It seems as though the hustle and bustle of the holiday season carries over into the classroom. Report cards (round one) are done, conferences (round one) are done, and teaching seemed like it could once again be the only focus in the classroom. Just when I thought that, I found my calendar telling me that I was terribly wrong. This week marks conferences round two and the holidays quickly approaching.
Not only is all of that happening, but I may have done the craziest thing to myself recently. I decided to co-present at our districts literacy conference in February. I am excited, nervous, thinking I may have lost my mind, and unsure about this decision all at once. I am sure I will share more in the coming weeks and months, but I will be presenting on the concept of argumentative writing within the math content areas. The focus will be on math and the common core standards and linking them to the writing common core standards.
So, this week seems awfully busy when I look at my to do list from meetings, conferences, planning, teaching, grading, writing Christmas cards, Christmas parties (3 in three days!), and spending time for myself. I am thinking that it may not all get done. So if you are on my Christmas card list every year, I apologize if your card comes at the new year! Teaching seems to change your personal deadlines an awful lot! :-)
But, in the midst of all of this hustle and bustle, I am finding time to stop and look at what I have done this year already. Just the other day, my students felt the need to inform me that I have become a much better math teacher in their eyes. I was not sure if that was a compliment or not, but I choose to look at it and think about how even my kids feel as though they are learning more now and the work I have been putting into their learning is paying off. As is true Angela fashion, I am always looking for where to focus my attention next and what to improve on. It seems as though I want to focus on small group instruction.
Last week, I spent a lot of time working one on one with many of my students on things they really needed some extra attention. I didn't get to meet with as many small groups as I would have liked, but the time spend with these 7 or 8 kids last week was so valuable. I had the chance to really see what they are struggling with and get a deeper understanding of where they are in their learning. I am looking forward to more time spent working with these kids this week as we work to improve their writing in math, reading and understanding, and overall confidence in their wonderful abilities to learn and view the world around them each day.
I hope that you have a chance in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the next few weeks to take a step back and look at your amazing teaching and yours students individually.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
Time Flies!
In my school district we split the year into three trimesters. Friday marked the end of the first trimester! I cannot believe that my class and I have made it through 1/3 of the year already! I found myself reflecting on all that we have done and what improvements I have seen in my kids as well as my classroom set up.
One of the biggest improvement I have seen in my kids this year is in their writing, both stories and in math. I have spent a lot of time focusing and planning for my math instruction every day. As a result, my kids are consistently explaining their work and labeling their work as they solve problems. I have seen my most struggling mathematicians improve dramatically from this instruction. I have a student who went from no explanation and labels to always explaining what they do to solve a problem, labeling their work, and even sharing out in class without fear of being incorrect. After repeated small group and one-on-one instruction with another student in subtraction with regrouping, I can confidently say that he can do this independently and no longer needs my support in that area of math. The list of improvements I have noticed and reflected on continues. I can easily say that I am a proud teacher.
But, my classroom set up needed some attention. After living with it for a trimester, I decided that there were some changes needing to happen on Friday. Take a look at the pictures below of my room set up for the first 1/3 of the year.
I have found that there were too many "blind" spots for me during independent work time. I allow the kids to work around the room. I have found that many of them are more comfortable when not sitting in their desk, but at the same time, many find it as an opportunity to "hide" and talk to friends instead of getting their work done. As a result, assignments were not being completed, and I was having trouble teaching in small groups without having to interrupt them to correct a choice. My new set up has split the Daily 5 choice boxes around the room (used to all be in one general area of the room). My kids now have several open areas that they can work in around the classroom. Take a look below at some of the pictures with the new set up.
Overall, the first trimester has been a growing experience. I am excited to see the changes that will occur over the next 1/3 of the year. At the end of this first trimester, I have realized how quickly time flies! I have accomplished a lot in these 13/14 weeks, but not as much as I would like. Maybe next year?
One of the biggest improvement I have seen in my kids this year is in their writing, both stories and in math. I have spent a lot of time focusing and planning for my math instruction every day. As a result, my kids are consistently explaining their work and labeling their work as they solve problems. I have seen my most struggling mathematicians improve dramatically from this instruction. I have a student who went from no explanation and labels to always explaining what they do to solve a problem, labeling their work, and even sharing out in class without fear of being incorrect. After repeated small group and one-on-one instruction with another student in subtraction with regrouping, I can confidently say that he can do this independently and no longer needs my support in that area of math. The list of improvements I have noticed and reflected on continues. I can easily say that I am a proud teacher.
But, my classroom set up needed some attention. After living with it for a trimester, I decided that there were some changes needing to happen on Friday. Take a look at the pictures below of my room set up for the first 1/3 of the year.
I have found that there were too many "blind" spots for me during independent work time. I allow the kids to work around the room. I have found that many of them are more comfortable when not sitting in their desk, but at the same time, many find it as an opportunity to "hide" and talk to friends instead of getting their work done. As a result, assignments were not being completed, and I was having trouble teaching in small groups without having to interrupt them to correct a choice. My new set up has split the Daily 5 choice boxes around the room (used to all be in one general area of the room). My kids now have several open areas that they can work in around the classroom. Take a look below at some of the pictures with the new set up.
Overall, the first trimester has been a growing experience. I am excited to see the changes that will occur over the next 1/3 of the year. At the end of this first trimester, I have realized how quickly time flies! I have accomplished a lot in these 13/14 weeks, but not as much as I would like. Maybe next year?
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Developing a Workshop: Math
The last two weeks I have spent a lot of time focusing my attention on and thinking through how to transform my 80 minute math instruction time into a valuable math workshop. This has been quite the process.
Most of this thinking started when I attended the first of four professional development opportunities with Joan Smith. In these sessions, she is working with the fifth grade teachers in my district on helping our students to understand the basics of math (what numbers are, mean, and how they work in the world), begin using this knowledge to problem solve real life problems, and taking a hands off role to allow students to make mistakes (after all, that is where the most concrete learning occurs).
Last week, I jumped right in by setting the stage for what we would be learning and how we would do this this year.
We then worked on our first real life problem solving activity. This is where I had to take a complete hands off role. I provided students with the problem, manipulatives, the time, and I watched, took notes, and made observations about what students fully understood and where their "missing links" were. My how surprised I was! This was a two day event. On the second day, we charted all of the thinking and math processing we had been doing for two days. Take a look at our work below.
This experience was so valuable for my students and myself. They learned from one another, they had a chance to practice what they knew and understood, and I learned where "missing links" were, how I should begin grouping the kids for "guided math, "and where to begin with each student. Ultimately, I did a second lesson in a similar fashion since this one went so well.
My focus for this second lesson was lesson on the concept we were working with and more on the practical use of manipulatives and tools. In the process, the students surprised me with their connections to new math rules we had not learned or discussed. Take a look at the chart we created together based on this lesson and learning below.
A little more than a week later, I have begun thinking about pulling students into "guided math" groups. I am excited to dive into this with my students. My developing plan for my 80 minute math block is below.
Problem of the Day (still thinking about this one)
Mini-lesson (using my current district program)
TIME work (check out more details here)
Sharing from our TIME work
As I begin to implement this and other developing ideas in the classroom, I am excited to share them. What are your thoughts? Where should I go next? What have you tried that worked well?
Most of this thinking started when I attended the first of four professional development opportunities with Joan Smith. In these sessions, she is working with the fifth grade teachers in my district on helping our students to understand the basics of math (what numbers are, mean, and how they work in the world), begin using this knowledge to problem solve real life problems, and taking a hands off role to allow students to make mistakes (after all, that is where the most concrete learning occurs).
Last week, I jumped right in by setting the stage for what we would be learning and how we would do this this year.
We then worked on our first real life problem solving activity. This is where I had to take a complete hands off role. I provided students with the problem, manipulatives, the time, and I watched, took notes, and made observations about what students fully understood and where their "missing links" were. My how surprised I was! This was a two day event. On the second day, we charted all of the thinking and math processing we had been doing for two days. Take a look at our work below.
This experience was so valuable for my students and myself. They learned from one another, they had a chance to practice what they knew and understood, and I learned where "missing links" were, how I should begin grouping the kids for "guided math, "and where to begin with each student. Ultimately, I did a second lesson in a similar fashion since this one went so well.
My focus for this second lesson was lesson on the concept we were working with and more on the practical use of manipulatives and tools. In the process, the students surprised me with their connections to new math rules we had not learned or discussed. Take a look at the chart we created together based on this lesson and learning below.
A little more than a week later, I have begun thinking about pulling students into "guided math" groups. I am excited to dive into this with my students. My developing plan for my 80 minute math block is below.
Problem of the Day (still thinking about this one)
Mini-lesson (using my current district program)
TIME work (check out more details here)
Sharing from our TIME work
As I begin to implement this and other developing ideas in the classroom, I am excited to share them. What are your thoughts? Where should I go next? What have you tried that worked well?
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Observations: Key to Success
As part of my required work for being a first year teacher this year, I have to observe teachers who are doing good things in area's that I want to work on and improve in. My focus for improvement this year is primarily math. I say primarily because at the end of the day, I really think I can improve in so many different ways, but I need to focus on one at a time to be the most successful.
So, on Monday, I went and completed my first two (of many) observations that I needed to do. I went with the attitude that I just need to get these done and over with so that I can check the box and get back to the craziness of things that need to get done in my own room (and preparing for my own fall observation and evaluation by my principal this week).
What did I find from these observations? A quick realization that I like little to nothing that I am doing in math. What seems like forever, teaching math for 80 minutes a day, flew by and we went OVER in time after trying some of what I learned! My kids were more engaged after I tried what I learned and I am certain were far more successful than they have been in this unit thus far.
Up to now, my math lesson has been to follow the teacher guide to help me think about the lesson because I was convinced that I couldn't do it all this year and had no idea where to start thinking about "creating" my own math lessons. I went to observe a fourth grade teacher in my building today who uses the book titled Number Talks by Sherry Parrish to guide her own "number talks" in the classroom. After 15 minutes of watching her and taking notes constantly, I was so excited to get back to my classroom, pick up my kids and dive right in. I changed my math lesson the minute the kids walked in and did a variation of these "number talks."
What I found to be different? My kids were more engaged than they have ever been in math, my instruction was more focused than ever before, and the result at the end of the lesson was that the kids got the concepts and information I needed to get to them. I typically have 6 or 7 students working with me as I re-instruct them from the lesson that day, but today, I had 2! I am so excited about this lesson and how it went, that I cannot wait to try it again tomorrow and see how it goes.
So in the end, I found that observing other teachers, no matter how time consuming or tedious it seems, it really is one important key to success in the classroom. The two teachers I observed (one fourth grade and one first grade) gave me so many great ideas to try and work with in my classroom this week and in future weeks that I cannot wait to teach 80 minutes of math tomorrow!
So, on Monday, I went and completed my first two (of many) observations that I needed to do. I went with the attitude that I just need to get these done and over with so that I can check the box and get back to the craziness of things that need to get done in my own room (and preparing for my own fall observation and evaluation by my principal this week).
What did I find from these observations? A quick realization that I like little to nothing that I am doing in math. What seems like forever, teaching math for 80 minutes a day, flew by and we went OVER in time after trying some of what I learned! My kids were more engaged after I tried what I learned and I am certain were far more successful than they have been in this unit thus far.
Up to now, my math lesson has been to follow the teacher guide to help me think about the lesson because I was convinced that I couldn't do it all this year and had no idea where to start thinking about "creating" my own math lessons. I went to observe a fourth grade teacher in my building today who uses the book titled Number Talks by Sherry Parrish to guide her own "number talks" in the classroom. After 15 minutes of watching her and taking notes constantly, I was so excited to get back to my classroom, pick up my kids and dive right in. I changed my math lesson the minute the kids walked in and did a variation of these "number talks."
What I found to be different? My kids were more engaged than they have ever been in math, my instruction was more focused than ever before, and the result at the end of the lesson was that the kids got the concepts and information I needed to get to them. I typically have 6 or 7 students working with me as I re-instruct them from the lesson that day, but today, I had 2! I am so excited about this lesson and how it went, that I cannot wait to try it again tomorrow and see how it goes.
So in the end, I found that observing other teachers, no matter how time consuming or tedious it seems, it really is one important key to success in the classroom. The two teachers I observed (one fourth grade and one first grade) gave me so many great ideas to try and work with in my classroom this week and in future weeks that I cannot wait to teach 80 minutes of math tomorrow!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Balancing Time: Is it Possible?
I am finding myself feeling so overwhelmed the last few weeks. Is there ever going to be enough time to complete everything?? I have found papers getting back logged in grading, planning not being considered until last minute, and a constant list of meetings to plan for daily.
I am realizing in the midst of the craziness that I really need to sit back and think: What is most important and beneficial for my kids at school? Is planning a week in advance really beneficial? Or should I focus more on getting my kids their feedback back on their work? I want the piles to disappear in my room and the "To Do List" to get checked off, but that does not seem to be benefiting my students. After all, my desk being full of papers to get to has earned the nickname "Tornado Ally" from my class this year. Is that really a bad thing? They are using analogies in a practical way!
I am quickly realizing that it is the intentional planning based on our previous learning and class discussions that day or the day before that is more important than sticking to my original plans made a week ago. I am finding that checking in with my students and giving them feedback on their practice is more valuable than making my practice pages "pretty" or putting everything away in my classroom everyday. What is valuable and worth my time and focus is what impacts the kids and their learning the most.
Time is unfortunately not infinite and I am having to learn the balance of that in such a real way. I can't work on school work 24/7. My kids will never have a teacher that understands the world they live in or can discuss the current events that affect them now and later if I don't balance. I will burn myself out of the profession before I know it if I keep it up. I have to have time for the things in life that are more important to me like family. This is modeling it for my class. They will need to have the ability to balance their time someday and I need to model that life skill for them.
I love my job and I want to be the best I can be at it (and the perfectionist in me is convinced that more time will make that happen :-)), but I will have to accept that I will never be perfect. After all, who ever met a teacher that said he/she was perfect at his/her job and he/she was done learning and improving his/her practice?
I am realizing in the midst of the craziness that I really need to sit back and think: What is most important and beneficial for my kids at school? Is planning a week in advance really beneficial? Or should I focus more on getting my kids their feedback back on their work? I want the piles to disappear in my room and the "To Do List" to get checked off, but that does not seem to be benefiting my students. After all, my desk being full of papers to get to has earned the nickname "Tornado Ally" from my class this year. Is that really a bad thing? They are using analogies in a practical way!
I am quickly realizing that it is the intentional planning based on our previous learning and class discussions that day or the day before that is more important than sticking to my original plans made a week ago. I am finding that checking in with my students and giving them feedback on their practice is more valuable than making my practice pages "pretty" or putting everything away in my classroom everyday. What is valuable and worth my time and focus is what impacts the kids and their learning the most.
Time is unfortunately not infinite and I am having to learn the balance of that in such a real way. I can't work on school work 24/7. My kids will never have a teacher that understands the world they live in or can discuss the current events that affect them now and later if I don't balance. I will burn myself out of the profession before I know it if I keep it up. I have to have time for the things in life that are more important to me like family. This is modeling it for my class. They will need to have the ability to balance their time someday and I need to model that life skill for them.
I love my job and I want to be the best I can be at it (and the perfectionist in me is convinced that more time will make that happen :-)), but I will have to accept that I will never be perfect. After all, who ever met a teacher that said he/she was perfect at his/her job and he/she was done learning and improving his/her practice?
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Making Goals
The second day of school, my students sat down and spent 15-20 minutes writing out their goals for the school year in all subject areas (including other). Setting goals are super important to me. I know how important they are in helping me get better at things. I figured that my students could benefit from this at the very start of the year. Their goals are posted right above their cubbies for them to see each day when they walk in. They are a constant reminder to them of what they want to work on this year.
I have been really busy thinking about and working on my teaching goals for this year. It has been a lot harder than I thought. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the teacher standards and thinking about what is it that I want to improve on. What do I want to get really good at this year. The hard reality for me to accept this year has been that I will not get really good at everything this year. In fact, I may never be really good at everything in teaching.
I started the school year out pretty sure that I wanted to focus my goals around teaching reading and writing. But what I have realized is that I wanted to focus on teaching reading and writing because I like those areas. I feel comfortable teaching those areas. It is Math and Science that my comfort level is much less. At first, I was pretty sure that I did not want to mention my comfort level with this to my mentor (and I know you are reading this), but after really thinking about it, how will I become a better teacher if I don't hone in on and work on the more challenging parts of my job? That is the only way to get better. Not only that, but what kind of a model would I be for my students. I asked my kids to do this when they wrote their goals on the second day. Our classroom logo is "Mrs. Rowe's 5th Grade Growing Learners." I should be a growing learner this year too.
I have been really busy thinking about and working on my teaching goals for this year. It has been a lot harder than I thought. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the teacher standards and thinking about what is it that I want to improve on. What do I want to get really good at this year. The hard reality for me to accept this year has been that I will not get really good at everything this year. In fact, I may never be really good at everything in teaching.
I started the school year out pretty sure that I wanted to focus my goals around teaching reading and writing. But what I have realized is that I wanted to focus on teaching reading and writing because I like those areas. I feel comfortable teaching those areas. It is Math and Science that my comfort level is much less. At first, I was pretty sure that I did not want to mention my comfort level with this to my mentor (and I know you are reading this), but after really thinking about it, how will I become a better teacher if I don't hone in on and work on the more challenging parts of my job? That is the only way to get better. Not only that, but what kind of a model would I be for my students. I asked my kids to do this when they wrote their goals on the second day. Our classroom logo is "Mrs. Rowe's 5th Grade Growing Learners." I should be a growing learner this year too.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Welcome to Mrs. Rowe's First Week
Week one is over! I found myself feeling so overwhelmed this week with everything. Today was the first day I left work well before 6pm. But, at the end of my first week as a full time teacher, I can truly say that I still love my job.
I have a lot of kiddos to teach this year (27 as of now) and all have their very own needs from academics to behaviors. At the end of this week, I already feel like I know them so well and I haven't even completed or graded one start of the year assessment yet! My how much I will learn in the next few weeks about them.
I spent the early part of the week really getting to know the kids, sharing with them, and planning for how our classroom will operate this year together. Check out some pictures of our work so far.
Our getting to know you activity along with the book Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou (see an earlier post about this here).
Our classroom Constitution. This started our first Social Studies unit about our U.S. Government and gave us a chance to decide what was important to us as a class for how we act and treat one another this school year.
After really starting to establish the expectations this week, I dove right into teaching by Wednesday. We talked about picking a just right book using the "I Pick" strategy and the five finger rule. I would share a picture, but my drawings were not so great (the kids decided that the five finger rule should be called the five leaf rule in our classroom instead as my drawn hand looks more like a leaf). We talked about our thinking while we read and after practicing and marking our thinking in our books with post it notes, here is what we came up with to chart:
We talked about how to "Buzz" with a partner about the book we are reading. This year, this is what our "Buddy Reading" is going to look like. Talking about and having a conversation about what we have read with a partner/friend. The kids did a great job at coming up with ideas of what this should look like and sound like:
- Ask your partner: What is happening in your book? (Giving a summary so far)
- Sit knee to knee
- Talk about your opinions of the book and why
- Talk about predictions
- Describe your own visualizing of the book (the movie in your head)
- Sharing the questions you had while reading
We talked about when it is okay to abandon a book and reasons we have all abandoned books in the past. We spent so much time re-learning how to independently read and "buddy" read this week. By today, they all wanted to know when we could have our reading workshop again!
In writing, I decided that I want the kids to do a lot of writing with technology. The type of writing that they will do in ten plus years when they are in my shoes won't be the type of writing we do today or did yesterday. We don't write handwritten notes anymore. Rather, we type up an email and send it out immediately. It occurred to me that kids don't understand that this is still letter writing and the concept of "text" language isn't always appropriate. I decided to focus our early writing this year on the concept of friendly email format. Check out what the kids and I came up with after taking a peak at some real examples:
I am so excited to see what week 2 brings and cannot wait to share. I hope you enjoyed a peak into what we spent our first week doing in Mrs. Rowe's 5th Grade Classroom!
I have a lot of kiddos to teach this year (27 as of now) and all have their very own needs from academics to behaviors. At the end of this week, I already feel like I know them so well and I haven't even completed or graded one start of the year assessment yet! My how much I will learn in the next few weeks about them.
I spent the early part of the week really getting to know the kids, sharing with them, and planning for how our classroom will operate this year together. Check out some pictures of our work so far.
After really starting to establish the expectations this week, I dove right into teaching by Wednesday. We talked about picking a just right book using the "I Pick" strategy and the five finger rule. I would share a picture, but my drawings were not so great (the kids decided that the five finger rule should be called the five leaf rule in our classroom instead as my drawn hand looks more like a leaf). We talked about our thinking while we read and after practicing and marking our thinking in our books with post it notes, here is what we came up with to chart:
- Ask your partner: What is happening in your book? (Giving a summary so far)
- Sit knee to knee
- Talk about your opinions of the book and why
- Talk about predictions
- Describe your own visualizing of the book (the movie in your head)
- Sharing the questions you had while reading
We talked about when it is okay to abandon a book and reasons we have all abandoned books in the past. We spent so much time re-learning how to independently read and "buddy" read this week. By today, they all wanted to know when we could have our reading workshop again!
In writing, I decided that I want the kids to do a lot of writing with technology. The type of writing that they will do in ten plus years when they are in my shoes won't be the type of writing we do today or did yesterday. We don't write handwritten notes anymore. Rather, we type up an email and send it out immediately. It occurred to me that kids don't understand that this is still letter writing and the concept of "text" language isn't always appropriate. I decided to focus our early writing this year on the concept of friendly email format. Check out what the kids and I came up with after taking a peak at some real examples:
I am so excited to see what week 2 brings and cannot wait to share. I hope you enjoyed a peak into what we spent our first week doing in Mrs. Rowe's 5th Grade Classroom!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Twas The Night Before...
The first day of school. Tomorrow is a day that I have wanted and waited for for a long time! I am so excited to get started (I think I over planned because I am so excited to get moving into the school year). :-) However, that is by far not all that I am feeling. I am finding myself feeling nervous. I want the school year to be perfect. I know all of you veteran teachers are laughing as I say that, but a teacher can dream can't she? :-)
My classroom is set up just the way I wanted. It is organized and perfect in my mind. I have planned and spent a lot of time thinking about what is most important to me to get across to the kids on day one. I know that I want a classroom community where each member respects one another and puts their best efforts forward everyday. I want my kids to know that I care about each of them individually and that I want to see them succeed. This week is filled with plans on how we can learn to grow as a community of learners together. We are learning how to make goals for ourselves and then we are going to make those goals. Even I am going to sit down with the kids and make my own personal goals for the school year. I want the kids to see that I think it is so important to make goals and modeling it is the best way for them to see it.
I said that I want the school year to be perfect. It will be the perfect "first" year for me. I am excited to welcome 27 students tomorrow morning at my classroom door. I am also super nervous to welcome 27 students tomorrow morning at my classroom door. That is a lot of young minds to encourage to grow and learn. Can I do that? I know that I can. I have before in all of my long term subbing experiences, but there is a part of me that wonders. This time, it is the "real deal." It is my classroom and there are no safe outs. I am 100% responsible (I always viewed it that way when subbing, but now it is really true)! Pressure!
I am sure that on the last day of the school year, I will re-read this post and think how silly I was for being so worried. After all, in 9 months, I will have completed the school year, my kids will have grown (in learning and height) and I will be ready to start thinking about year two and how to improve even more. To all of my new students (and teacher friends), I hope you are as excited and nervous as I am tonight, because I think that the right combination of the two equals the perfect start to a perfect school year.
Happy first day of school to many of my teacher friends. You will all have a perfect start to the year tomorrow because you have all prepared well and I am sure are a little bit nervous to start all over again this year!
My classroom is set up just the way I wanted. It is organized and perfect in my mind. I have planned and spent a lot of time thinking about what is most important to me to get across to the kids on day one. I know that I want a classroom community where each member respects one another and puts their best efforts forward everyday. I want my kids to know that I care about each of them individually and that I want to see them succeed. This week is filled with plans on how we can learn to grow as a community of learners together. We are learning how to make goals for ourselves and then we are going to make those goals. Even I am going to sit down with the kids and make my own personal goals for the school year. I want the kids to see that I think it is so important to make goals and modeling it is the best way for them to see it.
I said that I want the school year to be perfect. It will be the perfect "first" year for me. I am excited to welcome 27 students tomorrow morning at my classroom door. I am also super nervous to welcome 27 students tomorrow morning at my classroom door. That is a lot of young minds to encourage to grow and learn. Can I do that? I know that I can. I have before in all of my long term subbing experiences, but there is a part of me that wonders. This time, it is the "real deal." It is my classroom and there are no safe outs. I am 100% responsible (I always viewed it that way when subbing, but now it is really true)! Pressure!
I am sure that on the last day of the school year, I will re-read this post and think how silly I was for being so worried. After all, in 9 months, I will have completed the school year, my kids will have grown (in learning and height) and I will be ready to start thinking about year two and how to improve even more. To all of my new students (and teacher friends), I hope you are as excited and nervous as I am tonight, because I think that the right combination of the two equals the perfect start to a perfect school year.
Happy first day of school to many of my teacher friends. You will all have a perfect start to the year tomorrow because you have all prepared well and I am sure are a little bit nervous to start all over again this year!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Nearing the Beginning
Two weeks and few days to go. The room is finished with everything put away in its
home. All that is left is to personalize
the room with my student’s names and very soon their smiles and chatter. Having it all put away is a great feeling of
accomplishment, but yet it leaves me feeling like maybe I am forgetting
something. I have so much more time this
year to prepare in advance and I want to be sure that I use the time properly,
but what am I forgetting?
My classroom library is completed and ready for growing
readers to dive in and get lost in new worlds of reading. My bulletin boards are up and ready to
display changing anchor charts throughout the school year. My guided reading space is prepared and ready
for teaching and to serve as a great group meeting space for small groups. All of the manipulatives and materials are
put away and labeled for when we need them.
I have started to think through the first day of school. My behavior plans are set (but just might
change based on my kids when I get to know them). I even know what I want my room to look like
when it is filled with students and in full swing come November. I even have some thoughts on how to get
there.
Now, I am ready to put together a classroom schedule, meet
my kiddos, and dive into a new school year.
I am excited to grow as a teacher this year and to have the permanent
feeling of my own classroom. When people
have asked me what I am looking forward to most about my classroom after three
years of subbing, all I can think about is having the same kids all year long
to work with, get to know, grow with, and learn how to improve for them as
their teacher. I am excited to grow
relationships with my students, student’s parents, and staff.
I continue to talk about improving as a teacher and I am
lucky to have the opportunity to get additional training as a “first year”
teacher. I have been assigned a mentor
teacher to work closely with, to learn from, to challenge me, and to help me
learn how to better reflect on my teaching this year. I don’t think I will ever know it all as a
teacher because I can’t imagine knowing it all in an ever changing world.
I start back to school next week for all of my new hire
training and then professional development with the entire staff. This just might be one of the few school
years that I can’t wait to get started with and want day one to be here
already.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
My Plan for Building Comminuty at the Beginning
My classroom is almost put together with the exception of a
few things like name tags, my language of math board (more to come on this),
and organizing collected papers and items from subbing days. It is comforting to know that my room is
coming together and will be inviting for my students when they come for their
student walk through in a few short weeks.
It is exciting for me to know that it is my classroom, done just the way
I want it. I didn’t have to confer with
anyone on what they wanted done in the room, rather I got to do it 100% my way
this time. Now that the “set up” is
nearly complete, I am left with plenty of time to really contemplate the start
of the school year (something I did not have the luxury of last year in my long
term).
When I student taught, I had an amazing mentor teacher that
I learned so much from like how to really get to know your students and their
families from the start, how to be explicit in my teaching, how to be
consistent in my discipline and behavior management in the classroom, and so
much more. One thing that she does every
year in her classroom is read a wonderful picture book to her class at the
start of the school year: Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden by Edith Pattou. After reading the book, she talks to her
class about how each of them is like a flower in her classroom garden and they
all have different needs. I did this on
the first day of school last year with my 4th grade long term class
and plan to start this school year off just the same.
I want to do a short getting to know you project with the
book this year and am excited to have the results showcased all year long. For my hallway bulletin board, I plan to have
the students take different cut outs and colors of plants and flowers. On the cut outs, they will draw pictures of
things that represent them (their favorites, family, what they want to be when
they grow up, favorite subject, etc.).
After everyone is finished, I want to take some time for the kids to
share what they created and why. Once we
have all shared, I will laminate their “flowers,” glue them onto clothes pins,
put them up on a boarder out in the hallway for us to hang their work on to
display all year long (I’ll show pictures after the start of the school year).
I want to spend the first few days of the school year really
getting to know each of my students well as kids and learners. I want to define what our classroom will look
like together as a community of learners and discuss what we want to get out of
our 5th grade year together.
I want the classroom to instantly go from being my classroom to our
classroom where we all feel a part of the community and belong. I want my students to feel at home to a point
where they want to be there daily and know what is always expected of
them. I am excited to share with all of
you how this goes once the year begins because I strongly believe that the way
we start the year, determines the success we see as teachers at the end of the
year.
Happy early planning for your classroom! I know that it is a lot of work and requires
so much thought and intention behind the decisions we make in the first few
weeks, but I have seen from my subbing experience that that intention behind
decisions is so crucial to the sanity and success we feel as teachers at the
end of a long school day in February, March, April, May, and June.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
My Reading Workshop
Starting up a classroom of my own is far more intense than I ever thought. As I have planned for the placement of my guided reading table, whole group meeting area, computers, my desk, and many other spaces, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what the room will be like in November/December when my room is in full swing with students working independently and me with a small group. Having had the opportunity to "test" out my teaching style and a classroom layout or two as a long term substitute has been wonderful. It has also left me with more ideas than I can use in one room (having worked in a hundred or more classrooms in three years, my idea book is full).
My favorite part of the school day is my reading block. I love to read and love to watch my students enthusiasm for reading grow during the year. I have spent a lot of time studying, taking classes, and observing other teachers during this time and have developed a structure that works for my students.and myself I usually start this time with a mini lesson. I am a big fan of anchor charts and use them often during the school year. My mini lessons typically consist of a read aloud that connects to a concept (i.e. cause/effect, prediction). Check out this area below.
After the mini lesson, my students get to work on their independent work. I have read and love the books titled Daily 5 and The Cafe Book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I have found a way to incorporate their ideas into my reading block. While I work with a small group of students on reading (more to come about my guided reading lessons later), the rest of my class knows that they are expected to be working on their "Daily 5 Choices." Daily 5 is more geared towards early elementary and my Master's degree and early teaching experience is all K-3, but I have tweaked it a bit to make it just as successful for my 5th graders (used with my 4th grade long term classes last school year). My kids have 5 "Main Idea" choices - Independent Read, Buddy Read, Word Study, Writing, and Content Area (more on these area's in a later post).
My Buddy Reading station is on the bottom of the left end of the bookshelves and the Independent Reading station is on the bottom of the right end of the bookshelves (in the blue bin).
The entire black bookshelf is my Word Study station.
This is my Writing station.
This is my Content Area station.
When setting up my classroom, I had to take into account these "Daily 5 Choices." I took a class this summer on Literacy Work Stations that focused around two books (one for primary grades and one for intermediate grades), Literacy Work Stations and Practice with Purpose. Both books are by Debbie Diller (an author I read a lot of in grad school - where my love for teaching reading really blossomed). This class talked a lot about providing students with choices during the reading time that are not busy work, rather provide valuable practice to enhance learning. My five choices this year will be viewed more as "Main Ideas" with choices or "Details" inside of them. I stationed these five spaces around the classroom. Each station is housed inside of a portable file bin. The students choices at these stations will be placed inside of these bins.
Planning for a classroom that will be mine all year long is a lot of work, but I am certain rewarding once the students arrive at the end of August. I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of my reading block plans. I hope to share so much more about it. After all, learning is reading in many ways!
My favorite part of the school day is my reading block. I love to read and love to watch my students enthusiasm for reading grow during the year. I have spent a lot of time studying, taking classes, and observing other teachers during this time and have developed a structure that works for my students.and myself I usually start this time with a mini lesson. I am a big fan of anchor charts and use them often during the school year. My mini lessons typically consist of a read aloud that connects to a concept (i.e. cause/effect, prediction). Check out this area below.
After the mini lesson, my students get to work on their independent work. I have read and love the books titled Daily 5 and The Cafe Book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. I have found a way to incorporate their ideas into my reading block. While I work with a small group of students on reading (more to come about my guided reading lessons later), the rest of my class knows that they are expected to be working on their "Daily 5 Choices." Daily 5 is more geared towards early elementary and my Master's degree and early teaching experience is all K-3, but I have tweaked it a bit to make it just as successful for my 5th graders (used with my 4th grade long term classes last school year). My kids have 5 "Main Idea" choices - Independent Read, Buddy Read, Word Study, Writing, and Content Area (more on these area's in a later post).
When setting up my classroom, I had to take into account these "Daily 5 Choices." I took a class this summer on Literacy Work Stations that focused around two books (one for primary grades and one for intermediate grades), Literacy Work Stations and Practice with Purpose. Both books are by Debbie Diller (an author I read a lot of in grad school - where my love for teaching reading really blossomed). This class talked a lot about providing students with choices during the reading time that are not busy work, rather provide valuable practice to enhance learning. My five choices this year will be viewed more as "Main Ideas" with choices or "Details" inside of them. I stationed these five spaces around the classroom. Each station is housed inside of a portable file bin. The students choices at these stations will be placed inside of these bins.
Planning for a classroom that will be mine all year long is a lot of work, but I am certain rewarding once the students arrive at the end of August. I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of my reading block plans. I hope to share so much more about it. After all, learning is reading in many ways!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
At the Beginning
I have been a teacher for 3 years, but now have the privilege of starting my "first" year teaching my own class of 5th graders. I have been a long term substitute in four different classrooms during this time and have even set up one of those classrooms. Take a look at a picture from that room below.
For the last several weeks, I have been busy moving into and setting up my own classroom. It has been a lot of work. After three weeks of moving in and unpacking, my stuff is almost all put away and organized. Take a look at my library area before below (with the books that came with my classroom - back wall in the picture).
I had to merge my books with all of the books that came with the classroom. The previous teacher had put the books on the shelves like they are in the picture above. I love having my books in bins and organized by genres. So, I spent several days working on the books. I decided to start there because it seems like it is the biggest job of setting up a classroom (and really took the most time). I bought these great black bins at Target for all of my books. I will soon have labels on the bins for the genre's. Take a look at my organized classroom library below.
My non-fiction books are on a separate shelf off to the side (not in bins - too many!). They didn't all fit on my built in shelves.
I organize my books by genre instead of reading levels because I want my students to be able to identify what books are a good fit for them anywhere they go. I am planning on starting the school year with lessons on how to pick a just right book. We will also be setting reading goals for the year during the first few weeks to go along with book selection. In the picture above, my top two shelves are too high up for my students to reach, so I put books on display there with storage behind them.
Setting up a classroom has so many different aspects to focus on. My classroom library was where I started and the room immediately felt more put together. More to come soon about other parts of my classroom.
I organize my books by genre instead of reading levels because I want my students to be able to identify what books are a good fit for them anywhere they go. I am planning on starting the school year with lessons on how to pick a just right book. We will also be setting reading goals for the year during the first few weeks to go along with book selection. In the picture above, my top two shelves are too high up for my students to reach, so I put books on display there with storage behind them.
Setting up a classroom has so many different aspects to focus on. My classroom library was where I started and the room immediately felt more put together. More to come soon about other parts of my classroom.
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