Spring Break Homework

Yes, I gave my students homework over spring break.  

They came up with ideas and were really excited about all their "work".  I shared ideas with a few other teachers and they're making similar ones for their students.

They deserve a break, but I don't want them staying inside for 10 days playing video games. I want them to have fun with their families and build happy memories.  I want to focus on their emotional and social needs, not just their academic ones.

Changes for next year

Week one of summer and I'm already thinking about some small changes for next year. Overall, I'm really pleased with how year six unfolded.  That being said, there will be tweaks for next year.  I don't ever want to do things exactly the same with my students because that means there was no growth for me as an educator. 

One of the changes is keeping a binder of communication notes from parents, including absence notes.  This year I learned a little too late that the school district wanted all of them saved. I'd already begun the end of year purge, but luckily my office clerks were very understanding.

Next year, I'll simply have a binder with page protectors where I file their notes in accordance to student numbers (alphabetical order).

I'll probably even have this be a student's job.

I'll also be doing a citation (write up) log along with keeping track of the number of times students don't complete their work.  I want to have proof for when parents question their grades (E/S/N) for responsibility.  I'm hoping next year will bring less citations because I've got some new ideas for rewarding students who do their work...stay tuned!

I'm also really excited about rearranging my classroom. I got a second wardrobe the last week of school and a new bookcase, so I need to rearrange some furniture.  Last year I had thirty students but I'm looking at around 35 next year, so I'll need more space for table groups.  Fingers crossed that the rumors are true and our projectors are being mounted in the ceiling!  That would free up so much space in the classroom. 

I'll also be using this for no names:

I found the clipboard in the $3 bins at Target and used a white chalk board marker to do the lettering. 

I also found this at Target and will be using it for my writing conferences.

I'm not pleased with the limited number of writing conferences I did last year, so I'm thinking this will be an easy way for me to keep all the information in one place.  I'll be putting a schedule on the front so I can be accountable to myself for meeting with all students on a frequent basis.

I'll be using post-it tabs to put students' names down the side and taking anecdotal notes on the pages.  Plus there are pockets to keep information in, which will help me stay organized (one of my big goals for next year!)

I also found pink and gold polka dotted and teal and gold polka dotted versions of this portfolio, so I'll be using one for my Reading Rangers conferences and one for my teacher meetings. I also bought a new pink planner, so I'm excited to start the year off correctly!

What new changes are you making for next year?

Thankful

Last year, I struggled as a teacher for a number of reasons.  In a nutshell, I didn't feel supported at my job. I didn't like teaching and there were many, many moments I simply wanted to quit. Crying was a frequent thing and I didn't feel my instructional decisions were approved. 

My end of year data was amazing because my students made awesome growth.  But there was no acknowledgment of that.

So I made a change. I switched to a school that's about eight minutes away from my new house and a later start time. 

The school climate is so much better and for that I'm thankful.

Am I having some struggles adjusting? Yes, of course.

I'm not inclusion anymore, so it's weird not co-teaching. I don't have anyone pop into my room anymore, unless it's to watch her class to solve the mystery of why the kinders were gone for ten minutes. (They were having a party in the bathroom, obviously.  That two minutes of watching the rest of her kinders was enough to convince me I never want to teach the little ones.  Bless her heart though, and those who are brave enough for the littlest ones.)

I"m struggling to adjust to new procedures.  My last school was nearly 100% free and reduced lunch and this one isn't.  I have to remember to ask for lunch money every morning and make sure lunch cards get passed out.  Luckily I delegated this task to students!

I'm struggling with cutting writing short to make sure we have time to fill out our agendas together. I'm struggling to figure out how to track homework, since it's not for a grade.  I haven't quite figured out how I want to keep track. 

I'm struggling with pacing. Math and whole group reading are both running a little long because of different reasons.  My students have some gaps in their number sense, so we're trying to fill those gaps by using hands-on manipulatives and scaffolding lessons.  This takes time away from the fifth grade standards.  However, I think we're seeing results.  There's a lot more discourse in the lessons and their exit tickets are improving.  I can't wait to see how they do on next week's math test!

In reading, I'm struggling because I'm trying to teach too much. I know I am. I want to do phonics and fluency (which are happening during RTI time) as well as our lesson. I also want to do a read aloud.  I would love if there was just a little more time in the day!

However, all of these struggles pale in comparison to last year.  These struggles are a learning curve and I know that. I just need to be patient with myself because this is a new school with new expectations. I have to allow myself time to adjust and be okay with making some mistakes.

I just love that my administration and grade level are so supportive.

Year Six, Day 1

The weekend before school started, I was a wreck.  I worked Friday night on various small tasks for my classroom, took all of Saturday off to spend with friends, and worked for a little bit Sunday morning before heading to B's family's BBQ.  Sleep did not come easily Sunday night and nightmares of past students and worst case scenarios flooded my mind.

I got to work about seven am on Monday.  Our start time is 8:26. My first task was hanging our classroom pom-poms:

 I had duty (bummer) and I struggled with undoing the folding gate.  See, the gate was run over by a (rude) parent, so it's bent in a strategic way.  This means it doesn't fold up nicely and has quickly become my new Monday/Friday morning nemesis. 

Luckily a parent helped me wrestle the gate.  I was also burdened with both a stop sign and radio, so next time I'll not carry those.  Or wear open toed shoes.

My other job at duty was to help direct drop-off traffic.  We have a lot of red curbs in front of our school and I had the unfortunate job of trying to tell parents not to park.  These parents were obviously very excited for the first day and taking pictures of their kiddos in front of the school.  I had to be the bad guy and ask them to not capture this precious moment.

I went to the wrong spot to find my class and our line got bisected when we were entering the building.  I forgot to collect lunch money and we were a few minutes late to specials, after I tried to take them down the wrong way.

Thank goodness for first prep!  I took a few deep breaths, calmed myself, and proceeded to tackle my to do list.

The rest of the day was smooth sailing :)

I had 27 students show up and they were talkative from the first moment.  They're responding really well to my positive classroom vibe, which is good.  Considering how frustrating last year was, I'm determined to stay positive.  I want my room to be a joyous place.

I didn't spend hours on procedures.  I gave them a first day treat.  We covered a lot (norms for read alouds and number talks), learned some procedures, and practiced structures like Kagan pair up and share.

We read First Day Jitters, which many of them had never heard before.

It's a cute picture book with a fun twist at the end. (Spoiler--the teacher doesn't want to go to school!)

Prior to reading, we went over read aloud norms:

I was a little worried about some of their initial responses.  I asked what my job was during a read aloud and the first response I got was "to grade papers." 

Um...no.

I clarified that during a read aloud, I was the one reading.  They were dumbfounded by this notion and asked when I would grade.  I told them they wouldn't see me grade in the classroom unless it was a one on one assessment (Aimsweb, Core phonics, etc).  They were bewildered and asked when I would get their stuff done.  I said at home, in front of the TV, or while they're at specials.  This seemed to satisfy most of them, but that does worry me...

A teacher shouldn't be known for spending hours of in class time grading.  Yes, it happens.  But that shouldn't be what your students expect you to do.

Instead of me giving a tour of the classroom, I sent them on a scavenger hunt:

It's way more fun when they investigate!  Plus it gets their bodies up and active, which is crucial.

I went over the hand procedures for number talks and then made an anchor chart about the strategies they used:

After we did our number talk, I had them create their fractional me sheets:

They had forms for homework and left with smiles on their faces.

The hardest part of day one?  Well, besides the rough start?

Wearing shoes the whole day!

Does it make me a bad teacher if I say no?

My small groups are wrapping up now that our end of the year count down is in single digits.  I'm giving my munchkins the weekend to finish up their novels and having our reflective end of year conversations about how much they've learned.

Today I was asked something I've never been asked before.

One of my girls asked for summer homework.  

I'm not talking about a book list or packet of worksheets.  No, she wanted the rest of the Harry Potter series chunked out into assignments with homework questions, for her summer.  She also wanted me to print her copies of my teacher guides so she could quiz herself.

I think I'm flattered? 

Does it make me a bad teacher if I say no to making her homework questions?

I told her she can email me or talk to me on my teacher facebook about the books and that seemed to pacify her desires.

New Ideas for Rewards

I love trying new strategies in my classroom.  Each group of students is unique and what works for one group won't necessarily work for the next.

Homework was a struggle this year, thus I used Ursula as a motivator.  

She worked well for some students but not for all.  I've had conferences, phone calls, and sent notes home.  Some students just won't do their homework and nightly reading, which is frustrating because the only person they end up hurting is themselves by hindering their progress.  I also realize as an educator, there are lots of things I can't control.  I can't go home with them and make sure they read.  I can't control their home life, I can just provide a supportive educational environment.

I found this great idea today:

What a fun whole-class reward!  Using a free scrabble font and card stock, I can easily create free rewards.  I could use scrabble tiles or have the student of the week pick a letter to shade.  There are lots of different ways I could reward students to have whole class buy in.  I'm excited to try this strategy next year!

And...she's done!

For those that have been following the adventures of Ursula, I'm pleased to announce that she's done!

My students enjoyed chips and capri sun during our movie reward.  I'm pleased with the positive changes I've seen in most of them.  The strategy didn't work for all my students but it was nice to reward the students who are trying :)

One More Week!

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce there is just one more week of our homework challenge with Ursula:

All she needs is her wand and she'll be ready to reward the students who have earned their homework reward.

Students needed to fully complete their homework for 8 of the 10 weeks to be invited to the reward party.  All I ask of them is one sheet of math homework and their reading logs.  I'm not asking for perfection, I'm asking for effort.

Around twenty of my thirty one students will be attending, so it will be nice to celebrate with the students who are being responsible.

I'm sure I'll get attitude from the ones who aren't invited to our recess celebration, but it's a natural consequence to their actions.  I'm not sure what messages they receive at home, but in my classroom, if you don't do the work, you don't get the reward.  It's that simple.

These are my students...

My kiddos had some awesome opportunities this week.  We had a historical presentation from the Mount Vernon association, a Q & A session with a police officer and those that earned the reward got to learn about reptiles.  

So we talked about being grateful for these opportunities and wrote thank you cards.  I modeled one for them, we brainstormed sentence frames and I let them write.   They partner edited, I provided stationary and whatever part of their letter that was unfinished became homework.

Over ninety percent were returned today, which was pretty exciting to see.

I separated the letters into piles and flipped through them until I found this:

Yes, my lovely student decided it was totally appropriate to offer a book recommendation to a complete stranger at the end of her letter.  I think I'm proud?

These are the students I've raised.  There are no boundaries and we should just tell everyone about our books, whether or not we were asked.

At least they're loving reading!

Ursula, several weeks in

For those of you following the adventurous building of Ursula, here is her most recent glamour shot:

As you can see, she is nearly complete!  With three weeks left in this class motivator, I'm pleased to see a nice change in some of my students. Did this motivator work for all of them? No, of course not.  But I have seen more effort out of most of them, which is what I was going for.

We'll be having a lunch time party for those students who fully completed their homework for eight of the ten weeks.  It will be a juice and donuts party during recess time and by invitation only!  I'm excited to get to positively reward my students who are consistently trying their best.

Tomorrow she'll get her arms, next week her yellow shells and her sea horse scepter on the final week!

New Product: Teacher Guide for The Slippery Slope

Several of my groups are working on The Series of Unfortunate Events, so I decided to revise some of my teacher guides to post on TpT.  When I revise, not only do I increase the difficulty of questions but also clarify ones that my students struggled with during our small group literature circles.

All of my products are "field tested" with my own fifth graders and they love our small groups.

This teacher guide comes in at 13 pages with vocabulary suggestions, comprehension questions, homework ideas and more!  Snag yours here!

More guides to follow, happy reading!

Novel Guide: Maniac Magee!

I'm pleased to announce I've posted another teacher guide on TpT! It's my 105th product :)

The most recent is for Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee, which I'm currently reading with two different small groups.  

This novel does a great job at exploring race relations and will lend itself well to Black History month.  Scholastic has some great free resources that compliment my twenty four page novel guide!

I have included pre and post reading questions, extension activities, suggested vocabulary, comprehension questions with answers for each chapter and suggested homework questions.  Snag yours here!

Happy reading!

Small Groups

Small group reading is my favorite part of my day because I love watching my young scholars get so excited about their novels!

I really like researching about new strategies and trying them with my small groups.  This week we used the stop and jot strategy with post-its:

I had my Number the Stars group focus in on the Nazi soldiers' midnight visit.  They recorded their thinking while reading and then used their recordings to guide their own discussions.

Homework:

I wish I had time to meet with them daily but I simply have too many groups to make that possible.  So we meet every 3 days and they have independent reading and homework in between:

I give them four or five questions to respond to and use evidence from the text to support their answers.  I love when they do such a great job with details!

They also are taking more ownership and creating charts about their novels:

Which we store in a magnetic bin at the front of the room.

I used a regular plastic bin and hot glued on magnets to make it work for my classroom.

I like how my students are so open to new ideas and strategies as well!  It's wonderful to keep learning together :)

Motivational Posters

Since a majority of my room is covered with anchor charts and student work, there isn't much room left over for motivational posters.

However, I do have these two displayed at the front of the room:

For me, effort is everything.  I'm an inclusion teacher and I know my students have a wide variety of current levels.  I also know that it doesn't matter where they start, but where they finish with me.  Because we are standards-based with the Common Core (although I'm supposed to call them the Nevada Academic Content Standards, or NACS for short...I'm still getting used to the new acronym), my students have through June to master concepts.  This means a lot of spiraled reteaching and frequent opportunities for students to demonstrate mastery of concepts.

I would rather a student try a math worksheet, miss every problem and learn from those mistakes than simply write "IDK" or leave the sheet blank.  Not trying isn't cool!  At least that's the focus of our life skill this week.

Second, I really like our THINK poster. We are a be kind school and I think it's important that students realize not every thought in their brains needs to be verbalized.  Not that their thoughts aren't important, but sometimes they don't say the nicest things to one another and that's simply not okay in my classroom.  I do my best to create an educational environment where students feel supported, encouraged and safe.  Negative words take away from our community.

 I think we all, kiddos and adults included, need to pause to THINK before speaking some times.  The world just might be a slightly brighter place for it!

Impromptu Parent Teacher Conferences

When I dismissed my kiddos on Friday, I had a parent waiting by the door wanting to chat.  This wasn't a scheduled meeting, but the look on her face said it was urgent.  So I asked her to wait a few moments while I took care of some last minute end of the day issues (calling another parent, printing report cards for magnet school applications and dealing with another upset student).  She gladly waited and politely looked the other way when some choice words were used by an upset ten year old.

She came in and expressed her concerns about her son's math performance.  My neighbor, his math teacher, popped right over (without me having to ask, because she's amazing like that) to join the conversation. 

She expressed all the strategies she was trying to use at home and we talked about the strategies we're using in school, including changing his placement during our intervention/extension portion of the day to allow for more math support.  We talked about the importance of bringing home the math notebook and having her son talk through the math strategies we go over in class.   

It was a short, very positive conference.  My student was there and we all clarified that he wasn't in trouble, we (family & teachers) just wanted to work together to help him succeed.  They left feeling confident and armed with ways to support learning at home, which is wonderful.  I made sure to let her know how much I appreciate that she was concerned and wanting to help her son do his best.

While it wasn't a planned conference, I love that my students' families know I have an open door policy and that the whole fifth grade team supports their children.  I love that they know it's perfectly acceptable to come talk to us about ways to help their kiddos.  At the end of the day, we're all on the same side with the same goal: helping students grow academically and become successful, confident young scholars.  It's nice to have support at home! I'm glad my student's family cares so much for him and isn't afraid to ask for help!

Ursula Update

Before winter break, I blogged about our new class motivator Ursula:

A few weeks went by and as a class, they didn't earn any pieces.  I could tell most of my class was getting frustrated because it was always 2 or 3 students who didn't do their work and ruined it for the whole class.

Their homework is a reading log, 30 minutes of reading a night and one double sided math sheet that reviews what they learned in class the week before.  They get their homework on Friday and it's due the following Friday, so there is truly no reason it shouldn't get done.

One particularly difficult student kept arguing how the homework simply couldn't get done because of outside commitments.  Now, I've talked with the family about this and the student isn't truthful about the work.  If there's time for video games, there's time for homework.  No excuses.

So we had a class discussion of who has extra curricular activities (sports, church, music, family time, etc.)  Every student raised his or her hand, so we talked about making time for what's important...and that includes homework.  I made the connection with sports and how homework is like practice.  If you don't practice, you won't do as well as you can on game days.  That seemed to resonate with many of my students.

We voted how we wanted to change Ursula.  I suggested a table team reward and that was vetoed by the tables where students aren't doing their work.  Thirty out of my thirty one students wanted Ursula to be on an individual basis so they were only accountable for themselves.

For the next ten weeks, they have to turn in their fully completed homework eighty percent of the time.  (8/10 seems fairly generous).  If they do this, they get to join our lunch party.  One student asked what would happen if she turned in all of her homework (as she's done the entire year), so I said those students would get an extra reward.

I love that they're so motivated now!  

We added our first piece:

Isn't she lovely?

I talked with them about how everyone was still invited, just some students already used one of their two "freebie" weeks.  I hope this really turns around the homework slide we've been noticing!  

Weekly Strategies

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

We've got a lively bunch of fifth graders.  They're quite opinionated and talkative, which is great...except when it's my turn.  It's an uphill struggle and we have daily talks about not wasting our valuable learning time.

To be fair, as frustrating as it can be at times, I'd rather have too much participation from them as opposed to bumps and lumps.  

My neighboring teacher started doing a "weekly focus" with her class and since it was working,  I decided to give it a try myself!

I pose a challenge to my students and this social skill is what we work on for the week.

For the past two weeks, it was following instructions the first time they were given.  They did a fairly good job with this, so we were ready for a new challenge.

Next week's challenge:

I noticed that some of them were simply writing IDK (I don't know) on parts of their math homework and turning it in.  

Now, I'm not asking for 100% accuracy. I'm asking for effort.  After all, one of our class mottos is:

I'd rather they try and learn from their misconceptions than not try at all.  We'll have this chat again next week.  It's okay not to know. It's not okay not to try! 

Novel Guide: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Yet another product has been revised and posted on TpT!  Like my other novel guides, this product has suggested spelling and vocabulary words, pre and post reading activities, homework questions for each chapter and comprehension questions with suggested answers for each chapter.

I've truly done all the prep work for you! (Since I love reading and the Harry Potter series, it wasn't really work.)

Snag yours here!

Novel Guides

Teacher guides for J.K. Rowling's The Goblet of Fire and The Half-Blood Prince are now available on TpT!  

Each guide contains suggested spelling or vocabulary words, pre-reading predictions, comprehension questions with suggested answers for each chapter, homework questions and post-reading extension activities!



Both guides are quite lengthy (28 and 33 pages respectively) and are quite the bargain! I've done the prep for you :)

Snag yours here!

Happy reading :)

Class Motivator Update

Well, Ursula is here:

When she's done, she'll look a little something like this:

I was hopeful she'd earn her tail today, but 4 students didn't return their weekly homework so she didn't.  (But 4/31 is a huge improvement, so I'm thrilled this positive motivator is working!)

Instead of me expressing my disappointment, I headed over to Voki to make a free online puppet.  I found an eel-like one that reminded me of Ursula's pet eels, so I used that.

I typed up a whole story about how the evil Ariel turned Ursula into a potato head and her eels missed her!  Hear her story here!

I plan to do this a few times as a motivator :)

I'm hoping they all do their work next week so we can add our first piece!