February—Digging In

Chip Wood on February 3, 2012

Days have begun to have more daylight, the hint of spring to come. But in school, days often seem longer in February to students and teachers. A tedium can come with drab days, unpredictable weather, too much indoor recess and the flu. What to do?

Nestle in. Productive elementary classrooms at any grade level in February can take on the sensibility of rabbits snuggled in their burrows, or mice nibbling away at their store of tasty seeds.

The routines and schedules and ways of working together developed in the months of harvesting and storing of skills and habits now provide comfort to young learners and their teachers. Read-alouds can go a little longer, be woven into the fabric of ELA pacing charts, delight the listener with a continuity of something to look forward to in school tomorrow. Planting seed or bulbs in small pots of washed gravel brings the delight of observing and measuring and comparing changes that can occur in a sunny window, while outside crocuses begin to appear—or a foot of snow blankets the ground, depending on your location.

Valentine’s Day diverts but opens the opportunity for flurries of writing at every grade level and the preservation of children’s good heartedness with notes for the office secretary and the principal and the custodian and the cooks in the cafeteria. And there are other February traditions of African American History Month, Presidents Day, and, of course, Groundhogs Day … Did the groundhog see his shadow? How much more winter will we have?

February is a good month for taking stock. What and how much have we learned this school year so far? We are halfway through, how much more is there to do? We have crossed the school equator this month, or last, magically marked by the number line reaching the 100th day. Collections of hundreds appear everywhere. Are there a hundred children in our grade? What does it mean to get 100% on your paper? What would you do with $100 dollars?

Digging into some research, digging into harder spelling, making a big jump toward knowing all your times tables or counting to 100 by 2’s. Finding time to think about what you are doing, what you are learning and what you now can do on your own. Reflection. Remembering. Maybe having the days feel long in February can be kind of cozy and comforting.