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?

Teachable Moments, part 2 (the roster)

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. I don't make the same teaching mistakes twice.

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 two of teaching lessons I've learned the hard way.

The Roster 

I'm almost embarrassed to share how long it took me to figure out the glory of the roster.  With our new gradebook, it's always a challenge to find things because they aren't always in the most logical place.

In the past, I printed a roster when I needed it (which wasn't often).
 

After observing other teachers and listening to their conversations, I realized there were some much better uses for this glorious piece of paper.  Here are my top 5!

5) Collecting anything (permission slips, progress reports, etc).  I print a roster, label it at the top (example: progress report), and staple it to a manilla envelope.  I then place the envelope near my collection zone and place the responsibility on the students.  Whenever they turn ___ in, they highlight or check off their name.  I normally model this day one so they can see which system I'm using.  I tend to give a positive reward for turning the form in on the first day they could, which encourages them to not only be responsible, but get things done in a timely manner.  I tend not to give a negative consequence until the third or fourth day the form was due because sometimes it's not up to them, it's up to their parents.

4)  Leave it for the sub with notes about nicknames and how to pronounce any unique students' names.  Bonus points if you can print one with students' pictures.

3) Use it for informal conference notes.  Check off students' names after you meet with them about ___, then pat yourself on the back for not skipping anyone.

2) Put the roster in useful places, like by the phone and in the emergency folder/backpack.  Having a list of parent phone numbers right by the phone makes calling home (for positive reasons or classroom concerns) that much faster.  It's also great for making random groups of students or assigning writing partners.

1) Grading.  With our new system, I'm not 100% confident in its ability to you know, save assignments.  So we've had to create paper backups of everything.  However, I soon realized that if I write down all their scores first, it makes entering grades a breeze because everything is already in alphabetical order!


BONUS tip:
Using your handy dandy roster, print your student names on sticky labels (size 8 font) and put them on the back of your teacher ID.  This helps during emergencies!

How do you use your roster?

Simplicity, part 4 (ideas 11-13)

Continuing the new ideas, simplicity trend, here are three more ideas for next year.  I'm excited for small tweaks to make a huge, positive differences.

Idea 11: Beginning of the Year "I am" statement for writing notebooks

This would be such a cute first page in their writing notebooks.  It'd be great for students to see themselves as multidimensional people and an easy way for them to get to know each other!

Idea Twelve: Clothespin revival

I've tried the push pin strategy with clothes pins, but I like this one for more permanent places:

Since I moved recently, I seem to have a plethora of extra command strips!  I could easily decorate the clothespins to match my classroom colors (once I you know, determine those).  Thanks Fifth in the Middle for the idea!

Idea Thirteen: Morning Memes

 To be fair, this isn't entirely a new idea for next year.  Last February, I started doing a morning meme to add some positivity in the morning.  They were a great way to connect with students and reinforce various topics (rules, grammar, being nice, etc).  The memes would inspire my students to talk with one another and start our day on a positive note.

I've been pinning ideas to my Pinterest morning meme board, which you can follow here!

What new ideas are you excited to try?

Simplicity, part 2

As I blogged about last week, I'm excited to try some new, simple tricks in my classroom.  Last week I chronicled ideas 1-3, so today you can find the next four gems! I'm all for small, simple tweaks to make my classroom run a little more efficiently.

Idea Four: "Partners" Poster

In the past, I've used a handmade version of this poster for groups to set norms:

This groups one works pretty well.  I found this "partners" one earlier this week and can't wait to use it as well!

I like that this poster goes more in depth with expectations.  I also like the "explain your answer" part because students need frequent reminders to do so!


Idea Five: The Ten Commandments of Math

I may need to tweak this idea so it's not so overtly religious, but I like this anchor chart:

I think laying down some ground rules for math would be a great thing! It might be cute to make it like a constitution and have my students all sign our declaration of math.

Idea Six: Additional Rewards for the Mystery Walker

I already implemented the mystery walker idea last year but I like this extension idea.  All I'd need to do is recreate this with my favorite fonts (we don't have time for cutesy clip art in fifth grade!) and dedicate a bucket to collect raffle tickets.

Idea Seven: Color Coding Notebooks

In a perfectly coordinated, OCD controlled world, all my students would have the same color notebooks for each subject.  I'm aware that won't happen.  But this could be a good back up plan:

The original pin was about text books, but we don't really use those in my classroom.  When we set up our notebooks at the beginning of the year, I could have each subject be a different color.  Having students search for their blue math notebook would definitely help with the desk organization and help struggling students with staying focused.  I know that it's tough for fifth graders to use a different notebook for each subject, but it's definitely necessary for middle school!  I'd rather they struggle with me and enter middle school prepared to switch classes and stay organized.

I'm committing to small, simple steps toward a better, more organized and positive classroom!  Who is with me?

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, 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.

These are my students, round 2

As I wrote yesterday, my students are

I found two more:

Yes, grammar is tricky.  At least my students have not only grasped, but internalized the growth mindset.  He'll get there!

And here is just a heartwarming one about the importance of college and perseverance.

Good job fifth graders, you made me proud.

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!

AM reward

In our SWAG competition between AM and PM, the AM has won again.  This time, they had a half hour of free board game time.  The timing worked out perfectly because we lost twenty minutes of our hour to an assembly, so after fluency there was only time to meet with one group (and cover everything we needed to).

Reward snapshots:

Many of my games were generously funded by friends, family, and strangers on donors choose.  Thank you again for continued support in my classroom!

(The Series of Unfortunate Events board game was perhaps my favorite find ever! I found it at Bookman's, a used bookstore in Arizona.  I didn't even know it existed until one magical spring break!)

I love watching them get so excited about comprehension and reading games!

Monthly Mystery Motivators (February)

We've had some escalating behavior concerns, so we decided to focus on the following positive behaviors:

We are trying to set our students up for future academic success as well as to be kind people.  We had an assembly with them and gave them contracts to sign, outlining the four behaviors we are looking for.  

If students do not follow the behaviors, they earn strikes in the given reward period.  They must display positive behavior choices 80% of the time to earn the monthly mystery motivators!

For February:

The students who earned the reward had extra recess time with their teachers (and the art teacher during his prep).  The students who didn't earn the reward wrote a behavior reflection with the counselor instead.

Our next reward is on the 12th and then again at the end of the month.

Each reward is different and we have 6 rewards in all for the duration of the school year.  Students must earn 4 of the 6 rewards to be invited to the end of year, fifth grade only dance!

We want to show students that by making good choices, being respectful to others and completing your (home)work, you get rewarded in life.

Sometimes, the reward is as awesome as an hour of kickball!

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!

Peace Week Challenge One

It's Peace Week at our school and our awesome counselor posted her first challenge!

Students had to brainstorm a list of all the ways they could be kind to others in the upcoming week.

Here's our list:

I'm going to really focus on "catching" kids being kind and giving them that positive reinforcement!

Teacher Resolutions

With the new year upon us, resolutions are a must.  While I've made my personal ones, I think it's important to reflect on my teaching practice and make some resolutions.

One: Positivity
Instead of focusing on the five or six squirrely students who are off task (as long as they aren't harming themselves or others), I will be more positive and reward/acknowledge those who are on task.  I will make more of an effort to call these parents and share that their student had a great day.  It won't happen daily, but I can try to call 2-3 parents a week.

Two: Rearrange & Reinforce Expectations
They're getting new seats.  Small group reading (both AM and  PM) are getting assigned seats, as is my new science group, everyone is getting new seats.  I feel like Oprah, new seats for everyone!  In small groups,  we will start again with no centers and re-learn one per day with very clear expectations.  They'll have more must-do's and I'll make a pride board for outstanding work.

Let's be honest here, I'm really excited about making a clothesline to show off work, come up with a cute title and paint polka dots on mini-clothes pins.  Pictures to come!

Three: Life-Work Balance
This is what I struggle with the most...that whole work-life balance.  I'm lucky to have a very understanding boyfriend who also works long hours & balances work/school but I can't keep working these 12+ hour days once we start a family.  I understand that there will be long days, but they shouldn't be every day.  I shouldn't feel guilty for leaving at 3 pm when I got there at 6 am.  I should ignore other's comments about "oh, must be nice to leave early!" when it's at least an hour after my  contract time (meaning I stopped getting paid over an hour ago).   It shouldn't feel like a "special" day when I'm gone by 3:30.  We're an early start school, which means my contracted day is 7:10-2:11.  In all honesty, there would be nothing wrong with leaving and being home by 3 pm most days of the week, but there are lots of judgmental eyes at work if you do this.  Luckily, none are from my amazing team :)

As long as I've done what I need to for my team and I'm fully prepped for the next day, that will just be good enough.

Four: TpT (Teachers Pay Teachers)
I will aim to post one new product a week and spend no more than one hour a day revising products I've made for my classroom.  I've still got a few dozen novel guides to revise (add in suggested answers, homework questions, etc) but there have to be time limits. 2 TV episodes & I'm calling it a day :)

Five: Try New Strategies & Be Okay with Mistakes
I like to learn new things and I like to try new strategies.  They don't always work great the first time and I need to continue to be okay with that.  Sometimes, it's my fault for not being clear enough in my instructions.  I need to make sure I'm continually modeling exactly what I expect from them instead of just assuming they get it becaue I've got the higher reading groups.

Six: Mentor
I'm currently mentoring one new third grade teacher at my school, a new fifth grade teacher at a neighboring school and a pre-teacher from my Alma Mater (ASU!). I love it, I get excited when the strategies I've shared are working in their classrooms.  I want to make sure I don't slack on this and take the time (prep) to go observe the teacher at my school to give meaningful, timely feedback.

I'm still in denial that I have to go back next week, but I'm determined to put more fun and joy into my job.  Happy teacher = happy classroom.

What are your resolutions?

character charts

As we're finishing up our novels, we're posting our character and setting charts on the wall:

 I think I'm running out of space! I think I'll take them down, put them on a book ring:

And create a flipchart.

Plus, that'd free up valuable wall space!  Based on one of my fabulous neighbor's suggestions, I'm going to make a "shout out" board where I can post good examples of their "must do's" and work.

I had a major problem last week with a very small percentage of my classes not doing the must do correctly and on time.

Part of it was my fault for not explicitly modeling, but part of it was due to their desires to rush to do centers. 

So, as always in teaching, I'll make adjustments for next time.

I think having the positive motivator of being on the display board will definitely help! Stay tuned :)

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!

Classroom motivator

I've struggled this year with my students turning in homework. I'm fully aware of the research that traditional homework in elementary school isn't very beneficial, but their homework is reading logs (we expect nightly reading) and math review.  

Instead of being negative and always assigning detention, I've decided to try a more positive approach instead.

Each week that my students bring back their completed homework, they will earn a piece toward our Mr. Potato head.  When our spud is fully assembled, they'll earn a prize.

However, I didn't go for any ordinary Mr. Potato head.  Oh no, I ordered this mermaid version instead:

We shall name her Ursula and she shall have a place of honor in our classroom!  Amazon will deliver her next week :)

Positive rewards

I've mentioned before that this year (#5) is by far my most challenging one as a teacher.  This group of munchkins is very talkative and while that's wonderful that they're so comfortable sharing their thoughts, it does take away from our learning sometimes.

They're getting better, but we aren't quite there yet :)

I'm trying to focus on the positives

For that, I have 2 strategies:

The first is our "kiss your brain" jar.

We talk a lot about how hard our brains work for us and that we should be appreciative of them.  My students also complain that I make their brains hurt, but that's just part of learning :)

Whenver students are working extra-hard, they can come grab a candy and "kiss their brains".

The second is our warm and fuzzy feelings jar.

Whenever students are kind to one another or extremely helpful, I put a fuzzy in our jar.  When we reach the top, they get to select a reward.  

While positive reinforcement doesn't work all the time, it is sure more rewarding to acknowledge the students who are making appropriate behavior choices that contribute to our learning.  So much of our job is centered around the negative that it's nice to shift to positive shout-outs.

Mystery Walker

I've seen this idea all over pinterest and I figured I'd give it a try.

The strategy is "mystery walker".

You can make cute containers to put the names in like picture above, but since I'm pressed for time, a ziplock baggie with little slips of paper works just fine too.

I draw a name and that student is the one I'm focusing on in line.  Instead of always saying "I like how so and so is keeping his/her hands to himself" or using other positive reinforcement strategies, I use "I hope my mystery walker is showing me his/her best halls to earn us student points."  

I don't reveal the gender of the student. 

I've used it for a few days and it's going pretty well.  My students are super motivated to earn student points, which we use for a class competition.  This week they earned almost 20 marbles in their jar, which was very exciting for them :)