Recent Changes

Tiffany- Sept. 16
Our reading unit over the past weeks has been about helping others. All of our stories have been on the theme of teamwork and lending a hand, etc. In talking about these stories, I have made many references to how our classroom helpers are important in making our classroom a good place to learn. This got me thinking about the role of our classroom helpers and how to make them feel more important. One thing I thought about was maybe having them thank each other (similar to the way they thank us on Fridays) but just with the people at their tables. For example, I might say, “If you sit with the line leader, give him a high five” and continue with the other helpers. To switch it up, we could say thank you in different languages for different helpers or have different gestures. Another idea might be the option for people to write thank you notes at our writing station in the afternoon. There could be special templates for each job at the writing station for students to write on, and the notes could be delivered on Fridays. Obviously, I'm not looking for empty thanks, but I think that having the routine just once a week on Fridays would keep it from getting too dry.

I also thought about having written descriptions of how each helper can do their job best. We talked about these expectations and responsibilities at the beginning of the year, but I would like to have written reminders for students who take over certain jobs. For example, this week our line leader has been walking too fast and leaving the other students behind. In this situation, I would have liked to have something written to remind him what a good line leader does. Even if it was just a short bulleted list, I think that having expectations written makes the job more clear and sets a higher standard for carrying it out. Just like the rules of the classroom, these lists could be established at the beginning of the year and referenced as needed as the year went on.

Tiffany- Sept. 15
This week at recess our kids have been fascinated with climbing the three tall metal poles on the playground. At first, I wanted to run over and tell them to stop. But as I watched how they were helping each other try to reach the top and saw the huge grins spread across the faces of those who reached it, I decided to try and make the situation safer without banning the climbing altogether. I showed them how to wrap their legs around the pole fire station-style so that their legs were not dangling and pulling them off. We also talked about people standing to the side instead of directly under climbers so that no one would get hurt should someone slip. The kids were a little disappointed not to be able to push someone to the top from underneath this way, but we agreed that once climbers were over their heads, it was too dangerous to be under them. With the new rules, the students were able to continue having fun climbing the pole, and the teachers got to breathe a little easier from the sidelines.

Another thing my teacher started at recess this week was a large basket full of things to play with. I had never noticed it in an obscure corner of the room, but apparently we have had it the whole time. The basket had a few balls, several containers of bubbles with wands, and some jump ropes. I was surprised at how enthusiastic the kids were about these simple toys, and they were very responsible about practical issues like making sure the bottles didn't get tipped over and making sure people took turns. I wish there was more time for kids to get up and move around during the day! I remember in our KINS 2420 class back at the beginning of the program, we did a lot of movement activities with spelling and geometry (both of which are a big focus for us right now!) I just worry about the time it would take to do activities like that, and the management issues (from making sure the kids are on task to finding a space where no one is having recess.) Maybe one day!

Tiffany- Sept. 14
Sometimes plans just don't work out. I worked on my matter unit much of last week and much of this weekend. I found interactive after interactive, tons of fun labs, and even a couple of songs. But the more I tried to plan, the more it seemed like I was just taking over science and replacing the grade level plans with a very unrealistic set of activities. Part of the problem was that matter actually started this week, and starting a “unit” mid-topic did not make a lot of sense. Instead, I have decided to do a Social Studies unit after fall break. This will give me the week before fall break to get used to student teaching full time, a week to prepare, and then immediately start my unit when we get back. I feel much better about this whole situation and hope it will work out for the best.

Speaking of plans, I am still trying to figure out the best way to plan for me. Most of my plans are about a bulleted page with the questions I plan to ask, etc., but I still end up scrambling much of the time with management and time-related issues. I think one thing I might start doing is putting time spans on each part of my lesson plans so I will keep in mind how long each activity will take and also have goal times to reference as I teach. I am constantly taking way too much time at math and need to get better about considering how long students will take. The timer could also be useful- I just worry if it is worth it to stick to the timer when we are nowhere near ready. I have to be consistent, and if I'm not 100% committed to switching when the timer goes off, I can't use it in the first place. We use it later in the day at Stations, and students need to know that the timer is “for real.” Sometimes I think that I over-plan and get too caught up in following my plan exactly and wording my questions exactly as they are written in my plans. Overall, I think I am still getting over the stage-fright of being in front of the classroom and being in charge. I just hope I get past it soon!

September 17
This week I was exposed to the many factors that occur in a school system. A couple of the factors does not even necessarily link to what you would expect in the classroom, while one directly affects learning in the classroom. These factors occurred throughout the week and I was able to see the stress that came along with them for myself and for others involved. I was also able to see that, again, education in our schools doesn't stop at teaching a lesson but spans over so many different areas.

The first thing I want to talk about is absences. We had two students absent both on Thursday and Friday. Not only did they miss a lot of instructional time but they missed many of the assessments that are normally done at the end of the week. Now I have to try to think of a time that would be good for them to make up the work that they missed during an already too busy day. My concern is when do they make it up during the day? Recess seems like it would be the easy way out, but I don't think these students should be punished for an excused absence, like if they were sick. But if that is the only time, then it is better to do it then then never. And maybe they have to understand thats what happens when we miss- we get behind, and we have to find time to make it up. But my other concern is that they missed some of that instructional time over that material and they also missed reviews over that material. It would make sense that they would not do as well, because they were not present for the learning that needed to take place. Am I to find time to catch them up before they take the assessments or complete the assignments? And when would I fit that in? There are many assessments taken for a grade at the end of the week, making it the worse time to miss. I have a stack of papers waiting on them, which will make my week more stressful, as well as making their week more stressful. This is just something I have never had to worry about before, but now that it has come up, I think it is a legitimate concern because I want the students to learn the information they missed and not merely try to get by on the work they need to make up in order to be on track with everyone else.

One of the other things that I don't want to go into too much detail about is student's home lives. Wow! This is such a huge factor that plays a large part in a child's day!

The last thing is bus placements!! Oh my! We have had bus changes twice so far since school has begun. The students finally start getting their bus numbers down (and I start getting close to having their bus numbers down without using the cheat sheet) and then they change what busses they are on! These bus changes happened this time because we added a new bus. This affected many of my students and there was a lot of confusion at first. We have parents telling us their student's bus has changed and we get the bus routes and addresses to review to make sure our students have the right bus number and are assigned to the correct bus. There is information coming from multiple places, but it is ultimately our (the teacher's) responsibility to get them on the right bus! I had one student whose address lined up with one bus number but her brother came in saying that it was wrong and that they were on a different bus, and that is what his teacher was going with. So even the paperwork wasn't even 100% correct it seemed.

Again, so many other issues that aren't necessarily a part of the curriculum that can influence and change the mood of the entire school day!

September 16
Hey guys! I am going to finish this week out on the wiki and then, Tiffany, let me know if you want to continue the wiki or change- it doesn't really matter to me either way!

I just want to share something that really helps my class a lot. When we are transitioning it really helps to call on the students that are doing the right thing. For example, "I know _ is ready because he is sitting at his desk quietly, waiting for instructions." Once I start calling students names out and continue to call them (not just calling on one student), all the students begin to move quicker and do what has been asked of them. Even such a small recognition like saying their name, even with everyone else's really motivates them.

Then I started thinking about the different things students get to do when they turn in their pride paws like telling a teacher they got five pride paws or having their name on the board for a week. Students might even get to wear a crown or magnet star. All these things seem almost silly to me that a kid would want to turn in their pride paws for things that aren't necessarily tangible, but more recognition based. However, the kids just love these prizes! The students love to go brag to a past teacher or see their name on the board.

With this, I have seen how students crave recognition. Maybe recognition is more like attention to them, but still it is recognition that they are craving. And if they crave such recognition, then shouldn't we constantly give such recognition to those that are making good choices and modeling good behavior? Often it seems though that we give the bad behavior all the attention. I think it's because we have to address the bad behavior, not necessarily the good. But if we could get the students to see that they will get recognized for good behavior, maybe the bad behavior will begin to subside.

Today, I just bragged on a group of students who are usually my talkers that are off task. However, today they were the most well behaved students during small group math. When I saw how well they were working together and how low their voices were while they talked, I just had to recognize that in front of the class. I was pleasantly surprised at their actions (not that they aren't capable). But I think that they were even more surprised at being recognized for it in front of the class. I could tell they were proud of themselves! I would hope that would make them want to continue this good behavior and make others think about their actions, but you never know!

However, I will admit that it is something I am working on- recognizing the good just as much as the bad, especially for those students who see to always be getting in trouble. They need that good behavior targeted as well, so that they can see the benefits of it for themselves.

September 14, 2010
I love the "melt" thing :) Definitely going to get them to freeze and get quiet before we rotate in the future. And having a time to beat at the end sounds like an awesome idea too. They love counting down to blast-off so I'm sure beating the clock will be motivating too.

Hope it continues to work well for you guys! I wish we didn't do math at the same time so I could come watch. But thanks for all the tips :)

September 14, 2010
Wow!! Today the math stations were a whole lot better!! It made such a big difference adding and changing a few things! Today I had the timer that would go off and all the students in the room could hear it, and they knew exactly what it meant. I explained each station before we broke into our small groups and then repeated directions as a whole class when we switched (instead of going from group to group, which didn't work at all).

I had students clean up and freeze when the timer went off, then I gave directions, and then they were to "melt" and move to the station that they were instructed to go to. We are still working on changing stations quietly, but they did a much better job today.

I think that they have now seen it once it has made all the difference, and now they just need to get into the routine of the expectations for math. Also, at the end of station time, I set a timer for a minute and a half to see if they could clean up in that time frame (like a race). The students loved it and are ready to beat their time tomorrow. They did it in 1 minute and 28 seconds. I didn't stop the clock until every single student was at their desk with their voices off. Even students who were sitting quietly that didn't turn in their papers in had to go turn them in before I would stop the clock. This again gets them into the routine of the expectations. With some time management issues and talking problems before- I have now found a way to make it work better!! Now let's just hope that it lasts for a while and the newness doesn't wear off.

Today I didn't move desks around, which helped. Moving desks was too time consuming and caused other students to become off task.

I think this is such an important part of teaching though- trial and error. We should strive to mix things up in our classroom, but we need to be aware that it might or might not work. Maybe some changes will make it work, maybe it won't. I think we hvae to work at not becoming stagnat with our class so that we don't get stuck in a rut. We should find what works best for our students because every class is different.

Tiffany- Sept. 13
Today math stations went sooo much better for me!! I used the timer that goes off for all the students to hear, which worked wonders! Oh I love the timer!! I did tell students to figure out questions on their own while I was teaching, but they still came up asking questions even after directions were told at least twice. But one other teacher suggested to just ignore them and they will evetually get the hint. I don't want to be rude to them but they need to learn to follow directions better! So today, I just said I'll answer your question today but remember when I'm with my group you can't come up to me. So I am going to work it in slowy- we'll see how it goes!

Tiffany- Sept. 13
Today I finally got a chance to see second grade stations in action! We had been doing them for only part of the time and not with an assigned rotation schedule before, so it was nice to see how it will actually play out in the day-to-day for the rest of the year. I got to observe my mentor teacher doing guided reading in preparation for taking that over soon as well. Maybe it's just the novelty, but the kids seemed to enjoy it today. They just love their rhyming words :)

One thing I did notice, though, was how much the kids were coming up to ask me questions. Since I was just taking guided reading notes, it wasn't a huge deal, but I can definitely see how it could drive a teacher crazy if she was in the middle of teaching a small group. I actually had that experience during math stations today and can say that it is extremely frustrating, especially when many of the questions concern second- and third-time bathroom-goers. It really shows important it is to make sure students know what to do when something does not work, they don't understand the activity at a center, they finish, they need help, or they have to clean up. The directions and expectations for every station have to be made extra clear. I know my teacher talked about these things, but I suppose it will take time before they get into the habits and routines of station work.

Beyond the questions, I was also concerned with the accountability at the stations. Looking over my shoulder every once in a while, I saw far too many students playing and off task (sometimes more than not!) I don't want the record-keeping to take away from the time spent working in stations, but I do feel that there needs to be some evaluation of the time spent working there. With paper work it's easy, but at stations like Big Book or ABC/Word Study... maybe one day we'll have cameras for everyone and have them take pictures as they go :)

Even with these issues, I know the kids really enjoy stations, and seeing them getting excited about reading a big book or counting money on the overhead is still good to see.

September 13, 2010
Your stations sound so impressive and complicated! I can almost never work it out so that we actually do stations. I guess I feel like I have to stay true to the lesson plan more than I actually do- like Jessica was saying in the meeting, sometimes you forget you can do what you want :) We did it today, but tomorrow, we are doing whole group because I just couldn't work it out. I might ask you for some station-making tips after we're in the clear with all this unit planning :)

But since I did do stations by myself today, I have to say- the questions in the middle of my lesson from other groups drove me INSANE too! I finally made a rule similar to my teacher's guided reading one- don't come ask me unless you're bleeding, on fire, etc. And no bathroom! That was my biggest, most pointless frustration. I wish their bladders would jump on that routine-driven bandwagon!