; many people (like me) learn best by doing, and you are a creative teacher. Hope Jonas is being successful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not that creative. I'm figuring it out as I go.

      Delete
  5. How long after school is done do you think it will take them to call you to cover a summer class?

    ReplyDelete
  6. You created a learning experience for Jonas. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wouldn't call it that. I'm just adding to what he already does.

      Delete
  7. Summer will be here before you know it. Alas, so will Fall and Winter).

    ReplyDelete
  8. I never realize it end school season.
    Coffee is on and stay safe

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very nice approach u followed with Jonas. With my daughter i too followed many tricks to teach subtractions , additions and much other stuff. U r getting holidays then? Enjoy


    Dropping by from a to z "The Pensive"

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd start a countdown, but work never really ends. I'd like to start a countdown to warmer weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really doesn't work in other industries.

      Delete

I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.