one.

Thankful November post one: my students' parents

I operate with the mindset that every parent truly means well and wants what is best for the kiddo.  While the parent group may be frustrating at times, when I step back and remind myself that I am with their precious baby for seven hours a day, it's a little easier to deal with when I re-frame my mindset to one that emphasizes they are doing what they think is best (instead of thinking they are doing X, Y, and Z on purpose to irritate me).  

Last Thursday, we threw a surprise party for our student teacher.  It was her last day in our (general education) classroom before she transitioned to student teaching in the resource (special education) setting.  I must say, it's tricky to plan a surprise party when someone is with you all day long! I kept finding excuses to send her on quick errands so the kiddos and I could discuss the party in five minute increments. 

I sent home a letter to families explaining our advice book and asking for some donations to our surprise party.

I was blown away by the sheer amount of goodies we received.  I didn't have to buy a single snack supply (and for that, I'm grateful). 

My students wrote wonderful, heart-felt letters to our student teacher.  I glued them into a hard cover book.  Students took the time at the party to share their favorite lessons with her and what they'd learned from her.  There were a lot of tears all around and it was a bittersweet moment.  She's off to a great start in her teaching career.

Parents shared on class dojo how much they appreciated her and their own fond memories of student teachers in elementary school.   I was humbled by their generosity in gifting supplies for our party. 

We had quite the feast and yet, still had left overs.  We had a welcoming party for our new student teacher on Monday.  (She'd completed the first half of her student teaching in the autism room.)  We had even more donations come in for our fall celebration (because I have students who don't celebrate Halloween).

The kiddos had 3 bags of chips, 3 capri suns, cookies, and more yesterday.  I still have boxes of drinks and unopened snack bags of chips.  I guess we'll be having a reading picnic soon!

(Yes, I did also thank them on class dojo as well as in person.  I know many of them do not read this blog.)

Skidding

The end of the school year does not come to a graceful stop.  Instead, much like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland, the end of May into June is a whirlwind of heightened emotions, long hours, crying students, a never ending to do list, and triple checking lists to make sure every task was accomplished.  

Then, it's over.

If you're wondering what it's like to teach in May, {this video} does a fairly good job at capturing how it feels to be in a fifth grade classroom.

My students are officially on summer break.  I am a few hours away from that joy as well.  My brain, however, decided that 2:38 am was a good time to start the day, so here I am.

Let's recap, shall we?  Since there's a lot that's happened, I'll stick to one topic:

ABC Count Down

The last twenty six days of the school year are devoted to an ABC countdown with each day having a different spirit concept.  In theory, this is wonderful and helps the kids finish the year strong.  However, we also were standardized testing until the end of May and it's incredibly difficult to keep kids motivated on spirit days.  I failed spectacularly at taking pictures this year, so I'll just describe our spirit days.


A: Art day. My students had a math test and I told them their art was fraction models.  They didn't find it funny.  I on the other hand, found it quite amusing.  I gave them some doodle time once their tests were all turned in.

B: Beach towel day.  Students brought in towels (I forgot) and we read outside in the court yard once standardized testing was done.

C: Crazy hair day.  No dye and nothing to distract from testing.  I let my hair dry naturally so participation was easy.

D: Disney day.  I'm sure I was some sort of Disney princess.

E: Exercise day.  We laid on the ground and did some stretches.  We also worked on calming breathing exercises before taking the SBAC.  I walked around in circles for hours "actively monitoring" testing, which means I make sure they're on task, but can't look at the specific questions that are asked because it's confidential.  I also try to win the fitbit step challenge of the day with my coworkers.

F: Fruit day.  Some of my students brought in snacks to share.  B brought me flowers and pineapple (since this was also teacher appreciation week).  Happy coincidence that it was fruit day!  Because I still had a lot of math concepts to teach before the math SBACs (we took ours in three parts: ELA, math, and science while spacing them out three weeks apart), I used this to teach about surveys (favorite fruit), organizing data, and making graphs to represent the data.  Since it was derived from our classroom, the students were super engaged.  They also generated questions that could be answered by the class data, which helped them practice thinking critically.  I paired them up and had them share their questions before analyzing if the question was answered explicitly by the data, inferred by the data, or not supported by the data.

G: Geography day.  This happened to coincide with a digital field trip from {Discovery Education}, so we visited Indiana and learned about cars.

For our first digital field trip, this went fairly well.  We missed the first twenty minutes (because they were out at recess) and this was geared toward high school students, but it was still a fun experience.  We made connections to perseverance and the scientific inquiry process, so they were still able to get something out of it.

H: Hat day! This also coincided with a visit from {Dr. Frey}, a field trip to the {Springs Preserve} for their {Butterfly Habitat} AND May the Fourth (Star Wars Day), so I had to plan accordingly.

Luckily, B's new BB8 hat did just the trick! 

(Naturally, Waffles is in the picture!)

Students learned about life cycles, so this was a perfect tie in with standards.

I: Inside out day.  One students wore a shirt from the movie, while others wore their clothes inside out.  I accepted both for spirit day points on {class dojo}.

J: Joke day.  They brought a joke to share.  Their jokes were not that amusing.  My jokes are rarely child-friendly. 

K: Kickback day.  My first of several opportunities to wear yoga pants to work.

L: Lollypop day.  Students could enjoy a sucker during independent reading time (if they brought their own).

M: Movie day (?).  Again, this was weeks ago and a lot has happened.  If it wasn't movie day, it should have been.

N: Neon day.  Another year has come and gone where I realize that I own nothing neon.

O: Octopus day.  This day, by far, makes the least sense.  We are a landlocked state.  We are in the middle of the desert. Yet, we use this day to discover the {Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus}:

Except this creature isn't real, so instead we have the life chat that not everything you read on the internet is true.

Next year I vote this is orange day. It would be much easier.
 

P: Pajama day in all its glory.

Q: Quiet day.  This coincided with testing, so it was a breeze.

R: Red & read day.  This one was pretty straight forward and a great opportunity for me to rock a red Gryffindor shirt. 

S: Superhero day.  I failed in my attempt to ban Superman shirts.

T: Team day? (This was only a week ago and clearly not a memorable one.)

U: As much as we tried to convince the students that they were to wear their underwear outside their pants like Captain Underpants, the true spirit day was uniforms.  Some of my students came in their boy scout uniforms, some dressed as doctors, and most rocked sports attire.  My request to come as Batman was denied.

V: Video day.  We Facetimed with a teacher who is in the hospital.  Her students loved it.  Mine shared their Vokis that they made on the American Revolution.

W: Watermelon day.  If they wanted to, students brought in pieces to share.

X: x-change autographs.  We took all the fifth graders to the courtyard and gave them twenty minutes to sign yearbooks and t-shirts.

Y: year-end clean up!  They took all their stuff home and I took down everything on the walls.  My classroom is being painted, so everything has to be cleaned and put away.  My room is also being used for summer school, which means everything of value (all my books) that can't be locked away must come home to the garage.  B's been awesome at helping.

Z: We spent the day at the pool, then had a BBQ so I'm not quite sure what the official spirit day was for yesterday.  I shall call it zzzz for naps day!  (Although I had no nap and probably could have used one.)



When I wasn't handing out spirit day points and remembering the ABC count down, the end of the year also brought:

*Teachers vs. Students Kickball: (I did not strike out and the teachers won.  Success all around)

*Assemblies

*Hosting a bridal shower

*Hosting 3 baby showers

*End of the Year Staff Party (we had a taco truck and a fiesta)

*Observations (because there's no better time than the end of the year!)

*Grade level trivia with iPads and Kahoot (more on that later!)

*parent/teacher conferences

*report cards and awards 

*Fifth grade promotion ceremony
 
*Fifth grade pool party and BBQ lunch

*meetings.  Lots of meetings.

*Skyping with the Chief of Staff for Arkansas's governor

*Dunk Tank:

 

Oh yes, and finishing my grad school class.  45 non-contract hours in 3 weeks.  That was rough to say the least.  But I'm done (for now) because there is literally no incentive for me to take any additional courses (but more on that later).

On non-teaching related things, some of my bridesmaids and I planned the bridal shower and ordered invites, B and I escaped to Arizona, we took in a 51's game with friends, we puppy sat for a week, and had our AC start acting up (thank you home warranty), and I had car issues.  Fun times!

No wonder I'm exhausted!  

All that stand between me and summer break is finishing the last dozen items on our end of the year check list and officially signing out.  T-8 hours until break! 

 

What I needed

As much as I love class dojo as a communication tool with families, sometimes I see when the dojo symbol pop up on my phone after hours, I get worried.  I've gotten messages as late as ten pm and as early as five am.  Granted, my phone is on vibrate and I rarely hear it during the middle of the night.

Friday night, around ten pm, my phone dinged with the class dojo message.

Hesitantly, I peeked at the message.  My mind raced with which parent was going to bring up an issue.  I worried that I missed something crucial and my night would be spent frantically texting my principal, making sure bully reports were appropriately filled out.

That wasn't the message.

It simply said:

Thank you for today. You're awesome :)


It was from a parent who is having some behavior struggles with her child.  Friday was lunch with someone you love and she wasn't able to make it on time because of her job.  The office called when we got back to lunch and asked what I'd like to do.  I know the "correct" response would be to keep him in the classroom for learning instruction, but that wasn't what I chose to do.  

Instead, I quietly told the office that he'd be having a second lunch with his mom because he needed to feel loved.  He's one of six children and understandably, sometimes feels lost in the shuffle.  He needed this one on one time with his momma, and that's what mattered.  I quietly pulled him into the hallway and explained he was headed to the office to see a special visitor.  He had the biggest smile on his face as he skipped (yes, skipped) off to see her.

He was gone about fifteen minutes, didn't miss anything urgent in the classroom, and I know it meant the world to him and his mom.

I don't expect to be reprimanded for this choice, but sometimes meeting a student's emotional needs must come before the educational ones.

 

The last week

We had Monday off for parent teacher conferences, which left only four days to attempt to manage students' behavior choices.  The excitement over the holidays was adorable...and loud.

We had a spirit week, which always adds to silliness in the classroom.  I reward students who participate with bonus class dojo points and let them do a fashion show. I also take a group selfie and post it to our class blog (but won't post here due to students' privacy).  That always gets them super excited.

Our spirit days:

Tuesday: Wear white or snowflakes.  I completely forgot...so good thing a coworker snagged some foam snowflakes at the dollar spot and I got crafty.

My students said I was channeling Queen Elsa, so I went with it.

Wednesday brought dress like a present day.  It was really, really difficult not to joke about this being inappropriate (cue Justin Timberlake).  I wore a green dress accented with a red belt and a red bow in my hair.  Halfway through the day, I discovered there were lots of bite marks in my belt...not sure which pet is to blame.  

Thursday was Santa hat or winter hat day.  I let my students wear hats inside, which was a special treat.  I had a tough choice to make that day:

Friday was pajama day, which is always a favorite.  I rocked Batman pajama pants with a Cardinals hoodie, much to the delight of my students.  They are very vocal about their passion for their football teams...none of which are my team.

Friday started with this treat on their desks: 

There are fruit snacks attached (I couldn't find holiday pencils) and the pass is good for one night of no math homework (much to the delight of my students).

The last week was also devoted to a Reading Rangers challenge (my favorite of the year).  The school was split into two teams (red and green) with a different leader (principal or assistant principal).  Whichever team read and passed more AR quizzes got to throw marshmellows at the losing team's leader.  I created a large paper book for my door and whenever my students passed a quiz, they wrote their name on the sheet.  For the first time in three years, the assistant principal's team won (my team) and I got to pick three students to throw marshmellows at our principal.  It was such a glorious bonding moment.  I'm blessed to have such amazing admin that aren't afraid to make fools of themselves in the name of student achievement. 

Some of the kinder classes decorated gingerbread houses and wrote letters to Santa.  Another fifth grade classroom displayed a fake fire on the smartboard during reading time and played holiday tunes (stealing that idea for next year).  Others did a book swap, classroom secret santas, and a hot chocolate party.

What fun traditions does your school have for the last week of school?

 

Thankful November, Day 8 My Students

With so many students, it's easy to get bogged down with all the demands.  Grading thirty five of anything gets rather tedious.  When it's thirty five essays, I have to give myself small rewards for persevering through the task (and no, I'm not kidding).

So instead I'll share how truly wonderful my students are.  On average, they're pretty great.  They're also people, so we have good days and we have rough days.  They're pre-pubescent and sassy.  It's November and they're antsy for a break.  It's a tricky time.

However, I get hugs on a daily basis. I have, at any given time, thirty students who are truly happy to see me.  

They are so ridiculously excited about every little thing we do.  Commas? Thrilling. Multiplication warm ups? Amazing, especially if they are allowed the extra special treat of writing on their desks.  Our read aloud? Nothing quiets them faster than me pulling out a well loved copy of The Lightning Thief.  

Plus, cute gifts like this sweeten the deal:

How adorable are my families?

I'm using class dojo and it's really helped improve my parent communication this year.  I'm also using it in conjunction with my class blog (weebly), which is passcode protected because I post students' pictures.

Here's a snapshot:

Plus they reply! How fun. We've talked about online norms and appropriate ways to communicate with one another, so it's nice to have an authentic way to embed lessons on digital citizenship and online responsibility.

The one comment?  One of my students said she's going to beat me to graduating Storm.  My response? I hope she does. She's been on fire and it's great.

There are many things in education that are wearing me down.  Luckily, for the most part, my students aren't part of those problems.  They are the part of my job that I consistently love.

In an effort to focus on these happy moments with students more consistently, I found this adorable notebook at TJ Maxx:

I'm going to keep it at my desk and record those happy moments in the classroom.

What are you thankful for today?

A dash of professional reading

I'm in the midst of another graduate course, so I've been doing a lot of professional reading lately.  I'm a life-long learner (as I think educators should be) and wanted to take a minute to share two articles that have been rattling around in my brain this week.

Article {One}: Boo the Long October

Preach it, iTeach Fourth!

I feel like I could have written this article myself.  I liked it so much I took the time to comment, instead of just trolling through and remaining anonymous online.

Basically, October is a long, weird month.  Students are out of the beginning of the year behavior honeymoon, meetings seem to be multiplying, and first quarter grades are due soon.  I'm almost a fourth of the way through the year, how did that happen?!

Instead of griping about this, the article focuses on a cute Halloween tradition of "booing" your fellow teachers.

Images are all over TpT and pinterest, but one person starts by secretly leaving treats in another coworker's mailbox.  That coworker has a limited time (usually 2 days) to reciprocate by "booing" another colleague.  Ghost or pumpkin dicuts are usually put in mailboxes to indicate that one has been booed, and a witch or goblin could be posted if someone does not want to participate.

It's a fun little way to add some festive fun into the month of October.  Plus who doesn't love surprise treats?!

I'll be starting this round of boo-ing at work this week (ssh...don't tell my coworkers!)  I've got two black and white polka dotted tins (obviously) from the dollar section at Target (again, obviously).  I'll fill them with candy and print some boo instruction sheets. 

What fun fall traditions does your school have?




Article {Two}: Rip those behavior charts off the wall and burn them

While this was written with a tad too much angst in my humble opinion, I agree with the underlying message.  The traditional "clip" or "chart" system no longer serves a purpose in classrooms. 

 I will be the first to admit that yes, I used this system for way too long.  I started it my first year as a teacher because that's what I thought I was supposed to do.  I thought every elementary classroom needed some sort of (very public) way of displaying behavior.  I thought this truly kept kids accountable for their choices and was a motivating factor.

But then I realized how wrong I was.  This isn't really motivating, it's demoralizing.  {Last summer}, I decided to discontinue the use of this system and I haven't looked back.  I know there is some resistance, especially in lower grades, about getting rid of this trusty security blanket.

What good does this behavior tracker actually do?  Almost immediately, your eyes zoom to those kids on red.  We all know what red means.  Tsk tsk Max, Jared, and Brendan.  

How demoralizing.

Did they truly make poor choices all day long?  Or did they simply have one or two "oops" moments throughout the seven hour school day?  Chances are, it's the latter of the two scenarios.  To be fair, what human goes all day long without making an oops moment?  

If a child is truly struggling to make appropriate classroom choices, how does this reinforce doing the "right thing"? 

...It doesn't.

This article goes on to state that as educators, part of our job is preparing students for coping with future demands.  This includes helping them take responsibility for their actions and utilize techniques to cope with mistakes.

As a teacher, I wouldn't if a behavior chart was used to publicly broadcast my performance to the entire staff.  Oops, Ms. Vice left her copies on the machine in the lounge!  Uh oh, she forgot to take afternoon attendance and now she's on red.  (These are common situations for me.)

How humiliating to have one's behavior broadcast for the world to see.  

But instead of continuing to gripe upon problems, I propose a counter solution: Class Dojo.

It's by no means a new teacher tool since it's been available for several years at this point, but it's new to my classroom.  Seven weeks in, we're loving it.  (Bonus? It's free.  That's a must!)

I have the opportunity to recognize students for both positive and negative behavior.  It's easy for me to see if I'm reinforcing the 3:1 ratio (three positive interactions with every negative redirect) with every child...especially the ones that struggle with behavior.  Parents are able to see all the great choices their students make and it's a quick and easy way for me to communicate with families.

The behavior categories are editable, which means I can give more weight to behaviors that are desirable (like meeting a personal academic goal).  

My favorite part? I can send out messages to all the families at once and see who has viewed my message.  This has replaced the Remind app because it's already built in to what I'm using and parents don't have to download two different things to stay connected to our classroom events.

What are your thoughts on behavior charts? 

First Week Recap!

I've finally found a moment to breathe and recap on week one in the classroom.

The first week of school definitely kicked my behind.  I accomplished maybe half of what I intended to each day and it wasn't because we were wasting any time.  I struggled with my classroom last year due to several distinct behavior issues, so this year I wanted to really focus on building a strong classroom where needs were supported.  I think we're off on the right track!

Highs:

I've got thirty four good kids.  Two on my original roster didn't show and one was moved from another classroom.  My one student with a behavior plan is very excited to be in my room and gives me daily hugs.  He gets wiggly some times due to his ADHD (and hello, they're ten), but after a silent nod or look from me, he is back to work.  He thanks me on multiple occasions for being his teacher, being nice, and teaching him things.  That makes my heart happy.

Class dojo as our behavior management system is working really well. 

I've got about 1/3 of the parents connected and already received messages from some families who are pleased to see all the positive choices their students are making.  My students seem to really like it too, which is awesome.  I love that it's free and I have it on my phone, so it's easy to give points throughout the day.  

They were appreciative of their first day treats, but more on that later.

They did well with our first week challenge activities and seem to have a strong sense of persevering through problem solving.

They want to help each other.

They want to read.

They're excited about our read aloud, The Lighting Thief.

They're excited about the book orders.

They're just plain excited for fifth grade and that makes my job much, much easier.


Lows:

The humidity is making it extremely difficult to open the outside doors at work.  Some delightful mornings it takes a good twenty minutes and walking around to every exterior door until one will open with my key.  This annoyance is not something I have time for.

One of my students, who is new to school, had some miscommunication with his grandpa about where to be picked up.  He'll normally take the bus, but was being picked up the first few days of school.  Grandpa found me and together we found the student, who was waiting patiently in the front of the school.  We clarified the schedule and I praised the student for knowing to wait near the office for an adult.  That seemed to calm the grandpa down.  The first days of afternoon dismissal are always a little chaotic.  One student ran off and hid in the bushes.  Another wandered off from her teacher, but found me instead.  We called her mom, who was visibly upset, but I reassured her that her daughter did everything right.  She knew her phone number (which is mighty impressive as a first grader) and looked to a teacher for help.  The poor mom was worried about her child and quite pregnant with another, so she was understandably emotional. 

I already had a sibling/teacher conference.  On the fourth day of school...yikes.  

One of my student's older brothers (I'd peg him mid-twenties) ambushed me at the dot where I meet my students on Thursday morning.  The gist of the conversation was I'm not doing enough to make the student feel welcome in my room.  Considering the time, effort, and financial resources (first week goodies for thirty four) I've put in, this stung.  When I was compared to the fourth grade teacher, that was another low blow.

However, I have to be an adult and a professional, even when I don't want to.

I thanked him for bringing this to my attention, apologized for needing to go inside with my students, and told him I'd follow up on the situation.  Naturally, when I got to my line, two of the other boys were shoving each other, so that was an additional moment of fun and paperwork.

I told my admin about the meeting, then talked with the student.  The student expressed feeling nervous because fifth grade seemed hard.   He expressed concern that I wouldn't help him if he got stuck because I wasn't helping them on their first week essays.  I (once again) explained that their first week assignments were to show me what they already knew how to do and that it wasn't for a grade.  After more investigating, the student revealed that he was worried he'd get in trouble because another boy at his table is a talker.  These two students are polar opposites when it comes to physical appearances.  These two boys don't even sit next to one another, but I reassured him that I could tell the difference between them and it would be okay.

I called home after school to provide an update and I think that calmed the sibling.  Again, it was the fourth day of school.  Most students are still a little nervous because routines aren't established and it's still hard to get up in the morning. I'm hoping that being proactive and following through with this family will mean they're on my side for the remainder of the year!

The invasion of kinders

My classroom has the distinct privilege of being near not one, but two kindergarten classrooms.  This is how I feel about it:

One young girl was quite upset about getting her bus identification wrist band and began slapping, biting, and swearing at every adult who tried to help or talk to her.  I had my door shut and was hiding in my room during prep, but heard the whole situation.

Bless our school counselor and administration, since I do not have the patience for those behaviors.

One girl cried, twice.  The first time was because I wouldn't let her check out a book on the first day.  We hadn't gone over classroom norms, library check out procedures, or how to treat my books.  As one of the highest readers, I'm sure she would have treated my books with the utmost respect.  However, it's not fair to demand a book when we are in line to leave and the bell has already rung.  I calmly explained through her frantic tears that I don't play favorites and no one was allowed to check out a book until we'd gone over my expectations as a class.  This was not the reaction she wanted and I dealt with the tears all the way to the line.


With week one done, I was exhausted.  However, Friday also was my birthday, so I had dinner plans with friends.  Not as much work happened as it should have over the weekend, but I refuse to feel bad about that.  I set up my grade book, fixed my weebly (had to delete pictures of last year's students from the class blog), and graded their first math exit ticket.  I've been up since four with the pup and know today will be a long day.  I am ready for Monday and will spend after school getting ready for the rest of the week.

Good thing there is only four days with students!  Thank you staff development day!  However, rumor has it we are sitting through a six hour math training...that is identical to the one I took two weeks ago.  In a logical world, teachers who have already taken this training would be exempt...but the district isn't always the most logical place.  We'll see what happens.

On to week two!

Skipping Student/Teacher Points

For the past six years, I've relied on the trusty "student/teacher" point system.

The premise is simple.  Every time students are collaboratively working or on task, they earn points.  When they aren't, I earn points.  The difference at the end of the week (usually weeks) would be converted into marbles and fill the purple Disneyland yard glass.  Once they reach the top, a reward is earned.

I was pretty proud of my system and though it was working out well.

There are lots of articles about this behavior management system, praising it's ability for highlighting positive choices and "catching students being good." 

However, then I stumbled upon a different article that made me completely shift my mindset (which naturally, I can't find.  Sorry readers.)  

Basically, this is setting students up to fail. Yes, fail.

This statement baffled me at first.  I was rewarding students' collaboration and positive behaviors, so why was this classroom management system being discredited.  I thought I'd have to write another {dissenting opinion post}, but then I realized the author was right. 

Did this system reward students' positive choices? Yes, absolutely.

Does it create a game like atmosphere that stresses cooperation and competition? Yes.  Both of these things are encouraged in my classroom, especially when done correctly.  (Cooperation for example, on a test is frowned upon.  Competition when it belittles another isn't allowed.)

But it also set them up for failure because I, the teacher, was rewarded when they didn't meet my expectations.  I was rewarded when they failed.  

That's no way to run a classroom.  

I don't want to send the message that I'm looking forward to them failing.  I don't want to celebrate their failings.

So instead of displaying my T and S glittery magnets and washi tape "game board" space, I packed those letters away.

Instead, I'm relying solely on class dojo for my behavior system and classroom management this year.  I'll be able to keep better track of the magical 3:1 ratio (three positive interactions for every negative interaction), but I know some students need more than that. 

I'm still debating if I want to do table challenges.  I could look for the tables that are working together and award points, which highlights both cooperation and competition.  I would take myself out of the equation, allowing students to model appropriate, positive choices for one another.  The tables with the highest points after a given amount of time could have additional rewards in terms of extra class dojo points for cooperation or the ever exciting (and free) strategies of going to recess first, reading with pillows, or taking their shoes off during the school day.

Readers, what are your thoughts on the student-teacher points game?

A nice refresher

Besides conquering both laundry and an exciting day at Chevy (recall on my car, nothing major), my other goal for the day was to get started on my first week lesson plans.

While emotionally preparing to open Curriculum Engine (the site where we make & store our digital lesson plans), I got distracted on pinterest by preparing for your first week articles.  Most of them weren't that helpful, but I found this {one} that had some good points. 

Here are my favorite take-aways from the article:

#1: "Set up your classroom in an active learning format"

Fingers crossed the rumors are true and my projector got ceiling mounted over the summer!  I was spoiled with a ceiling mounted one for years and forgot how much I'd missed it.  Not having a desk or table in the center of the room really clears up space.  Not to mention I'd get to skip the daily (okay, several times each day) frustration of when a child accidentally (or sometimes on purpose) would bump the projector, causing the smartboard to need to be recalibrated.  Without the desk and cord set up (hello tripping hazard), I would be able to teach from the center of the room and strategically move closer toward off task students.

#2: Starting the day off with something other than roll call

We have our morning procedures (unpack, papers turned in, backpacks hung up, pencils sharpened, etc) and class jobs (lunch cards, attendance) but then we do our morning meme.  

Yup, we start our day off with a meme and it just sets everyone off on a good day.  Laughter is always good thing!  You can follow my classroom meme pinterest board {here}!     Plus if you've got a funny classroom meme, send it my way!

#3: Make Up work:

I've done the orange "while you were gone" folders and I haven't decided if I want to keep it again.  I already have them made, so that's a plus.  (Apparently I don't have a picture, but it's a florescent orange folder that says "we missed you".)
 
I like the idea of using a tub and putting a file in for each day in the month (1-31).  All extras would be filed there (minus one for me to use as the master copy if needed).  With this system, I'd only have to clean it out once a month :) 

#4: Class Norms:

Preach! This is one of our first week activities with a gallery walk.  I remake the class norms poster each year and have them sign it.  It helps with our buy in and provides a nice link to the US Constitution (when we get there in social studies).

#7: Noise

We are near a kinder classroom.  We do our best.  Sometimes there is just loud shouting, crying, and other unidentifiable noises so I just shake my head, try not to laugh, and remind them that I teach fifth grade for a reason. 

#9

We don't do questions stems per say, but rather accountable talk stems.  I want my students to answer in complete sentences and know that it's okay for them to disagree with one another as long as they do it in a respectable manner.

It started like this:

 

But has evolved to this:

 

I have these in my classroom at the front of the room.  They are color coded to help students know how to phrase their comments.  Accountable talk stems also help students listen to one another because I expect them to give credit to one another for ideas.

#11: Encouraging risks

I want to do more of this, but I'm not sure how.  Wheels in my brain are spinning, stay tuned!

#12: Self-reflection

I have them reflect on their learning throughout the day and we have class discussions after we try something new (particularly if it doesn't go exactly as I've planned).   I don't know if my fifth graders could handle a written reflection daily, but I like when they reflect upon their learning (which should happen often).  

#17: Blog

We've got a weebly and I hope I have more parent communication with it.  I'll be doing class dojo as well to foster communication with families.  I do want to turn some of the responsibility of blogging over to my students.  I think it'd be a great venue for collaboration as well as authentic writing.  They have an audience: their classmates and their families, so I think they'd do a good job trying to impress one another.  It'd also be a great way to imbed those mini-lessons on technology that are so important. 

#18: Class jobs

Again, amen! My first few years in the classroom, I tried to do all these things myself.  But fun fact: kids want to help!  Fifth graders are not too cool to be motivated by a high five or a sticker.  They want to feel in control and help, so I might as well turn some of the smaller tasks over to them.

I have 36 different classroom jobs and it helps me stay sane.  Obviously I can't have them grade essays, but I can have them remind me to take attendance, file nurse notes, lead the class in the pledge, pass out lunch cards and papers, and other small time-consuming tasks.  I like to set aside the last five minutes of the day (during our "pack and stack") for class jobs and tidying.  Another "negative Nancy" teacher has commented time and again that her students don't need classroom jobs and that things just magically get done.   I like structure and I don't think that's a bad thing.  We switch up jobs every month and I have students vote on their top five choices.  

#20: Learning Styles Assessment

I try to shape my lessons to hit multiple learning modalities (auditory, visual, kinesthetic) but it's nice for my students to realize what type of learners they are.  Most of them have never really thought about this before fifth grade, so it's nice for them to think about themselves as learners.  I stress that it's okay to be a combination of styles.  Knowing what "type" they are empowers them to take charge of their learning and that's never a bad thing!

What were your take aways from the article? Any "ah ha" moments?

Teachable Moments, Part 3 (Classroom Management)

A large part of teaching relies on being reflective of one's practices.  Some lessons I've bombed and that's alright. I made corrections and retaught it with a different strategy with a different outcome.

Sometimes I embark on various different tasks and when I'm done, I realize there was a much more efficient way to get the job done.  Here is part three of teaching lessons I've learned the hard way.

Classroom Management (and the Prize Bin)

My first year teaching, I spent a long time laminating different colored cards for my behavior system.  I came up with a system that had both positive and negative consequences.  For six years, I used my blue pocket chart and a laminated tracking system for student behaviors.  They'd start each day on green and move up or down depending on their choices. At the end of the day, the color they landed on coincided with a given point value toward a tracker.  At a predetermined point (every 15 points), students visited the prize bin.  

I kept up with this system for the past six years because I thought that's what I was supposed to do.

But you know what? 

It didn't really work.  

What it did was reward the students who are already intrinsically motivated to succeed and publicly acknowledge those that struggle to make good choices.  Honestly, the behavior tracker just reinforced my students' perceptions of themselves.  It wasn't motivating for the students who needed the most reinforcement for positive choices.

So if it wasn't working, why was I doing it?  Because I was supposed to? Because that's what all the other teachers were doing? Because that's what I was used to?  

None of those reasons are justification for keeping something that doesn't work. 

So I got rid of it.  I parted ways with my trusty behavior tracking system that withstood six years of teaching fifth grade.  I passed it along to a brand new kinder teacher.  I'm hoping it works better for kindergarteners than it did for fifth graders.  Since everything is still new to them and they tend to be motivated for stickers, I hope it will be successful in her classroom.

So now what?  

I believe in having some sort of tracking system to reinforce life skills.  Students need to be accountable for their choices.  They need to work for things.  They need to have the experience of working toward individual and classroom rewards.

These rewards will be in the form of coupons for experiences.  I'm still in the process of making these coupons and they will be available on TpT once I'm done.  There will also be physical rewards such as pencils, erasers, and other things that are purchased relatively cheaply.  

So how will students earn these rewards?  

That's right, I'll be using classroom dojo!  I used it previously for Reading Rangers with great success.  It's a free program and parents can see snapshots of how their students are doing.  I can give positive points for any of their predetermined categories or add my own.  I can also take away points for shouting out, not turning in homework, etc.  I'm excited to use this for my whole class management system.   

Things I love about my classroom

A fellow teacher, former coworker, and adorable new mom Katie posted about her favorite things about her classroom in her blog, which inspired me to do the same.

Scholastic Book Orders

I love how excited my students get for the book orders.  I love that teachers get free coupons and reward points based on the parent orders, so I get to stock up on new books for my students.  This year I've noticed they're obsessed with the "Who was..." series, which is great!  I've read a few of these informational texts and they're very student friendly.  If you're looking for books on a specific person, I'd try here first.

Plus every few months or so, Scholastic includes coupons for the students.  If they spend $10, they get a coupon for a free book (under $5).  It's a pretty nice way to encourage reading.  Plus the prices are cheaper than local stores, which is always a bonus!

Class Competitions

We are a Reading Rangers school and use AR to gauge students' comprehension on their independent reading books.  We are in a competition within the grade level for the highest engage time and the highest percentage. 

However, this competition isn't enough for my students.  We have additional competitions within our classes and across the grade level.  Our current one is a race to 50 passing tests (85% or above) between the girls and the boys.  However, the catch for this one is that any time someone scores less than 80%, that team loses a point.  The kids are loving it!

Other successful competitions include:

-race to 100 100%s

-race to 100 points (each book is assigned a different point value depending on it's complexity and length)

-table team percentages

What competitions do you have with your students?

Class Dojo

I joined the class dojo train late this year, so I am currently only using it as a reward for reading rangers.  For each 100% students earn, they get 2 points.  85 or 90% gets 1 point, filling a badge earns 3 points, and graduating earns 10 points.   They are motivating one another to be in the top five, which is excellent.

Next year I will be using this exclusively as my classroom behavior system.  As helpful as the card system is, I'm over it.  With class dojo, I can reward specific behaviors.  More importantly, I can easily share the information with my students' families, which increases our home-school connections. 

Plus, it's free!

Our Anchor Charts

I haven't done the best job at posting pictures of all our anchor charts (there are a lot!) but I am proud of them.  I make them with the students and they have mini-versions in their notebooks for reference.  This year I stepped it up and have them color-coded.

Teal: reading

Yellow: foundational skills (fluency, phonics, word parts)

pink: math

white: novels

I love that my students have internalized that these are a resource designed to help them learn.  They often ask to go up and look at the charts for clarification (success!).

I ended up just stapling them on top of one another since we're out of space.  I don't have any cutesy inspirational posters up, but still ran out of wall space!  

Classroom Library 

For the first time in my teaching career, I had to level my library.  I used the reading rangers program to level my library (school mandate) but I went beyond that. I grouped my library by genre in adorable book buckets:

I've had a little bit of backlash because it's not organized by fiction/informational text or by point value.  For me, it's more authentic for readers to pick a book a book based on the topic instead of the length.

The Map

I love the map.  I love the postcards.  But more importantly, the map is getting my students so excited about geography and the other 49 states.  We are able to make connections with literature and informational text by linking the postcards with the locations named in books.  They are getting excited about colleges and starting to think about their options for their future. 

What are your favorite parts about your classroom?