Year Six, Day 2

Day Two

With no duty to be had and the kinks from yesterday all worked out, the morning ran much smoother.

We started our day with this meme:

Before I showed them the wordle from their first day feelings exit tickets:

I was pleased many of them wrote in complete sentences.  My favorite may have been the child that just wrote "I'm satisfied."  I still have a few that are nervous, but that's to be expected. 

We went over more classroom procedures, did our number talk (which lead to some awesome discourse about making sense of problems!), made our class norms with a gallery walk, and did another read aloud:

This mentor text focuses on life skills and provides strategies on not erupting (interrupting).  Again, most of them had never heard this book so I'm on a roll!

Can't wait to read this gem on day 3!

I did make my first student cry.  Yes, we made it through a day and a half of fifth grade before there were tears.

He had his phone out and in his words, was just looking at the time.  Since his back was to the wall, I chose to believe him.  We had a conversation in the hallway because it's not a conversation for the whole class.  He apologized, we talked through strategies (look at the clock, keep phone in backpack), and I moved him seats so he would face the clock.  I gave him his phone back at the end of the day, but there were still tears. 

I guess the honeymoon is over?

Day three is a weird day.  We'll tackle second prep and our first assembly.  Fingers crossed!

Last Days

One week in to summer break, I can take a breath and relax.

The last few days of school were an emotional whirlwind. This school year has been the most difficult of my teaching career for a variety of reasons. I asked my students to be reflective in end of year letters to me and well, the results were heart wrenching. Many wrote about how they felt I was mean and yelled. They however didn't acknowledge their own poor behavior choices, but I guess that comes with maturity.

We watched Frozen, signed yearbooks, and did a circle of sharing where we talked about our favorite memories. I passed back letters from their first days and notes from their parents.  I gave them their wordles and allowed plenty of sharing time for their paper slide videos (end of year novel projects).  We had counselor lessons on adjusting to middle school and they had time to practice opening combination locks.  Right before the awards assembly I read Oh the Places You'll Go and shared with them how privileged I was to be their teacher.

(I wasn't the only one in tears after reading this book)

With the help of my grade level, we created a PowerPoint slide show to share with their families at the awards assembly and moving up ceremony. We tracked down their kindergarten yearbook pictures to include in the presentation which was a tear-jerking touch.   After their ceremony, we lead the fifth graders outside where the rest of the school was waiting to clap them out. It was an emotional day for the fifth graders and their families.

The next day (last Thursday) was our final contracted day. I was kept 2 hours past my scheduled check out time because I'd left paper in my room. Mind you, this was unopened notebook and copy paper, stacked neatly in a drawer labeled supplies and was left for the incoming teacher.  This what I thought was kind gesture was frowned upon by certain persons and had to be undone before I could leave. So much for trying to be kind! Our rooms were also searched after hours and various supplies were reclaimed when we weren't there to vouch for them. There isn't an educator I know that doesn't purchase supplies (like notebooks, glue sticks, etc) out of pocket, so for these to be snatched back late at night was simply absurd...and another reason that validates my decision to change schools!

So after 5 long years, I bid adieu to room 45. I'm off to start a new adventure. 

Today is my day, I'm off to great places. I'm off and away! 

The End of Fifth Grade

The end of fifth grade is a special time.  For my students, it marks the end of their elementary school career.  The end of recess.  The end of being a "child" and the start of being a "teen" (or pre-teen).  It's a very emotional time, filled with field trips to middle schools, a moving up ceremony and a slide show of pictures throughout the year.  It's the start and end of something wonderful, so I want to make sure I end the year on the right emotional note.

Read Alouds:

It goes without saying that is must be read during the last week of school:

I love Dr. Seuss and the "Oh, the Places You'll Go" ties in quite well with fifth grader's emotions.

This goes along with First Day Jitters, which we read at the beginning of the year:

It'd be a nice read-aloud before our awards ceremony.



Gifts:

Money is tight as an educator and with three dozen students, I simply can't afford to purchase them individual gifts.  So instead, I opt for the heart-felt, home made gifts.

Wordle:
I have the students write their name on a piece of paper and pass it around to their classmates.  I then take their responses and create free wordles to pass out.

(To learn how to create wordles, visit this post.)  I usually laminate the wordles and have students sign the backs with sharpies as an alternative to a yearbook (since not all my students can afford a yearbook).

Pencils:

A practical, heart-felt gift that requires markers, cardstock and some creativity.

Bookmarks:

I love paint chip book marks and this would be a simple, meaningful gift:

 It's time to start crafting!

Tech Tip: Wordle

I blogged about wordle in the beginning of the year because I love using this (free) web 2.0 tool to make our accountable talk posters and norms, like these:

However, I haven't really used it since.  So in the interest of trying new strategies with my small groups, we will keep track of characters in our novels this way :)

So, for example, if I was making a wordle about Hermione Granger, I'd start with brainstorming a list of descriptive words, character traits, quotes, etc.

I'd type up a list in word (so it's easy to edit):

Helpful hints:

1) If I'm using a phrase or more than one word, I have to use a ~ between words with NO spaces.  The ~ is above your tab key if you're on a PC

2) If you want a word to appear larger, type it more than once (ex: her name)

From there, I'd go to wordle and select create:

Then after selecting create, I copy and paste in my list from word:

Then hit go.

From there, I get my wordle:

Which I can customize with the font, layout & color until I get one I like:

From there, I can print or use another web 2.0 tool like Jing to take a snapshot & save as a png (picture).

I can also go back to my list in word and add more words, then repeat the process!

Enjoy!

Classroom Updates

Our classroom is a work in progress.

Our word wall, for example, frequently gets new academic vocabulary words.

The words are color-coded by content area.  I also moved our interesting words anchor chart to the word wall.

Here is our affixes anchor chart:

We are currently working on syllables and short vowels which is why our chart isn't very detailed.

I will be making a Greek and Latin roots one this week since we keep referencing geo in science.

Here is a snapshot of our classroom behavior expectations:

Here is the list of classroom jobs, which I borrowed from my awesome neighbor.

She is so cute with her creative names!  I'm lucky to work with such amazing women (aka my sister wives).

Here are some of our attention getting signals:

I saw what is in black and they respond with the magenta response.  I like the options :)  It keeps me (and them) from being bored!

I also utilized the magnetic bookshelves:

To hold fluency scripts, reader's theater and timers :)

Here is a super cute gift from another coworker:

She knows my love of football and even though she's a Cowboys fan, she supports my devotion to the Arizona Cardinals.  That's teamwork for you :)

Here is one of our mapping sorts:

 I printed the center in 5 different colors for each of my table teams and laminated it for durability.  The large ziplock bag contains all of the smaller ziplock bags and centers.  I find this double bag system works best for my classroom management.

Here is another example, but of our syllable sort:

Here are our new dry erase markers:

Each student has his/her name printed on an address label.  The address label is then wrapped in clear packing tape for durability.

I upcycled an old tackle box

to hold our classroom supplies!  Sticky address labels have so many uses!

I also posted our classroom norms:

Again, wordle is a great resource!

We talked about landforms today in science

then created them!

I discovered this note on my board at the end of the day:

It's the little things that mean the most.

Writing Portfolios

This year I'm having my students keep track of their writing with portfolios.

During the first week of school, I had them fill out a "me as a writer" sheet so I could start to plan out mini-lessons based on their needs.

I read through their writing struggles and made a list:

Luckily, a lot of these concerns are addressed in the CCSS so my instruction can be both standards-based and data-driven.

From there, I found a stack of manila file folders and stapled their sheets inside.

I then added a picture of this chart

about growth and mastery of standards to the outside of their folder:

For durability, I added some packing tape to make sure the growth chart was staying put!

Inside, I stapled a double sided chart of the common core writing and language standards so they could see exactly what we're working on:

We will talk about SMART goals after our diagnostic constructed responses this week.  Students will then generate their own writing goals, which will also be stapled into their portfolios.

Their portfolios can double as privacy shields during independent writing time for assessments.

I made a wordle out of their list of struggles with writing:

At least we have a very comprehensive list!  Plus, the largest issue of "big words" we are tackling right away with explicit phonics and syllable types :)

I turned that wordle into part of my bulletin board, but more on that later!

Day 2 Down

Survived the second day.  We still need to work on being respectful listeners and not taking half a dozen bathroom breaks but it's a definite work in progress.

Yesterday (day 1): 

We read Ms. Nelson is missing and made these anchor charts in a gallery walk:

Today, I turned these into wordles:

Our class norms

Our individual goals

Small group norms

I prefer wordles for the class rules because they take up less space :)

Today we read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and discussed how students should treat one another.

Here are the "I'm moving to Australia" cards for when students are having "one of those days".

On to day three!

Survived the first day!

At 2:30 today, I let go a big sigh of relief.

I did it, I survived my first day with students.

I tried to explain my anxiety to others, but was met with "you've done this before".  Yes, I have.  This started year five.  But the kids are different and it doesn't mean it's any less scary.

Last night was riddled with nightmares of every possible worst-case scenario...all of course, occurring on the first day.

I started my day around six am by prepping their "you're just write for this class" pencils:

 Normally Target's dollar spot pencils are decent but this batch didn't hold up to my fifth grader's sturdy hands.  About half broke within the first twenty minutes...good thing they brought their own!

Next, I finished my word wall with scrabble letters:

'

The words will be color coded by content area.

I also finalized my pencil vase with a button:

I think it looks super cute :)

When my students entered, there was a slip of paper for them to write their feelings on.  Luckily it was early enough in the morning that they didn't question me.

While they were at art, I turned their feelings into this wordle:

Overall, they were excited for fifth grade and I hope that feeling continues!

This group of students might be the most talkative yet so I know I'll have to reinforce the norms of taking turns and using whisper voices.

We went through a lot of procedures, class room tours, etc.  

They had a lot of fun with our "No Way Jose" and "That's a Fact, Jack!" sort:

I love my job, but my oh my am I exhausted! I haven't talked that much in a while and my feet hurt from wearing shoes all day.

Bring on day 2!