Reflection #2

Our little buddies wrote letters to Santa which I thought was super sweet and cute. My Buddy
Reid wrote a letter that was a little on the sad and hopeful side. Reid asked for his cat that ran
away from home last year to come back home. When Reid told me about his cat, I felt sad for
him, but shortly after I asked if he wanted anything else. Reid said no – that was the only thing
he wanted. When walking to the mailbox Reid was telling me that he is going to set up cameras
to trap Santa. Hearing this I thought it would be funny to add this to the letter that Santa will
write back. I guess we’ll have to wait for Santa to reply. The week after mailing letters we made
snowflakes. The kids added their own color and design to a piece of paper to become a
snowflake. For it to become a snowflake we had to fold the paper as small as possible and cut
shapes. I helped Reid with cutting, we cut triangles and rectangles. Reid was very happy with
the snowflakes, and we had extra time. With the extra time we played the 10 games, when you
roll a number between 1-9, you’ll scribble that number out and the number that turns that
number into 10. It was really fun – Reid won. With each activity there were many conversations
and their own experiences. Here are some main conversations and experiences that happened.
When walking to the mailbox Reid was telling me how he does not believe in Santa and this
year he was going to set up cameras to see if he is real or not. Because of this conversation Reid
was very engaged in mailing the letters. He always talked about how he loves going for walks,
so we had a lovely walk and talked to the mailbox. Next, when cutting the paper to make
snowflakes, Reid was very independent. He wanted to cut his own shapes in the snowflake
which Abagail and I thought was so cool. Reid did ask for help to cut a triangle shape, but once
we showed him, he was once again independent. After cutting the snowflake we played a math
game. Reid was also very engaging and patient with this game because I was very lost. As I said
before – Reid won the math game by a lot! Reid is a very engaging person in conversations.
When walking to the mailbox Reid and I were talking about Santa and our plans for the break.
One thing I have noticed is that Reid will yell at the top of the class to talk to his friends. The
most recent time he did that I asked Reid if he would like to go talk to them and he agreed. A
good technique for Reid is asking if he wants to go somewhere is. If not, he will stay in one
place and yell. I might have wanted to let this be a little teaching moment were talking to
someone close might be better than yelling, but I didn’t. I do think I handled that situation
pretty well with the techniques I used. These past weeks I have learnt a lot more about Reid.
I’ve learned that Reid has a hard time believing in holiday beings. Which is okay, but sometimes
it is good to have the holiday spirit. The other thing I have learned is Reid is a sensitive kid. For
Christmas he wanted his cat to come home and he has strong opinions about family members.
To combine this reflection with my inquiry question I have used these activities to gain
evidence. I have noticed how the math game strengthened Reid mental and educational health
and trying to believe in Santa could possibly affect a spiritual health.