eight

eight: grade level teams

In teaching, there is simply never enough time to accomplish everything.  This is the sad, unfortunate reality.  However, grade level teams can make things better and for them, I am thankful.

This year, my work wife Ms. H and I are planning reading for the grade level.  Not everyone uses our plans or copies, but that's okay.  Two other teachers plan/copy math while 2 more tackle writing.  It's nice to share the work load and bounce ideas off one another.

I'm also thankful that my work wife understands that unfortunately, sometimes this planning needs to happen outside of contract hours.  Tomorrow, on the day before Thanksgiving, we have a lunch date at Panera to crank out the next few weeks worth of reading plans. 

Beyond having other people to plan with and share the copying fun, it's nice to have a team where we can share ideas and strategies.  We are within a few days of each other in terms of plans, so it's nice to be able to give one another a heads up about what math lessons the kids struggle with or share strategies that really seemed to click for students.

As an added bonus, 4 of the 7 third grade teachers are in my pod, which means help is literally right next door.  I am thankful for grade level teams.

Rules, Rules, Rules

Teacher confession here:  I hate going over all the rules the first day.  The kids tend to be experiencing a Taylor Swift-range of emotions and are quite frankly overwhelmed.  Simply sitting and receiving information isn't the best plan.

Instead, I switch it up with a few hands on activities.

The Scavenger Hunt

Instead of pointing out everything in the classroom,  I have students find a partner, grab a clipboard, and go on a scavenger hunt.  I stand back and let them find things around the classroom.  

Granted, I don't have the scavenger hunt made yet. I've got to set up my classroom first...but I've got last year's to revise.

They'll talk about their answers as a table and then we go over the answers as a class. It's a perfect time to incorporate listening and speaking norms. I model standing up, facing the class, introducing myself, and speaking clearly so the class can hear.  From there, students will practice public speaking in a non-threatening environment.  Finding different things in the classroom (pencil sharpener, telephone, etc) is completely safe.  They are almost guaranteed to have the right answer and as a class, we can practice cheering and applauding one another.  At the end of the activity, not only do students feel more comfortable in the room because they know where things are, but empowered because they found them with a partner and were celebrated for their correct answers.

While yes, this takes more time in comparison to me standing in front of them pointing things out.

But here's all the things the lesson also teaches or incorporates:

1) Teamwork (they work with a partner)
2) Using materials appropriately (they'll use clip boards and practice putting them away appropriately)
3) Movement (I don't sit well and neither do they)
4) Sharing ideas
5) Celebrating others (class cheers)
6) Agreeing with others (hand signals)
7) Active listening
8) Shared sense of ownership over our classroom 


The Rules

While every teacher has basic rules in mind about the classroom, it's important that students feel that they help create the classroom   (and that includes the rules).

To do this, I set out large pieces of paper with the following questions:

1) What do I expect from my teacher this year?

2) What do I expect from my classmates?

3) What do I need to have a good school year?

4) What does it mean to be a good student?

5) What do I expect from myself this year?

6) How should I treat other people and materials in this classroom?


I lay the papers out around the room and introduce the concept of a gallery walk.  I split the class into smaller teams (not with their table teams) and give each group a pack of markers. Every student will have a different color (for accountability).  I go over answering the question (spelling doesn't count, which puts many at ease), talking at an appropriate volume, and that I'll be setting the timer (usually for 2 minutes).  

At the timer, I call for everyone's attention.  I go over capping the markers and looking for direction.  I go over the rotation pattern because the students will be rotating to each large piece of paper.  I have them silently practice rotating to their next piece of paper.

Before immediately writing down their own answers, I introduce my expectation that they'll read their classmates answers first.  If they agree, they just put a check mark.  If they want to add more, they can add bullet points underneath.  If a student's idea is not on the sheet, that's when he/she may add a new comment.  I have them review my expectations as a group.  I then give them 90 seconds at their second rotation.

At the timer, I go over the expectations for transitions again.  I repeat this after each rotation.  I have them repeat the expectations to one another.

After all the questions have been visited by all the groups, I bring the class to the carpet.  We look at each sheet together and discuss what stands out.  From there, we create the rules.  (Spoiler alert, I already know what the rules are. Most of the time they come up with exactly what I want them to do but if not, I gently guide them to what I want to emphasize.)


School Rules

School rules and expectations are a little different because they're set in place by administration. 

However, just because I can't change them doesn't mean we can't have fun going over them.  I split the class into eight teams (different pairings then their table teams so they can mingle with each other) and give them a sheet with true/false statements.  As a group, they go over the statements and mark their answer choices.

I then teach answering procedures using {the cups}.

I don't love when everyone shouts out answers.  By using color coded cups (from the Dollar Tree), all students get a chance to answer without speaking.  

It's another opportunity to incorporate classroom procedures, but with a clear purpose (answering the game questions).  They answer with green (true) or yellow (false) cups.


Recapping Everything

By Friday of the first week of the school year, we've pretty much covered all the classroom procedures, rules, and students know where things are.  To recap everything, I once again split the class into teams to teach kahoot.

Kahoot.it is free for educators (my favorite) and requires some prep work.  You create questions and put in answer choices, marking which is correct.

Students will use iPads (assuming they're ready for student use) to answer trivia questions on the web-based platform.  Each game has a specific code, teams can create their own names, and they get points for how quickly they answer the questions.

Kahoot is great for reviewing concepts before tests, but I want the first time we use it to be for fun.  While it's not tied directly to academics, knowing the classroom procedures and expectations will save loads of time as the year progresses.  I'd rather spend a good chunk of the first week(s) setting the foundations in place for the rest of the year. 

Yes, it's important to get into the academics and the whole learning thing. But it's also important to ensure that there is a classroom foundation where students know the expectations, feel safe, and are empowered to take risks. 

Preach

I've had a lot of feelings lately, most of them being irritation with others.

I don't like feeling irritated with others. 

But I also have a firm sense of fairness and I get frustrated when others don't pull their weight.  I work hard, every day. I prioritize the tasks my grade level needs, then put my own classroom needs second.

I try new things and sometimes there are bumps in the road...that's okay!  I tried flipping my classroom this week and it was super awkward to talk to the camera.  I'll get better with practice.  I am tired of being told that it was a waste of time to try something new.

I'm tired.  

I'm tired of working so hard when others aren't.  

I'm also tired of their complaints about their long hours.  It doesn't count if you stay at work and chit chat with people for hours.  That's not working, that's socializing.  

I'm tired of the negativity about the school district.  Yes, we're in a crappy situation.  Yes, it could be worse.  Complaining about it every day doesn't make it better.

I'm tired of being put down.

I'm tired of being interrupted when I'm trying to work.  

I'm trying very, very hard to remain professional. I'm trying very hard to continue to be the bigger person, but it's exhausting.

{This article}, which is an open letter to teachers who bully other teachers, pretty much sums up 90% of how I feel. 

I wish I'd found it weeks ago.

Thankful, Day 3

The thankfulness continues.

Day 3:

I am thankful to be in a profession where I have the opportunity to constantly learn new things and try new strategies.  I am thankful to be at a school where I can learn from others. I'm thankful for my grade level and for the support I receive from the other math chair.

Today I presented on math strategies for staff development.  It went fairly well and others were appreciative of new strategies and planning time.

Side note: I didn't teach math last year.  The two years prior to that? I taught stations in an inclusion classroom with the special ed kiddos.  Before that? A traditional classroom.

However, I've attended lots of math trainings over the past few years because I didn't want to fall out of practice.  I guess they've paid off!

As frustrating as these math trainings are, I do appreciate that I have the opportunity to attend them to learn more information (and be paid to learn).

Thank Goodness

I got my official welcome back email today.  What a relief!  Now I know what day I go back to work :)

What I was more impressed with is my new administration's value for our summer breaks.  The earliest I could go back is Wednesday, but since I"m in training, that day is out.  They limited the hours we can work.  Yup, limited from 9-1.  They expect us to do other things then spend all day prepping our classrooms...and all I can say is thank goodness!

I won't get keys until next Friday and even then, I can work a max of four hours at school.  I can go in Saturday and Sunday (which I may, dragging B with me), but again I"m limited to four hours.  

I talked with the grade level chair and they long range plan during the first few weeks of school, so I'm not a slacker teacher.  More importantly, they plan as a team (hooray collaboration) and tweak the plans as the year progresses.  Yes, the mindset that the plans you make in August, before you've met your students, can be altered based on the students' needs.  Hallelujah this is a norm!

Besides my excitement about planning and not being allowed to work all day, there was one more piece of pertinent information regarding bulletin boards.

It's expected they'll be cute.  What a refreshing change.

See, last year the cuteness was severely frowned upon.  We did not have bulletin boards.  They were called academic wall displays.  They were graded, on a rubric, by ourselves and administration.  We had a stern talking to regarding ours...and we weren't the only grade level.  I remember being chewed out because some of the students' work wasn't perfect.  Um, correct.  I teach ten year-olds.  Learning is a process.  I hope they haven't mastered all of the fifth grade content in September.  So yes, in the interest of displaying all students' work, I included some work that wasn't 100% correct.  Again, I taught inclusion (with special education students), learning is a process...and the bulletin board was due in September.  Not the end of September, but by the end of day 8 of instruction.  Oddly enough, two weeks in, my fifth graders hadn't mastered that particular reading standard.  I got lectured for it.

I don't think that will be the case this year.  There was an email attachment about all sorts of ways to make your bulletin boards cute and recommended how to make lettering and borders.  I will keep the background sheet and burlap border up all year, but switch out the lettering and theme as I see fit.  Or every month, as is suggested.

Thank goodness for positive change.  I'm so excited to be headed somewhere where I'm encouraged to have a life outside the classroom and it's expected I have fun with my job.  

Hallelujah.  It's about damn time.

CRT Data

Confession:

I rarely check my work email over the summer.

I deleted the app from my phone and since I'm not in my new school's system yet, I don't see much of a point to log in daily only to delete spam and teacher coupons (looking at you Lakeshore). 

I saw my (former) principal post on Facebook that not only were CRT (Criterion Referenced Test) scores in, but she was excited about the results.  So naturally I asked to see the fifth grade data because well, I'm a numbers nerd!

I was at my new house painting so I figured I'd check the data in a few hours.  Well, my grade level beat me to the analysis part.  In a matter of minutes, I had six texts from my former grade level sharing their excitement about particular students.  

While I'm sure I'll get official reports with the break down of each class, I couldn't wait.  My insomnia got the best of me and sure enough, I was up at four am crunching numbers and making graphs.  I couldn't be more pleased with my class results and know that I didn't accomplish this feat alone.  It took our entire grade level working tirelessly, together, for ten months to achieve these results.  For those at my school who did not approve of our quasi-departmentalization experiment, I'd like to waive this data in their faces...but I won't...because I am a professional.  

I had the privilege of working alongside some of the most inspirational fellow teachers.  I will miss being able to pop into their rooms and the amazing collaborative mindset we all shared.  For various reasons, we are all starting at new schools and collectively represent third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and special education.

Math

(I didn't teach math besides our intervention block and number talks, so these scores are due in a large part to the amazing effort of my two neighboring teachers.  Well done ladies! I trusted that my students were in very capable hands each and every day.)

I'm a visual person, thus the graph.  Here is my class data for math:

1 student exceeded
22 students met standards
3 students were approaching
6 students were emerging


Science

We shared students for science and I taught the FOSS Landforms kit four times before getting my own class back for CRT prep.  When my homeroom wasn't with me, they were with my fellow teachers learning about environments, mixtures and solutions, force and motion, as well as variables.  We broke our year into four seven week rotations and started switching the third week of school.  We didn't switch right away because we wanted to set up science notebooks and go over the scientific method with our homeroom classes.  

Our rotations ended about two weeks before the science CRTs, so we used that time to incorporate Discovery Ed video streaming into our reviews.  We also practiced taking notes from multimedia presentations, a valuable skill they'll most definitely need in middle school.  However, we did this with the Magic School Bus videos and they did an amazing job.

Here is my class science data:

Numbers wise,
6 students exceeded standards
17 met standards
6 students were approaching standards
3 students were emerging on science standards

I'm quite pleased with my little scientists!


Reading

If you are new to my teaching blog, know this: I love reading.  I love discussing books with my students and watching them fall in love with literary worlds.  I love watching their excitement when they learn more about the world around them from informational text and seeing them become self-motivated to learn more by reading more is simply wonderful.  

I broke my reading data into two groups: my small groups and my whole class.

I had the higher half of the grade level for small groups, so naturally these numbers are expected to be more in the meeting category.  My job for small groups was to push these fluent readers to become more critical thinkers.  

Numbers wise,

23 students exceeded standards
28 students met standards
7 students were approaching
2 students were emerging

I'm quite pleased with my small groups!

For my whole class, which is inclusion, here are my results:

7 students exceeded standards
13 students met standards
4 students were approaching
8 students were emerging (of these 8, all were either students with IEPs or in the RTI process and still made growth over their previous scores)


I'm thrilled with my students' performances.  Did they all meet standards? No.  Did they all make growth? Yes.  

With my data analyzed, I can emotionally bid this past school year adieu.  I did my best.  I taught them strategies and how to think critically.  They learned and proved their knowledge on these tests.  It is time for a much needed, relaxing summer.

Teacher Appreciation Week

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week (wahoo!).  I love seeing cute ideas like these online:

But am realistic enough to know that I will probably not be receiving cute things like this...so I decided to make them for my grade level instead!  We aren't feeling very respected or valued by a majority of our students and their families at the moment, so I might as well seize the opportunity to let my work wives know I love them and appreciate their daily efforts.

I will be missing our free teacher luncheon due to a previously scheduled vacation.  My best friend is getting her PhD and there's no way I'd miss the opportunity to celebrate her 9 years of hard work.  I do get to take advantage of a free mini-facial at work and am contemplating if I'm brave enough for this:

Fifteen minutes in line? Worth it.  If the line wraps around outside the building? Definitely not.

I do believe in acknowledging the hard, often unnoticed work of fellow educators.  I know that classroom didn't arrange itself over night.  I know those papers didn't grade themselves and those small groups didn't shuffle themselves to best meet the needs of students based on data by accident.  So thank you, fellow educators, for consistently going above and beyond to provide your munchkins with an excellent education.

To thank you, I'm hosting an appreciation sale:

Visit my store for 20% off May 6th and 7th!

Happy teacher appreciation week!

Rejuvenated

As I previously shared, I am looking for a change.  I've been at my school for five years and since we're transitioning to year-round and that's not something I desire.  The 17 mile commute (each way) is taxing and I'm looking for somewhere closer to (my new) home.

I found it.

I showed up at the school and was sent on a tour with the school's two coaches.  We clicked immediately (and not just because we had the same polka dotted 31 bag!).  The school has a very strong reading program and so many books.  We actually had our interview in one of the literacy labs and being surrounded by books is just fine by me!  I met the grade level and I think we'll get along just fine! 

The school has very high standards and believes in transparent data, which is a great thing.  The students should know exactly where they stand and how they're growing academically.   There is a huge emphasis on teamwork and collaboration.  

The interview was with the principal, assistant principal and grade level.  I was at the school for about an hour and left feeling so excited about the opportunity.

I've spent the last twenty four hours in nervous anticipation, wavering between telling everyone how great I think the interview went and keeping my nerves to myself, in case it doesn't pan out.

We were doing our CRTs today, so all my technology had to be turned off.  My cellphone also died, which only contributed to my anxiety.

Luckily, my fears were soothed about five o'clock this evening.  I was offered the position, which I immediately accepted.  I have to tell my administration tomorrow morning, which will be a hard conversation.  I'm headed to my new school after work to sign my transfer paperwork to make everything official!

I'm excited for this new opportunity!  I will miss some of the awesome coworkers (they know who they are!) but this just means we'll have to prioritize happy hours next year.

Onward and upward!

These are my students, round 3

Our awesome counselor started an after school peer support system with our fifth graders.  Her goal is to have some of the higher students help the struggling students with organizational skills and academics.  The program is a few weeks old but our counselor is receiving lots of positive feedback from the students.  Having a peer assist them privately after school is ideal because one, it's not a teacher so they feel they can connect better without feeling frustrated and two, it's a private support system where no one has to know.  As far as the rest of the grade level is concerned, it's a homework club...which is partially true.

One of my students from my small groups was assisting another student with his fluency.  He was giving him productive feedback as we've practiced, but then privately asked our counselor this:

"Should I model first, so he can hear what good fluency is like? I've been working on my phrasing."

I love that it's ingrained in them to model a skill or strategy first so that students know what is expected.  Considering I model different skills daily, I'm glad the importance of this explicit instruction is sinking in with my students.

Another one of my girls not only made her peer mentee a homework folder to keep himself organized, but she also assigned him homework.  Yes, she found her old fluency practice passages and instructed him to read them nightly and keep track of his errors.  Furthermore, she created a survey for him about his strengths and weaknesses so she could better assist him.  She also wouldn't accept "reading" as his answer for what he was struggling with.  Oh no, she flat out told him to "be more specific". I'm not sure he appreciated it, but I sure did!

This must be what mothers feel like.  

My students are verbatim, echoing things I say on a nearly daily basis.  They are internalizing the need, as a teacher/mentor, to provide positive, concise feedback, model strategies, help with organizational structure and be reflective about one's own learning.

I've created little minions.  I couldn't be more proud that not only are they willing to help their peers, but they have productive strategies to do so.  I love that they're willing to help their peers succeed as well.  High fives for team work.

Expository Writing, Part Two

As I previously blogged about, our grade level is working on expository writing.  We split Europe into four parts and each class took a different section.

The students researched using internet data bases such as culture grams and recorded their research in their writing notebooks.

I was excited to get Northern Europe not only because my heritage is from England and Ireland, but because many of my students have read Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, so they were thrilled to get to create brochures on Denmark and Sweden.

Our hallway:

My wall:

(I had some great student helpers!)

My fabulous team members' walls:

Close up of our brochures:

We printed maps from Crayola's website and of course I used polka dot ribbon to connect brochures with the countries!

As an added bonus, one of the fifth grade classes won first prize in the door decorating contest for Reading Week!  We hung the medal in the hallway to share, since we did a thematic unit together.

They had such a wonderful time creating these brochures.  It's nice to see them so excited about what they're learning :)

New Year's Resolutions, Classroom Style

Like I don't know, 95% of America, I've made my new years resolutions to start next week.  However, I started thinking about my classroom and resolutions that we could make there.

We talk a lot about goal setting and academic growth.  We will have a behavior assembly first thing in January because some of their choices are not appropriate and attitudes are escalating quickly.  I expect the hormonal shift around testing time (March) but I'm pretty sure this group came in sassy and with attitudes.  It's been a long, uphill battle to get the talking under control this year.


They're also getting new seats and assigned seats for all subjects, not just my homeroom.  That means their desks will have 4 names on it: whole group, small group AM, small group PM and science.  That way there's more accountability and less theft (fingers crossed).

So I think I need something like this:

I'll have them fill out their own reflective sheets and we'll make our own chart.  This image is from a primary classroom but I think the idea can be adapted for fifth.

We'll hit the ground running in 2014, testing is coming up and we've got to prepare them for success in middle school!

paper slide

During the last week before winter break, we made paper slide videos for our must-do.  I set the expectations:

But didn't pass out a rubric due to time.  (We had Discovery tests to finish, a writing task and a grade level reading test so time was limited.)  Next time, I'll do a rubric so they can self-assess.

Each time they're getting better, which is awesome to see their growth. 

They worked collaboratively:

And we watched their final projects on the last day before winter break!  Since they used their names, I won't post the link here but it is available on our kidblog sites (for my student & family readers).

Paper slide

This afternoon, only one of my small groups came prepared to discuss our novel :(

So instead of wasting time, I complimented the student who was prepared, had the others write apology notes for wasting learning time and gave extra time to my other small group.  

We went over our interesting words, character changes, etc before I presented them with today's fun technology challenge.

Last night, I attended a Discovery Education Ambassador meeting (I'm a DENStar and ambassador for my school district, plus a DENSI alum so naturally I was there).  We talked about lots of strategies and I decided to use one of them today.

They had 15 minutes to design and create a paper slide. 

Working together, they did a mighty fine job!

Their finished product can be viewed here!

The video was filmed in the hallway without microphones on my iPad.  Obviously I'll make tweaks for next time!

My brain is teaming with ideas of how to use this strategy again!

New post it collaboration idea

At my school site, we're very big on collaboration.

I saw this idea on pinterest and I'm super excited to try it in my classroom:

Students will answer a question individually on post-its, then put the post-its on larger paper and collaborate to make the best answer while incorporating all of their ideas.

This would work well for reading, math and science :)