Humming along

I wish every moment in my classroom could be one of those magical moments when everyone seems busy and engaged and happy to be doing what they are doing. When there is a quiet hum and students are taking charge of their learning. When I feel almost unnecessary. When I’m moving through the room from individuals to small groups and back to students working on their own, asking questions, offering encouragement, nudging forward the learners in my presence. Today was one of those days in my fourth grade reading group. We’ve been reading non fiction picture books. After reading, discussing and reviewing a few together, each student chose a book to read and review on his/her own. And each student chose the format for his/her review. I looked around the room today and saw some sketchnoting, others creating Keynote presentations on iPads, still others working on Animoto or iMovie. A few were writing poems and creating posters. Everyone was into what they were doing. Every.Single. One. I wanted to pinch myself. I wanted to clap for them. I wanted to take pictures. I couldn’t stop smiling. We were humming along and it was beautiful.