Life Is Made of Seconds

I have been chronicling each day of 2019 by uploading a photo or video to an app that stores the memories. When the year ends, the pictures will be meshed together into my personal year in review. The daily task of choosing an image that represents something from the day is bringing me so much joy. Reflecting on the days before, seeing just that one second of time snapped from that day, has me reliving and remembering other events that surrounded that day as well. Just that one second of time.

Days in our classrooms are filled with moments worth saving. How can we help students remember the special and ordinary events from our year together? Here are three ideas that will help cement memories of a year of learning.

1. Use an App: Download 1 Second Everyday: Video Diary, start a classroom account, and take a video or picture a day. You’ll choose which second of the video to keep, and at the end of the year, the program will stitch the memories together for you. Voila: in a matter of seconds you will have a culminating video for your class.
2. Chart the Book: Post a running list of all the books you have read as a whole class. At the end of the year, take a photo or type the list up and send it home with each student. They will treasure the shared memories as they reflect on the titles and journey you did together, and may check their favorites out for summer rereads.
3. A Word a Day: We always end our team meetings with each person sharing a word that exemplifies what they are thinking and feeling. Try this as your students leave for the day. This is a quick way to take the temperature as they leave. You may want to start a list of descriptive words, which they can add to their vocabulary and will help them be more reflective.      

These snippets of time captured in pictures and words help us reflect and remember the seconds that add up to minutes, hours, and days in our home lives and in the lives we share with our students. Let’s remember them.