SOL #27: What’s Missing?

The moment when you reach and connect with a student who typically resists learning.

Resistance turns to willingness.

Hands down one of the best parts about being a teacher.

Trying and trying until something clicks.

Today was one of those days. During guided reading, I work one-on-one with a student who usually has difficulty focusing and engaging in learning. Today was not one of those days.

We tried a new sight word activity today: What’s Missing?

“What’s Missing” is a quick activity in which I erase a letter in the sight word and have the student identify the missing letter. Today our sight word was before.

My student identified all missing letters correctly and three magical words came out of his mouth: “I like this!”

He proceeded to suggest ideas for me to have him guess the missing letters: “Instead of leaving a space, you should put all the letters together for me to guess”. Not only was he participating, but he was providing input for his own learning.

This moment put a smile on my face today, that’s for sure.

After we finished the activity, I dedicated the last minute of guided reading to see my student’s new Pokémon book. He showed me some of his favorites, and I couldn’t have been happier.

He was excited. I was excited. It was a successful group time.

Something so simple can make such a difference.