#5words | There's a Book for That

On the last day of school in June all of us in our classroom brainstormed a huge list of words on the board. What did we want to be in 2013/2014? Beyond goals, how did we want to visualize ourselves? How did we want to be described? What descriptors would be a fit for each of us? We each chose five words. We wrote them down and signed the paper. We also asked a witness to sign.

Most of us were returning to spend the year together again for 2013/2014 as our Grade 2/3 class was becoming a Grade 3/4. Over the summer, someone switched schools and some new students moved into the neighbourhood. By the end of week one in September, we had become a Grade 2/3/4 class with 8 new students. We invited our new students to also take part in this exercise sharing our words and coming up with a few more.

With photographs of us, these words are going to be posted on the walls of our cloakroom. We will see them when we arrive each morning and as we grab our coats and bags at the end of the day. Our words will surround us as we learn and grow. Will these words feel right at the end of the year? Will they be motivational? Will they inspire us? Confuse us? Make us reflect and think? We don’t know yet. We do know that we felt pride and confident choosing our words and happy to share and celebrate them.

If you visit us, please look out for our photos and words in our cloakroom. If you follow our learning journey from afar, here are some lovely examples.

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Fun

Calm

Focused

A Writer

A Leader

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A Teacher

Brave

A Reader

A Learner

A Listener

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Kind

Passionate

Peaceful

Giving

A Thinker

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A Reader

Creative

Brave

A Leader

Myself

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Independent

Brave

Compassionate

Helpful

A Reader

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Creative

Brave

Focused

Patient

Organized

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Brave

Calm

A Reader

Respectful

Kind

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Creative

Patient

Helpful

Calm

Fun

As the teacher of all of these young students, I was amazed at how brave many of these word choices were. There was real vulnerability in the writing down of words that have big importance. Some quiet children chose the word Talkative. Children who struggle with impulse control wrote that they would be Calm. Learners just beginning to read wrote the words A Reader as did voracious readers who devour books. Our classroom community values many things and this also came through in the choices: Mindful, A Leader, Creative, Kind . . .

These words will visit us everyday, I am not going to ask the students to revisit their choices and evaluate later in the year. I don’t want these words to be intimidating. This process is not about living up to a goal. This process is about choice. We all have the ability to choose who we are becoming. The words we have chosen celebrate this power. My responsibility and my joy will be to support these choices all year long.

Happy 2013/2014 everyone! What will you be?

Would you like to share your 5 words in the comment section? We would love to read them!

Here are mine and Miriam’s (Miriam is my brilliant Student Support Worker who shares these wonderful children with me):

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