Aviva Dunsiger

I'm so thankful for today's snow storm and early dismissal--I was able to catch up on some much needed school work, including the opportunity to really go through Aviva Dunsiger's classroom blog and class wiki. After looking through everything I was completely blown away. First of all, I'm amazed at how much information is there and that she's able to find the time to update all the pages so frequently. I run my school's before and after care program, and, oops, tomorrow's March 1st and I haven't even started composing and printing the March invoices yet!

Second, I love her idea of posting a video of the classroom layout prior to the first day of school and putting it on the class blog. So many students have anxieties about the first day of school; I'm sure it helped tremendously for Ms. Dunsiger's first and second graders to see the room beforehand and know what to expect. I kept thinking about one of the students at my school last year--as a kindergartener, he had severe anxiety about moving on to first grade in the fall. His stress began at about this time last year. Even though his new first grade classroom was right downstairs and he could visit it, the very idea upset him. For months he would randomly run out of the room, act sullen, and/or kick walls and chairs, shouting, "I don't want to go to first grade!" I wonder if something as simple as having a video like this would have calmed him, especially during the summer months, so he could take comfort in knowing what was coming.

Third, I LOVE all the technology evident in Ms. Dunsiger's classroom, from the "Blogger's Cafe" to the wall of computers to the use of Nintendo DSs (!). That really shocked me. I have never seen a teacher incorporate DSs into her curriculum, and yet, it makes perfect sense. Kids are attached to them like they're a third arm (as I type this I can hear my first grader in the other room playing "Mario 3D Land" on the 3DS he got for Christmas). Why not utilize them for good (i.e., educational purposes) instead of for evil (recreation; okay, not really evil, but you know what I mean).

I'm looking forward to Skyping with Ms. Dunsiger tomorrow night and seeing whether or not she'll be wearing a Super Woman cape (provided the snow tapers off, that is!).