Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Organizing Guided Reading: Clipboards
A 5th grade teacher at Art City Elementary organizes her guided reading groups using clipboards that have different colored papers (blue, orange, green, red) clipped on them. When she meets with a group, she grabs the clipboard for that group. She writes the upcoming reading assignment on the clipboard and also attaches any worksheets, paper or additional materials they will need (i.e. thinkmarks, etc.) Once students complete their reading assignment, they sign the paper signifying that they are done with their assignment and ready to meet with the teacher again. This allows the teacher to keep track of who has or has not completed their assignment.
Idea: Underneath Books
Grade Level: 2-4
I saw this idea when visiting a second grade classroom in Spanish Fork. The student's had made an "Underneath Book" with each student contributing a page to the book. When you opened the book, there was a sentence stem that said, "Do you like?". Then there was a piece of paper (like a flap) that could be lifted up to see what was underneath. Students had written:
Do you like cookies ?
Do you like school?
Do you like Nascar?
Do you like basketball?
After the book was created, the teacher placed it in the classroom library and it had become a class favorite.
I saw this idea when visiting a second grade classroom in Spanish Fork. The student's had made an "Underneath Book" with each student contributing a page to the book. When you opened the book, there was a sentence stem that said, "Do you like?". Then there was a piece of paper (like a flap) that could be lifted up to see what was underneath. Students had written:
Do you like cookies ?
Do you like school?
Do you like Nascar?
Do you like basketball?
After the book was created, the teacher placed it in the classroom library and it had become a class favorite.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Adventure Begins!
Welcome Annie, Michelle and Jack!
I am excited to welcome you to our VIRTUAL meeting place. On this blog, I will post ideas that I find that may be useful to you and will provide documents that you can upload, save on your computer and use in your classroom.
I came across a web site the other day that has TONS of great ideas for classroom organization. I especially likes the ideas for homework folders. There are lots of pictures and good explanations. Here is just a sample...
The teacher explains how he organizes and collects homework each day....
He explains how he and his class create the classroom rules together at the beginning of the year...
He gives detailed pictures and ideas for keeping track of homework and communicating with parents.
You have to visit this site!
http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com/teacherresources/classmanagement/classmanagement.aspx
(it may not directly link from the blog...you will have to copy and paste it in your browser window)
Happy surfing!
I am excited to welcome you to our VIRTUAL meeting place. On this blog, I will post ideas that I find that may be useful to you and will provide documents that you can upload, save on your computer and use in your classroom.
I came across a web site the other day that has TONS of great ideas for classroom organization. I especially likes the ideas for homework folders. There are lots of pictures and good explanations. Here is just a sample...
The teacher explains how he organizes and collects homework each day....He explains how he and his class create the classroom rules together at the beginning of the year...He gives detailed pictures and ideas for keeping track of homework and communicating with parents. You have to visit this site!
http://www.mrsnelsonsclass.com/teacherresources/classmanagement/classmanagement.aspx
(it may not directly link from the blog...you will have to copy and paste it in your browser window)
Happy surfing!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
SEP's
Can you believe it-the last SEP's?! I was talking to a first grade teacher at Rock Canyon about SEP's and they do something like a walk-in report card for this SEP. I really liked the idea and I might try to modify it for myself. I am sure that you already have plenty to cover for your upcoming SEPs, but I thought I would share this idea if any of you would like to try it sometime. Instead of meeting with all of the parents (just at this SEP) all of the parents come into class (half in the morning and half in the afternoon) for an hour. They work through a packet with their child that covers concepts that they have been learning about recently. The parent is able to see for themselves what their student struggles with, their strengths and how they compare to other students in the class. During this time, the teacher walks around and visits for 5 mins. with each parent. If parents want more time with you, than they can set up an appointment. I know that it is not possible to do this right now, but I think I may send a packet like this home with my student on Monday and ask that parents work through it with their student and then perhaps I'll discuss it with parents at their SEP. It was just an idea-we'll see how it goes!
Hurray for March! :)
Can you believe it's MARCH?! Oh my goodness... I can't!!! But I'm so happy that it's ALMOST spring! (Depsite the lovely snow this week...) Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had any fantastic, fun, exciting ideas for REVIEWS! We're almost DONE teaching what we need to for math this year! So we're going to start REVIEWING for the end of the year test! Teresa, if you have any great ideas, please let me know! Everyone else, please share your wonderful ideas! Thanks!!!
-Chelsie
-Chelsie
Sunday, March 8, 2009
TWS - Aleasha
What was the most challenging/horrible thing about the TWS?
I would have to agree with the previous post-the most difficult thing for me was to get the motivation to work on it. Had I not done most of the planning and charts over the summer in Social Studies than I would have been in big trouble. I think that the TWS could be greatly simplified and still be valuable and teach the things that it is designed to teach. The actual teaching of the TWS was not challenging, but creating an 80 or 90 page document that seems to repeatedly ask the same questions was challenging because I did not see the value in typing it up. I think it is important to create a unit, teach it, and assess it. However, the writing up of the TWS is what seems to be emphasized, rather than the actual teaching. I don't want to sound like a bum and complain about it because I understand there are things in school (and life) that may not seem fun, but we just have to stick it out and finish anyway. So I can now say that I finished the dreaded TWS and it really was not that bad.
What was the most valuable thing about the TWS?
Creating a unit and assessments based on an objective. Although, I could have learned how to do that without typing up a 90 page document:).
Stress level: This question reminds me of when the doctor asks you to rate your pain on a scale of 1-10. If you say it's only a 1, than he is going to tell you to suck it up and deal with it and probably to go home. If you say it is an 8 or 9, than you'll get into the doctor faster, you'll get some pain killers, and he will try to make it all better. So perhaps if I say my stress level was an 8 or 9 on the TWS, I will be helping future interns by reducing the amount of work that they have to do. If I say it was only a 1, than perhaps they will just have to 'suck it up' and do it as well. I will try not to read into this question to0 much and be as honest as possible. I did not stress out that much since I had already done most of it over the summer. It was a little bit stressful that last week when I had to finish it-I would say a healthy 5 on the stress scale.
I would have to agree with the previous post-the most difficult thing for me was to get the motivation to work on it. Had I not done most of the planning and charts over the summer in Social Studies than I would have been in big trouble. I think that the TWS could be greatly simplified and still be valuable and teach the things that it is designed to teach. The actual teaching of the TWS was not challenging, but creating an 80 or 90 page document that seems to repeatedly ask the same questions was challenging because I did not see the value in typing it up. I think it is important to create a unit, teach it, and assess it. However, the writing up of the TWS is what seems to be emphasized, rather than the actual teaching. I don't want to sound like a bum and complain about it because I understand there are things in school (and life) that may not seem fun, but we just have to stick it out and finish anyway. So I can now say that I finished the dreaded TWS and it really was not that bad.
What was the most valuable thing about the TWS?
Creating a unit and assessments based on an objective. Although, I could have learned how to do that without typing up a 90 page document:).
Stress level: This question reminds me of when the doctor asks you to rate your pain on a scale of 1-10. If you say it's only a 1, than he is going to tell you to suck it up and deal with it and probably to go home. If you say it is an 8 or 9, than you'll get into the doctor faster, you'll get some pain killers, and he will try to make it all better. So perhaps if I say my stress level was an 8 or 9 on the TWS, I will be helping future interns by reducing the amount of work that they have to do. If I say it was only a 1, than perhaps they will just have to 'suck it up' and do it as well. I will try not to read into this question to0 much and be as honest as possible. I did not stress out that much since I had already done most of it over the summer. It was a little bit stressful that last week when I had to finish it-I would say a healthy 5 on the stress scale.
Monday, March 2, 2009
TWS
1) What was challenging about the TWS?
The most challenging thing, for me, was getting the motivation to actually work on the TWS. From what I've heard, none of us had the time of our lives doing this project and would rather be teaching students and doing lesson plans that doing TWS. I feel that the most valuable source of how we teach comes from our observations from our CFA and facilitator. Anybody can type up repetitive information the way BYU wants it, but they will not know how we teach and the relationship we have with our students from the 65 page project. Feeling it is a waste of time, I did not make it a priority until after Christmas.
2) What was valuable about the TWS?
I guess the thing that was most valuable from TWS is learning not to procrastinate and motivating myself to do something I really do not want to do. Haha, j/k. TWS helped me get a better look at how to plan a unit. It helps to have it all planned out before you teach it and to know what exactly you want the students to learn and have the lessons tied to the post-test. (I also learned that caffeinated beverages can help you stay peppy while teaching your students on an hour and a half of sleep!)
3) On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the MOST stressed), how stressed have you been about the Teacher Work Sample? Why?
Before Christmas - probably a 0 because it wasn't due until February so why stress about it! The last couple weeks before it was due, probably an 8 because obviously this is a big project that is kind of important to pass! I also have 2 roommates that are interns and their freaking out about it 24/7 definitely did not help.
The most challenging thing, for me, was getting the motivation to actually work on the TWS. From what I've heard, none of us had the time of our lives doing this project and would rather be teaching students and doing lesson plans that doing TWS. I feel that the most valuable source of how we teach comes from our observations from our CFA and facilitator. Anybody can type up repetitive information the way BYU wants it, but they will not know how we teach and the relationship we have with our students from the 65 page project. Feeling it is a waste of time, I did not make it a priority until after Christmas.
2) What was valuable about the TWS?
I guess the thing that was most valuable from TWS is learning not to procrastinate and motivating myself to do something I really do not want to do. Haha, j/k. TWS helped me get a better look at how to plan a unit. It helps to have it all planned out before you teach it and to know what exactly you want the students to learn and have the lessons tied to the post-test. (I also learned that caffeinated beverages can help you stay peppy while teaching your students on an hour and a half of sleep!)
3) On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the MOST stressed), how stressed have you been about the Teacher Work Sample? Why?
Before Christmas - probably a 0 because it wasn't due until February so why stress about it! The last couple weeks before it was due, probably an 8 because obviously this is a big project that is kind of important to pass! I also have 2 roommates that are interns and their freaking out about it 24/7 definitely did not help.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Give me a T.... W.... S.... what does it spell?
The LAST hoop to jump through!... Well, it doesn't exactly spell that... but that's how I felt about it.
1. Challenging: I agree with whoever said that BYU didn't give us enough information about it!!! I had no clue what the TWS even was until my second cohort and even then, I would've had NOOOO clue what I was doing if I hadn't taken Social Studies during Fast Track over the summer. It would've been a serious disaster. So, yes, BYU needs to give us a little more info about it. Another challenging thing, which someone already said, was that it was SO repetitive!!! When I was writing the reflection section, I kept thinking, "Didn't I already write this???" All the student work examples, blah blah blah.... it's just unnecessary. Especially if you're interning... we teach for an ENTIRE YEAR with someone observing us WEEKLY and sometimes DAILY. I would think THAT would be good enough to determine if we're "good teachers" or not and if we can graduate. But, maybe it's just me. I'm just letting all my frustrations of the TWS out. :) And I could have gone about it all wrong but I didn't go through it thinking, "Oh wow, I'm learning so much" and "Ohhh I'm so glad I learned that for my teaching..." The things I've learned about my teaching have come FROM TEACHING and from being observed by my wonderful facilitator and CFA and the tips and ideas they give me. I didn't learn anything "new" by teaching a unit and handing in 97 pages of paper. (ok, I'm done venting...) :)
2. Valuable: NOTHING was valuable. :) ... ok ok, I'm just kidding. It was valuable to plan out an entire unit on my own and see it all unfold... but in reality... I did WAAAAY more for this than I ever have or probably will with a unit. Because I spent a whole class in the summer (Social Studies) working on it and getting it revised by professors. So it was quite a different scenario. But it was valuable to see how it all worked out. It was also valuable to create my own test. And I don't know who said it in a previous post but it IS hard!! I thought it would be much easier but the more I looked back at my test, the more I thought oh I should have changed that question, should've asked this instead of that, etc.
3. Stress Level: I'd have to say just about a 5... I usually get WAY stressed about stuff, but having it just be pass/fail made me WAY less stressed. And Teresa repeatedly telling me that I'd be fine and not to worry helped a ton too. Also, having taken Social Studies in the SUMMER with Fast Track, I already knew the grade, school, etc. that I'd be in for my internship, so I had the majority of the TWS already done. If that hadn't been done over the summer I'd be WAY more stressed. BUT there were no tears shed over this so I consider that to be low stress. :) The most stress has come from just being frustrated about doing it.
(Hopefully this post wasn't too harsh, Teresa... I'm just trying to be honest! That's what you said to do, right?) :)
-Chelsie
1. Challenging: I agree with whoever said that BYU didn't give us enough information about it!!! I had no clue what the TWS even was until my second cohort and even then, I would've had NOOOO clue what I was doing if I hadn't taken Social Studies during Fast Track over the summer. It would've been a serious disaster. So, yes, BYU needs to give us a little more info about it. Another challenging thing, which someone already said, was that it was SO repetitive!!! When I was writing the reflection section, I kept thinking, "Didn't I already write this???" All the student work examples, blah blah blah.... it's just unnecessary. Especially if you're interning... we teach for an ENTIRE YEAR with someone observing us WEEKLY and sometimes DAILY. I would think THAT would be good enough to determine if we're "good teachers" or not and if we can graduate. But, maybe it's just me. I'm just letting all my frustrations of the TWS out. :) And I could have gone about it all wrong but I didn't go through it thinking, "Oh wow, I'm learning so much" and "Ohhh I'm so glad I learned that for my teaching..." The things I've learned about my teaching have come FROM TEACHING and from being observed by my wonderful facilitator and CFA and the tips and ideas they give me. I didn't learn anything "new" by teaching a unit and handing in 97 pages of paper. (ok, I'm done venting...) :)
2. Valuable: NOTHING was valuable. :) ... ok ok, I'm just kidding. It was valuable to plan out an entire unit on my own and see it all unfold... but in reality... I did WAAAAY more for this than I ever have or probably will with a unit. Because I spent a whole class in the summer (Social Studies) working on it and getting it revised by professors. So it was quite a different scenario. But it was valuable to see how it all worked out. It was also valuable to create my own test. And I don't know who said it in a previous post but it IS hard!! I thought it would be much easier but the more I looked back at my test, the more I thought oh I should have changed that question, should've asked this instead of that, etc.
3. Stress Level: I'd have to say just about a 5... I usually get WAY stressed about stuff, but having it just be pass/fail made me WAY less stressed. And Teresa repeatedly telling me that I'd be fine and not to worry helped a ton too. Also, having taken Social Studies in the SUMMER with Fast Track, I already knew the grade, school, etc. that I'd be in for my internship, so I had the majority of the TWS already done. If that hadn't been done over the summer I'd be WAY more stressed. BUT there were no tears shed over this so I consider that to be low stress. :) The most stress has come from just being frustrated about doing it.
(Hopefully this post wasn't too harsh, Teresa... I'm just trying to be honest! That's what you said to do, right?) :)
-Chelsie
The TWS
I completed mine way back in October and it is completely different than the one BYU does. Sorry, but mine was not hard!
Sincerely,
Megan Camper
Sincerely,
Megan Camper
The TWS
Congrats everyone on finishing the biggest project ever! I haven't celebrated yet (except for going to bed on time) but this weekend is going to be the most relaxing in a long time.
1. The most frustrating thing about the TWS. Well, I think it had to be getting all of the student work and examples and such together. That took so much time!! This past week has been awful because of it. I don't even want to admit how much time it took to get everything together...it's too embarrassing. Also, just the general lack of information about it. Teresa, you were great getting us information, and all of the last-years interns were great with their examples and support. But, I think BYU needs to be better about informing their students about this project. Last, (sorry, this should only be one thing) I felt like the whole thing was very repetitive, especially the self reflection part. As an intern (I don't know how student teachers feel) I felt like the repetitive nature of the project and the amount of work we had to do was both unhelpful to me as a teacher, not as informative as it could be, and it distracted me from being as good of a teacher as I could be. I heard someone saying that the TWS should be changed into a format that is more practical so that teachers will actually use it in their teaching when creating a unit.
2. The most valuable thing about the TWS was creating my own test. I've gotten all of my tests from other teachers, and it was nice making my own. Man-that takes a lot of work!
3. I think I would rate myself at a 9. I get stressed out about things-especially those things that determine graduation. Also, the last formatting and scanning things just took so much time that I didn't have time for anything else. When all you do all night is scan you are not happy. I think my students have noticed.
Rachel
1. The most frustrating thing about the TWS. Well, I think it had to be getting all of the student work and examples and such together. That took so much time!! This past week has been awful because of it. I don't even want to admit how much time it took to get everything together...it's too embarrassing. Also, just the general lack of information about it. Teresa, you were great getting us information, and all of the last-years interns were great with their examples and support. But, I think BYU needs to be better about informing their students about this project. Last, (sorry, this should only be one thing) I felt like the whole thing was very repetitive, especially the self reflection part. As an intern (I don't know how student teachers feel) I felt like the repetitive nature of the project and the amount of work we had to do was both unhelpful to me as a teacher, not as informative as it could be, and it distracted me from being as good of a teacher as I could be. I heard someone saying that the TWS should be changed into a format that is more practical so that teachers will actually use it in their teaching when creating a unit.
2. The most valuable thing about the TWS was creating my own test. I've gotten all of my tests from other teachers, and it was nice making my own. Man-that takes a lot of work!
3. I think I would rate myself at a 9. I get stressed out about things-especially those things that determine graduation. Also, the last formatting and scanning things just took so much time that I didn't have time for anything else. When all you do all night is scan you are not happy. I think my students have noticed.
Rachel
1.) The most challenging part of the teacher work sample for me was the assesment plan. It was the most tedious section I think, but a very improtant one.
2.) The most valuable part was the actual planning of the unit and really trying to make it the best it could be with accommodations for many students. I did the TWS on Landforms, which is the Science rotation that I teach 4 times throughout the year. So I was able to teach the unit twice before the official time I taught it for my TWS. This made it much easier for me to really make the unit solid and make changes to improve it each time.
3.) This past week my stress level was a 0. I finished the TWS shortly after Christmas break so I was ready to get it off my hands. Thanks Teresa for all your suggestions and support!
2.) The most valuable part was the actual planning of the unit and really trying to make it the best it could be with accommodations for many students. I did the TWS on Landforms, which is the Science rotation that I teach 4 times throughout the year. So I was able to teach the unit twice before the official time I taught it for my TWS. This made it much easier for me to really make the unit solid and make changes to improve it each time.
3.) This past week my stress level was a 0. I finished the TWS shortly after Christmas break so I was ready to get it off my hands. Thanks Teresa for all your suggestions and support!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Blog of the Week
THE TEACHER WORK SAMPLE....
Would you mind commenting or blogging about the following three questions:
1) What was challenging about the TWS?
2) What was valuable about the TWS?
3) On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the MOST stressed), how stressed have you been about the Teacher Work Sample? Why?
Thanks! Oh - and Megan - you can write about the project you had to do last fall for BYU-Idaho.
Would you mind commenting or blogging about the following three questions:
1) What was challenging about the TWS?
2) What was valuable about the TWS?
3) On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the MOST stressed), how stressed have you been about the Teacher Work Sample? Why?
Thanks! Oh - and Megan - you can write about the project you had to do last fall for BYU-Idaho.
DONE!!!!!!!!! DONE, DONE, DONNNNNE!!!!!!
Just wanted to say to all you wonderful interns...
The long-dreaded Teach Work Sample is submitted and we're DONE! Hurray! My husband and I are going to celebrate by getting COLD STONE ICE CREAM!!! (Cake batter with sprinkles... it's the BEST!!!) Go do something fun, smile, and be happy because WE'RE DONE!!!!!!!!!!! And.... a SUPER-HUGE thank you to TERESA!!!!!!!! I SO appreciate all the help and encouragement and motivation you helped to give us on the TWS! You're amazing! :) Now we can focus on all the fun, awesome teaching ideas you have! HURRAY! (oh... and finding a job... but not until April...) :) Happy Wednesday y'all!
-Chelsie
PS- Teresa: when you finish your Masters' Thesis... I'll post a congrats to you too. :) And you should get Cold Stone Ice Cream too because your INTERNS finished their TWS's and then you can go again when YOU turn in your thesis. I'll go with you. :) Any reason to celebrate is a good excuse for me! :)
CONGRATS on being DONE!!!
The long-dreaded Teach Work Sample is submitted and we're DONE! Hurray! My husband and I are going to celebrate by getting COLD STONE ICE CREAM!!! (Cake batter with sprinkles... it's the BEST!!!) Go do something fun, smile, and be happy because WE'RE DONE!!!!!!!!!!! And.... a SUPER-HUGE thank you to TERESA!!!!!!!! I SO appreciate all the help and encouragement and motivation you helped to give us on the TWS! You're amazing! :) Now we can focus on all the fun, awesome teaching ideas you have! HURRAY! (oh... and finding a job... but not until April...) :) Happy Wednesday y'all!
-Chelsie
PS- Teresa: when you finish your Masters' Thesis... I'll post a congrats to you too. :) And you should get Cold Stone Ice Cream too because your INTERNS finished their TWS's and then you can go again when YOU turn in your thesis. I'll go with you. :) Any reason to celebrate is a good excuse for me! :)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Ashlee
Lately I've noticed that my students are starting to get more restless and bored in my class. We've now been in school for five months and they are kind of bored with the daily routine. I decided that I needed to change somethings. I changed the way our class was arranged. I was surprised how much this helped to mix up the class. Another thing that I've done is sometimes I will switch the order of things that I teach. My students are so use to the schedule where it sometimes gets mundane. Once a week I'll switch two subjects. I've found that this has helped with their restlessness. Which is a good thing because we still have three months!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
What would I change?
If I could change one thing in my classroom, I think I would see more creativity. For example, for one of my centers my students got to color and cut-out a picture of Washington (after everything was done, of course). Well, I admit I am NOT perfect becuase I got the wrong color of paper to use for the project. Instead of just sitting there or asking what they could do about the problem, these students asked for blank paper so they could color it and cut it out. Some of you might not be impressed by this, but this is AMAZING for my second graders. I love how they took the initiative to solve their own problem! If this was a common trend among students I think that we would see more higher level thinking and more problem solving in real life and school situations. I would love that.
Writing Ideas
I just wanted to remind everyone about some writing ideas we learned in our classes at BYU. I tried (am trying) these with my 2nd graders and they loved them.
Last night I had the strangest dream..
1. Show students a picture of some famous artwork (I choose "The Scream").
2. Give the prompt- "last night I had the strangest dream..."
3. Give students a certain amount of time (I chose 7 minutes for the first round) to write the first part of the story. After they have written that, have the students switch with a neighbor.
4. Students will read their neighbor's story and then add on to it (6 minutes for just writing- don't include reading).
5. Switch papers one last time, read and write (5 minutes).
My students loved adding on to someone else's work and finding out how their stories ended.
I'm going to continue the writing and askt he students to revise and edit their own paper. I also had to ban certain words after each writing session because I saw the same things over and over again.
::Food Coloring in the Water::
This one is so simple. You just drop some food coloring in water and then see how descriptive you can be in describing how the color looks as it dissipates. I haven't taught this one yet, but I plan on modeling quite a bit before we begin. I think this is a great activity to help the students be more descriptive in their writing. I plan on saving the students' work and redoing the activity a few times to see if they become more descriptive with time.
Have fun!
Rachel Taylor
Last night I had the strangest dream..
1. Show students a picture of some famous artwork (I choose "The Scream").
2. Give the prompt- "last night I had the strangest dream..."
3. Give students a certain amount of time (I chose 7 minutes for the first round) to write the first part of the story. After they have written that, have the students switch with a neighbor.
4. Students will read their neighbor's story and then add on to it (6 minutes for just writing- don't include reading).
5. Switch papers one last time, read and write (5 minutes).
My students loved adding on to someone else's work and finding out how their stories ended.
I'm going to continue the writing and askt he students to revise and edit their own paper. I also had to ban certain words after each writing session because I saw the same things over and over again.
::Food Coloring in the Water::
This one is so simple. You just drop some food coloring in water and then see how descriptive you can be in describing how the color looks as it dissipates. I haven't taught this one yet, but I plan on modeling quite a bit before we begin. I think this is a great activity to help the students be more descriptive in their writing. I plan on saving the students' work and redoing the activity a few times to see if they become more descriptive with time.
Have fun!
Rachel Taylor
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Just one thing???
If I could change any one thing about my classroom, it would be that the students would be more respectful of each other outside of the classroom. Not saying they are ALL like that, but I have a couple that are constantly calling out, calling people names, tattling, and it drives me bonkers! If I could change those two students' difficult attitudes, it would be amazing. They are usually the ones that interrupt and disrupt the flow. We are working with them, and they are getting better, don't get me wrong, but of course some days are better than others!
Squeepers
"Squeepers"
Yesterday Teresa came in to teach my class a Utah history lesson. My grade-level uses a social studies packet which I find boring, and so do my students. I asked Teresa if she could come in a teach a cool Utah history lesson, so she taught "Squeepers". I found this lesson to be fun for my students, and I was shocked at how quickly they started working when she sent them back to their seats. We are going to finish the lesson she started yesterday today, so wish us good luck!
Ms. Camper and her class!
Yesterday Teresa came in to teach my class a Utah history lesson. My grade-level uses a social studies packet which I find boring, and so do my students. I asked Teresa if she could come in a teach a cool Utah history lesson, so she taught "Squeepers". I found this lesson to be fun for my students, and I was shocked at how quickly they started working when she sent them back to their seats. We are going to finish the lesson she started yesterday today, so wish us good luck!
Ms. Camper and her class!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Megan Change
If I could change one thing, it would be a smaller class size. With the class I have I find it exceptionally challenging to try and accomodate all the different learning styles in my class. I feel like I have so many students, and I am a teacher that loves to work with students and their individual levels. However, I am finding this extremely hard with my class size. I just really want my students to gain the best educational experience possible, and I feel like it would be accomplished more easily if my class was smaller.
Megan
Megan
Changes
If I could change one thing about teaching it would be to have a smaller class. It sometimes gets overwhelming when there are so many students in the class and you are trying to meet their individual needs. I know what each student needs but it's had to always give them what they need. Such as individual attention, one on one questions, and more.
Another thing hat i would change is to not worry so much about the end of the year testing. With the people on my team we are always talking about the language that the test uses and the tricky questions that we need to prepare our students for. It's nice having a core to guide our teaching but I wish that we didn't have to focus so much what the end of the year test will have on it.
Another thing hat i would change is to not worry so much about the end of the year testing. With the people on my team we are always talking about the language that the test uses and the tricky questions that we need to prepare our students for. It's nice having a core to guide our teaching but I wish that we didn't have to focus so much what the end of the year test will have on it.
What would I change?...
Well that's a tough question Teresa. Because I have 29 students and I'm in a portable, those were my first two thoughts (less students and more room!) However, I love my class and deep down I wouldn't want to get rid of any of them. :) (That might be different tomorrow though!) And although my room is not the biggest, and it is rough to walk outside EVERY time I have to use the restroom, make a copy, print something, etc... that's not the one thing I would change. I've thought about the curriculum... there are some little things I'd like to change about that, but overall, it gives me a guide as to where I need to go. I also thought about all of the "extra" things we do besides just "Teaching" (SEP's, grades, assemblies, field trips, etc.) But, without all of that accountability and extra fun, our job might be kind of pointless and tiring. So it came down to this... my students. Now I know I said I would not get RID of any of my 29 students, but I WOULD like to change some of their "attitudes" and motivations. I wouldn't want EVERY single student to be a genius because that would make my job pointless. HOWEVER, I would like all of their attitudes to be positive. I would like them to be motivated in every subject, every day! OH the things we could learn if we were ALL motivated EVERY DAY! haha! I might have to change my own attitude to match that some days. But really... wouldn't that be cool to have 29 motivated, happy, positive students?! Maybe one day... :)
-Chelsie
-Chelsie
Guided Reading Queen
I loved the post that said Teresa is the "Queen of Guided Reading" and then someone else said that she's the "Yoda of Writer's Workshop". Haha I totally agree. I just wanted to share something that I saw Teresa do in Guided Reading that was SO simple, but I would have NEVER thought of doing it. She came and worked with my high group who is on an S. They've been reading the book Matilda. The biggest thing in that book is VOCABULARY! So Teresa picked out some words that were more difficult and she just cut strips of white paper and folded them in half. She wrote the word on the outside, and then when she opened it, on the "inside" was the word in the sentence from the chapter. She had a word for each student in the group. She showed the word to everyone in the group and then gave it to one student. She told them to read the word, then open it up, read the sentence, and try to use the context clues to figure out a definition for the word. Each student had a minute to work on this, and then they got to share with the group. It was SO simple, hardly any preperation, but it was SO effective! Anyway... just thought you might like to try something new! :) Also, I was told this idea a while ago and most of you probably do it... but I didn't know! You can do word work on the table with dry erase marker! Ah! It's the coolest thing! The kids love it because they're "writing on the table" and I love it because they're learning word work! :) It's great! Anyway... good luck and happy guided reading! :) -Chelsie
What Would You Change?
I wanted to ask everyone to post about the following question.....
If you could change anything about your classroom (students, curriculum, physical space...ANYTHING) what would you change and why?
I also want to encourage all of you to read through other posts on this site and make comments. The more we share and interact, the more we can help each other.
THANKS!
If you could change anything about your classroom (students, curriculum, physical space...ANYTHING) what would you change and why?
I also want to encourage all of you to read through other posts on this site and make comments. The more we share and interact, the more we can help each other.
THANKS!
Meredith
I agree that Teresa is the queen of guided reading, but she is the Yoda of writer's workshop. Thanks for your awesome lesson today. You are really giving me some great ideas to help get me out of my writer's workshop funk. Just to let everyone know, she taught a lesson on how to write an autobiography. The kids (5th grade) first completed a graphic organizer with different boxes dedicated to different phases of their life (birth, early years, school years, family, friends, things I love.) She told an awesome story about a memory from her early years. She used this story to model how to complete the graphic organizer. She filled it out with the students. After they completed the G.O., they had a chance to share parts of it with someone next to them. Then she showed them how to make a life map. They used their G.O. to make a life map that had little sketches of memories from each phase of their life, much like an illustrated timeline. She modeled this with her own and completed her life map with them. Again, they had a chance to share their life map with someone. They loved sharing, and hearing funny memories about their friends' lives.
She advised me to have the students write their autobiographies in chapters. This will help everyone stay somewhat together (which is my main problem with writing, the gap that forms between students who work efficiently, and others who are much slower.) I'm excited to start the writing process tomorrow. I know it will go super well because of all the awesome prewritting she did. Thanks Teresa!!!
She advised me to have the students write their autobiographies in chapters. This will help everyone stay somewhat together (which is my main problem with writing, the gap that forms between students who work efficiently, and others who are much slower.) I'm excited to start the writing process tomorrow. I know it will go super well because of all the awesome prewritting she did. Thanks Teresa!!!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Teresa's Visit
I must say, Teresa is the queen of guided reading! She came into my class last week and worked with my highest group and my lowest group. I really liked the way she did the word work before reading the book, so it had some vocabulary help as well! I never knew how to just all of a sudden switch over to word work and keep their attention AFTER they had read the book. I did this with a group yesterday and it really helped! Also, I'd always written words they needed to know on a whiteboard. Teresa did a rhyming book and had them match words that rhyme. Yesterday, there were a lot of compound words in the story, so I thought, hey, why not have them put together compound words. Amazing! They saw the words they had made in the story and were so excited! I also feel that doing the word work beforehand, if it ties into the book, helps my guided reading groups run smoother! With my higher group, which is a P, I had picked a chapter book and my picking wasn't the best...so she picked a picture book. You'd think that the upper levels would want a chapter book and nothing else! They had a great time doing the picture book, and you don't even have to worry about keeping up with the reading with the book day after day:) Picture books are wonderful ALL over!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
February Frustrations...
Alright all you professional teachers! :) I've heard that around this time of year, students can get a little restless... well I've seen that taking place in my classroom and it seems like it's been ten-fold the last two weeks. I've actually been at home, sick for the last two days and my husband said, "Well, you wanted a break from your class! Be careful what you wish for!" :) I never thought I'd want a "break"! Seriously, things were going SO smoothly it felt like until just about a week ago! So here's the scenario. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated! Teresa- I need some professional advice!!! :)
So I have one little boy and a little girl who say they like to write... but they just SIT during writers' workshop. They say they "can't think of anything to write about". It's EXTREMELY frustrating! ALL the other students are writing and then I have these two who just have NO motivation. They're the same two who have made the last two weeks MISERABLE for me. Honestly, it's been TOUGH the last two weeks. Students are just getting lazy, more talkative, and it's driving me crazy! I thought I was doing great w/ management, it was never an issue, and all the sudden, I have these couple students who don't try anymore, they lie to me about things and it makes me so mad that it TOTALLY changes the entire atmosphere of our classroom!! I feel bad for those students who are doing what they're supposed to! But it seems like positive praise, rewards and points aren't enough to change the atmosphere. It just feels at a lull b/c some students are just kind of giving up. I've thought about using the whole "ignoring" thing... but they disrupt others with their talking. I've called parents, but when there's no discipline at home, there's not a whole lot I can do. ANY IDEAS?!
-Chelsie
So I have one little boy and a little girl who say they like to write... but they just SIT during writers' workshop. They say they "can't think of anything to write about". It's EXTREMELY frustrating! ALL the other students are writing and then I have these two who just have NO motivation. They're the same two who have made the last two weeks MISERABLE for me. Honestly, it's been TOUGH the last two weeks. Students are just getting lazy, more talkative, and it's driving me crazy! I thought I was doing great w/ management, it was never an issue, and all the sudden, I have these couple students who don't try anymore, they lie to me about things and it makes me so mad that it TOTALLY changes the entire atmosphere of our classroom!! I feel bad for those students who are doing what they're supposed to! But it seems like positive praise, rewards and points aren't enough to change the atmosphere. It just feels at a lull b/c some students are just kind of giving up. I've thought about using the whole "ignoring" thing... but they disrupt others with their talking. I've called parents, but when there's no discipline at home, there's not a whole lot I can do. ANY IDEAS?!
-Chelsie
Awesome Website
Recently, in my classroom I have been trying to implement more technology. My class loves it when we go to the computer lab to play math or literacy games. I find that this helps my students understand and master concepts in a fun yet independent way. There is a particular website I use for all my math and literacy games, I advice you all to check it out!
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_4th_original.htm
Megan Camper
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_4th_original.htm
Megan Camper
Saturday, February 7, 2009
KWL Charts
I am sorry to say that after teaching for five months that I've never done a KWL chart in my class until yesterday. We did one on Abraham Lincoln. I was shocked at all that my students knew about him. They went on for several minutes about tons of detail about his life. My students were excited to share all that they knew about him. When they said what they wanted to find out they were getting excited about learning. We then read different books on him and found out more about his life. I loved this lesson. It was good seeing all that my students knew about him. It was fun also to see them wanting to learn more. I'll make sure that I do KWL charts in my class more often.
Ashlee Allen
Ashlee Allen
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Window to Reading/Writing Workshop
Erin's 3rd grade classroom (2/5/09)
In this post, I will be describing with pictures and text how Erin organizes her morning literacy block. I am thrilled to see how well she thought this through and how engaged her students are with literacy. I will be uploading the forms you see here once I receive them electronically. I hope everyone can get a few good ideas from her.
Erin begins her morning with a quick start sheet that has five problems. It is similar to daily oral language where students are revising sentences and working on grammar, usage and mechanics problems. They quickly correct it as a class.
Today she read them a story called A Fine, Fine School students were asked to listen for main ideas, and Erin modeled writing the main ideas on chart paper. After the story, Erin modeled how to write a summary and then sent the students back to write a summary on the story.....
During Writer's Workshop, the students have access to all the materials they need. Here is how Erin has her writing center organized....
The student writing folders are in the middle. All forms such as storyboards, peer edit sheets, graphic organizers for pre-writing, author's circle materials and publishing paper can be found here.
This chart is hanging nearby and students each have a paper clip with their name on it. This is what it would look like when first getting started, but as Writer's Workshop progresses, the student clips will be found at all different stages of the process.
Once student's stories have been published, they can display their most current story on a display rack for others to read during independent reading time.
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Here's one last thing that Chelsie does to promote friendship and cooperation during centers. She read her class the story "Stone Soup" and talked about how in order for things to be better, everyone has to cooperate and contribute. Students can fill out a "Stone Soup" sheet when they notice other students in the class contributing and being good. She chooses a few and recognizes students each week.
If anyone has a question for Chelsie, you can ask it in the comment section!
In this post, I will be describing with pictures and text how Erin organizes her morning literacy block. I am thrilled to see how well she thought this through and how engaged her students are with literacy. I will be uploading the forms you see here once I receive them electronically. I hope everyone can get a few good ideas from her.
Erin begins her morning with a quick start sheet that has five problems. It is similar to daily oral language where students are revising sentences and working on grammar, usage and mechanics problems. They quickly correct it as a class.
Writer's Workshop
Erin begins Writer's Workshop with a mini-lesson and gathers her students at the back carpet to learn more about writing.Today she read them a story called A Fine, Fine School students were asked to listen for main ideas, and Erin modeled writing the main ideas on chart paper. After the story, Erin modeled how to write a summary and then sent the students back to write a summary on the story.....
During Writer's Workshop, the students have access to all the materials they need. Here is how Erin has her writing center organized....
The student writing folders are in the middle. All forms such as storyboards, peer edit sheets, graphic organizers for pre-writing, author's circle materials and publishing paper can be found here.
This chart is hanging nearby and students each have a paper clip with their name on it. This is what it would look like when first getting started, but as Writer's Workshop progresses, the student clips will be found at all different stages of the process.
Once student's stories have been published, they can display their most current story on a display rack for others to read during independent reading time.Guided Reading & Centers
Chelsie has her guided reading groups organized by color. She meets with three or four groups each day. A schedule of who she will meet with is posted at the front of the room along with the word wall words for the week as seen here.....
Each student has a guided reading folder where they track the stories they are reading and keep all materials related to their guided reading assignments....
In a guided reading notebook, students write responses to their reading, ask and answer questions and do assignments related to the reading comprehension strategies....
The higher level reading groups have sheets that they use throughout the reading of a book to keep track of vocabulary learning and to further practice the comprehension strategies. This month they are working on Summarizing, Schema and Visualization. These forms change often....
During the reading block, students are encouraged to find new words in their reading and add them to the "Oh My Word" jar. Each week, some of the words students have found are highlighted. Here is a word that one of the students found while reading the book Matilda....
While Chelsie works with her guided reading groups at the back table, the other students are busily engaged in their center work. At the beginning of each week, the students get a tracking sheet that tells them what they need to do each day in their centers. It looks like this....
On the back is a sheet for Word Work. It tells the students what to work on each day....
Students do some type of word work each day and each day that also do a spelling sort. Chelsie is doing developmental spelling and is using Words Their Way in her classroom. Each student gets a sheet that gives them directions for doing many different kinds of sorts. It looks like this....
Front
Back
Each student has a guided reading folder where they track the stories they are reading and keep all materials related to their guided reading assignments....
In a guided reading notebook, students write responses to their reading, ask and answer questions and do assignments related to the reading comprehension strategies....
The higher level reading groups have sheets that they use throughout the reading of a book to keep track of vocabulary learning and to further practice the comprehension strategies. This month they are working on Summarizing, Schema and Visualization. These forms change often....
During the reading block, students are encouraged to find new words in their reading and add them to the "Oh My Word" jar. Each week, some of the words students have found are highlighted. Here is a word that one of the students found while reading the book Matilda....
While Chelsie works with her guided reading groups at the back table, the other students are busily engaged in their center work. At the beginning of each week, the students get a tracking sheet that tells them what they need to do each day in their centers. It looks like this....
On the back is a sheet for Word Work. It tells the students what to work on each day....
Students do some type of word work each day and each day that also do a spelling sort. Chelsie is doing developmental spelling and is using Words Their Way in her classroom. Each student gets a sheet that gives them directions for doing many different kinds of sorts. It looks like this....
Front
BackStudents do spelling sorts each day using leveled words. Notice in the following pictures how several different children are working on words that are on their level....
This student is sorting VVC words and VCe words
This student is sorting words that have ur, ure, ur-e sounds.
Here's yet another students sorting higher level words with different VCV patterns.
One of the higher level students was sorting words with war, wor and wan patterns.
Here is a lower level student sorting more simplistic words with "e" vowel sounds.
This student is sorting VVC words and VCe words
This student is sorting words that have ur, ure, ur-e sounds.
Here's yet another students sorting higher level words with different VCV patterns.One of the higher level students was sorting words with war, wor and wan patterns.
Here is a lower level student sorting more simplistic words with "e" vowel sounds.Consider that Chelsie's students are doing this work and it is all self-regulated. She is back at the table working with guided reading groups during this.
Center's always begin with 15 minutes of silent reading, then students move in to their other activities. Chelsie does a great job of managing both the students at their desks and the students at the back table. You can tell they are WELL TRAINED and know exactly what to do.
Another center activity is called, "Teacher Choice". This can be any work that the teacher chooses for the student to do. They also do a weekly event writing. This week, they were writing about their trip to the science fair and which project they thought should be chosen as the winner. Notice that the students write...A LOT. In fact, every single student (even the lower students) had the entire sheet filled with writing. This is something she has trained her students to do (to keep writing).
Center's always begin with 15 minutes of silent reading, then students move in to their other activities. Chelsie does a great job of managing both the students at their desks and the students at the back table. You can tell they are WELL TRAINED and know exactly what to do.
Another center activity is called, "Teacher Choice". This can be any work that the teacher chooses for the student to do. They also do a weekly event writing. This week, they were writing about their trip to the science fair and which project they thought should be chosen as the winner. Notice that the students write...A LOT. In fact, every single student (even the lower students) had the entire sheet filled with writing. This is something she has trained her students to do (to keep writing).
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Here's one last thing that Chelsie does to promote friendship and cooperation during centers. She read her class the story "Stone Soup" and talked about how in order for things to be better, everyone has to cooperate and contribute. Students can fill out a "Stone Soup" sheet when they notice other students in the class contributing and being good. She chooses a few and recognizes students each week.
If anyone has a question for Chelsie, you can ask it in the comment section!
Megan
Teresa,
Sorry it took me so long to respond, I wanted to see how well my students would actually do with the peer editing, before I gave appropriate feedback. My students are doing such an amazing job! It is funny because it would appear that peer editing was what was making our writer's workshop such a nightmare. Now that they have the peer editing down, it seems that the rest of writer's workshop is flowing so smoothly. I have shared the peer editing checklist with my team! (I hope that is ok :) ) I have found the peer editing checklist to be such a useful tool in the aspect that is easy for my students to read and fill out. Also the idea of special red pens is awesome, my students love it! Thank you for coming and helping our writer's workshop.
Sincerely,
Megan Camper and her class
Sorry it took me so long to respond, I wanted to see how well my students would actually do with the peer editing, before I gave appropriate feedback. My students are doing such an amazing job! It is funny because it would appear that peer editing was what was making our writer's workshop such a nightmare. Now that they have the peer editing down, it seems that the rest of writer's workshop is flowing so smoothly. I have shared the peer editing checklist with my team! (I hope that is ok :) ) I have found the peer editing checklist to be such a useful tool in the aspect that is easy for my students to read and fill out. Also the idea of special red pens is awesome, my students love it! Thank you for coming and helping our writer's workshop.
Sincerely,
Megan Camper and her class
Monday, February 2, 2009
Meredith
Hey,
It was so fun to have you in my class the other day. The kids loved bingo and they really loved the lesson on persuasive writing. We are still working on writing our letters and they have loved telling me their ideas. One student is trying to convince his parents to buy him a cow. Weird I know...but he has got some great reasons like, we'll have free milk, I can ride him to school, and he will help take care of the weed problem in our backyard.
I AM COMPLETETLY DONE WITH MY TWS. I want to get rid of it so bad. Can I turn it in early? I hate looking at it. Jk it wasn't that bad. When do I turn it in?
The next intern meeting is on February 19th right? I heard it was going to be a principal's panel. I think that will be great. I'm getting nervous about jobs next year, but I know it will all work itself out.
Do you have any great ideas for math games? I need more! I have cards and manipulatives and all sorts of things but I don't have any good ideas of what to do with them. My math class is so mix-leveled that many kids are done with an assignment way before others. I need games or extension activities for fractions. That's my biggest challenge, the broad range of ability in my math class.
Yay my first blog post. Fun! Hope to see you soon.
Meredith -P.S I made those turkey wraps from your food blog the other day and my husband will not stop talking about it.
It was so fun to have you in my class the other day. The kids loved bingo and they really loved the lesson on persuasive writing. We are still working on writing our letters and they have loved telling me their ideas. One student is trying to convince his parents to buy him a cow. Weird I know...but he has got some great reasons like, we'll have free milk, I can ride him to school, and he will help take care of the weed problem in our backyard.
I AM COMPLETETLY DONE WITH MY TWS. I want to get rid of it so bad. Can I turn it in early? I hate looking at it. Jk it wasn't that bad. When do I turn it in?
The next intern meeting is on February 19th right? I heard it was going to be a principal's panel. I think that will be great. I'm getting nervous about jobs next year, but I know it will all work itself out.
Do you have any great ideas for math games? I need more! I have cards and manipulatives and all sorts of things but I don't have any good ideas of what to do with them. My math class is so mix-leveled that many kids are done with an assignment way before others. I need games or extension activities for fractions. That's my biggest challenge, the broad range of ability in my math class.
Yay my first blog post. Fun! Hope to see you soon.
Meredith -P.S I made those turkey wraps from your food blog the other day and my husband will not stop talking about it.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Rachel's Classroom 12/09
I spent the afternoon today in Rachel's Classroom. I was excited to watch her doing one of the lessons for her teacher work sample. When I arrived, I was excited to see that Rachel had arranged for a parent helper to come in for the lesson. The students are learning about maps and the lesson was centered on learning the 7 continents and characteristics of the continents. Rachel had created little booklets that the students took with them as they traveled around to 7 different stations. At each station there were books, artifacts and some type of video or audio for the students to view/listen to.
I was impressed with how Rachel had used technology in some form at every station. I got to work with two of the stations and do the technology component on the back computer. The students were interested in reading, viewing and hearing sound clips related to the 7 continents. Before the rotations began, Rachel taught her students a song that she found on teacher tube. The students loved it! I am going to post a link to the song on the sidebar.
Kinesthetic.
I can tell that Rachel does a lot of cooperative learning in her class because her students worked well in their groups. The students helped and supported one another and really did a great job of staying on task as they rotated around. At each station there were little cards with clues on them. The students had to open their booklet and guess the continent based on the clues. Then they had a list of tasks to do such as look at books, view artifacts, watch video clips, listen to sound files, etc. Then they wrote the actual continent.
I got to supervise two of the stations and it was a lot of fun. The students were so excited about the activities and were very engaged. They did a better job of filling out their booklets than I expected and the students seemed to really have a sense about the continents. For example, one student immediately knew that one of the stations was Australia simply by seeing a picture of a Kangaroo. Other students quickly identified Europe from a picture of the Eiffel Tower. This was interesting to me because the school where Rachel teaches has a high socioeconomic catchment of students. I wonder if this would have been the same in areas where students don't have as much life experience.
At this observation, I brought a digital camera and was able to take a few pictures. I will upload them later in the week.
I was impressed with how Rachel had used technology in some form at every station. I got to work with two of the stations and do the technology component on the back computer. The students were interested in reading, viewing and hearing sound clips related to the 7 continents. Before the rotations began, Rachel taught her students a song that she found on teacher tube. The students loved it! I am going to post a link to the song on the sidebar.
Kinesthetic.
I can tell that Rachel does a lot of cooperative learning in her class because her students worked well in their groups. The students helped and supported one another and really did a great job of staying on task as they rotated around. At each station there were little cards with clues on them. The students had to open their booklet and guess the continent based on the clues. Then they had a list of tasks to do such as look at books, view artifacts, watch video clips, listen to sound files, etc. Then they wrote the actual continent.
I got to supervise two of the stations and it was a lot of fun. The students were so excited about the activities and were very engaged. They did a better job of filling out their booklets than I expected and the students seemed to really have a sense about the continents. For example, one student immediately knew that one of the stations was Australia simply by seeing a picture of a Kangaroo. Other students quickly identified Europe from a picture of the Eiffel Tower. This was interesting to me because the school where Rachel teaches has a high socioeconomic catchment of students. I wonder if this would have been the same in areas where students don't have as much life experience.
At this observation, I brought a digital camera and was able to take a few pictures. I will upload them later in the week.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Teresa is a life saver!
Teresa,
Thank you so much for coming and helping me with Writer Workshop!!! It was so good seeing all the different ideas that you had. One thing that I really liked is that you had the student's share a sentence that they thought was really good in their story. As they did this it got them excited to share. This is also nice for other students who are struggling to hear all the good things their peers are writing to help them get ideas. I really liked your ideas for conferencing. I'll make sure to model and go more in depth with this. I also liked how at the end you had students share things they changed in their story. We talked about how before they come to me to cheif edit they need certain things done. I thought you said you had a check list of the things they need. If you do could I get that? I know they need to have the red/green and the conference but I'm not sure what else. Thanks again for coming in! You're an excellent teacher and my kids loved having you come in.
Thank you so much for coming and helping me with Writer Workshop!!! It was so good seeing all the different ideas that you had. One thing that I really liked is that you had the student's share a sentence that they thought was really good in their story. As they did this it got them excited to share. This is also nice for other students who are struggling to hear all the good things their peers are writing to help them get ideas. I really liked your ideas for conferencing. I'll make sure to model and go more in depth with this. I also liked how at the end you had students share things they changed in their story. We talked about how before they come to me to cheif edit they need certain things done. I thought you said you had a check list of the things they need. If you do could I get that? I know they need to have the red/green and the conference but I'm not sure what else. Thanks again for coming in! You're an excellent teacher and my kids loved having you come in.
Meredith's Classroom 1/28/09
Today I spent the morning in Meredith's 5th grade. Her kids are so much fun and full of personality. Whenever I am there, I miss teaching and wish I could go back.
I owed her class a bingo game, since I didn't get to play bingo with them when I visited in December at Christmas time.
After that I taught a writing lesson on persuasive writing. The kids brainstormed a lot of great topics they could write about like getting a movie theater in Springville, improving the quality of school lunch, asking their parents for pets, convincing the principal to let them play tackle football. We also had a good discussion about how different forms of advertisement (commercials, billboards, Internet pop-ups, magazine ads, etc.) use elements of persuasion.
I got to see Meredith working with a literature circle group. I like how she uses different clipboards to keep everything organized. When the students meet with the teacher, they grab their folders and the clipboard and bring it to the group. Everything Meredith needs to track the group is on the clipboard. The groups are very comprehension centered - as they should be in 5th grade. Her students are having great discussions about books and reading quality stories on their level. I am so thankful for guided reading and the opportunity it gives all students to not only work in smaller groups with their teacher, but also to read on their appropriate level.
Meredith - when I was in your class, I noticed a folder stapled on the front wall that students were putting pink papers in. What are those papers? Is that part of the guided reading assignment? What other things are you doing in guided reading that you like?
Meredith - when I was in your class, I noticed a folder stapled on the front wall that students were putting pink papers in. What are those papers? Is that part of the guided reading assignment? What other things are you doing in guided reading that you like?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Ashlee's Classroom 1/26/09
Ashlee,
This is going to be more of a working blog today. I just left your classroom and wanted to share some ideas with you about writers workshop. First I have to tell you that I was really impressed with your students and their writing. Once they really got down to the task of just working on their stories, most of the students went to work and were writing great stories. I am so glad that you are giving your students time every day for writing! The stories that the students write throughout the year are priceless - they are also a great way to assess how the students have grown as writer's throughout the year.
When we were doing the mini-lesson and getting the students started writing their hearts and wishes, I was feeling like it wasn't going very well and wondering if anyone was getting it. I think a few students did, but a few didn't. Setting up those kinds of routines in writer's workshop will take time and practice. Part of the problem is that I didn't have everything I would have like to have before starting a lesson like that. If I had a working story that I had been writing, the students could have read my story and practiced writing hearts and wishes about my story first before I sent them back to read and respond to each other's writing.
Here are a couple of ideas for upcoming mini-lessons that you could try with your students.
1) Do a mini-lesson on how to write good compliments and suggestions. On the orange poster, record prompts that students could use such as: I liked the part when....., You did a good job with...., It was exciting when....., .......was a good idea, Your story was...(organized, easy to understand, funny). Or for suggestions: Add more detail about......, I didn't understand......, Write more about......,
2) Do a mini-lesson on how conference corners work. Where are they located in the room? How do you act in the conference corner? Where are the materials (sticky notes/pens)? What do you do there? How do you choose a conference corner partner? (use your clothespins for this part) What are the rules?
Then have all of the students practice going to a conference corner and practice how to behave there.
3) Do a mini-lesson and model how a student can take the suggestions from the hearts and wishes and add more detail to their story. You might want to write a little story of your own on chart paper, have the students give you hearts and wishes on a sticky note and model in front of them how you would add more detail to the story or how you would cross out parts that don't make sense.
4) Do a mini-lesson and create a class chart that describes the rules for writer's workshop. Let the kids help you brainstorm. Here are some rules that my classes had: No talking when others are writing. Be respectful when other's are sharing their writing. Never erase or throw away stories (you might use them later!) Move your clips on the writer's workshop wall. Take care of the materials in writer's workshop.
The reason it is good to do this is that if any students start mis-using the materials (for example, wasting all the sticky notes) you can refer back to your rules, which have been clearly established.
5) You may want to consider getting an author's chair. Several teachers I know buy those cheap plastic chairs at Wal-Mart and every time a child shares a story in writer's workshop they get to sign their name with a Sharpie on the chair. At the end of the year, the class has a drawing and someone gets to take the author's chair home.
BUT - you don't have to do this, you can even just use one of the chairs in your classroom like I did today.
As a teacher, you can quietly encourage students who are normally too shy to share their writing to sit in the authors chair and share their story. You can decide if you want to let them read parts of their drafts or if the author's chair is only for published work.
I am going to look for more resources for writer's workshop and post those on Moodle. I will try to do that in the next couple of days.
Thanks for letting me come in...especially on a MONDAY MORNING! I know it was hectic and I appreciate your willingness to share your classroom with me. You are the best!
BLOG BACK AND LET ME KNOW WHAT OTHER RESOURCES YOU NEED OR WHAT QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT WRITER'S WORKSHOP!
This is going to be more of a working blog today. I just left your classroom and wanted to share some ideas with you about writers workshop. First I have to tell you that I was really impressed with your students and their writing. Once they really got down to the task of just working on their stories, most of the students went to work and were writing great stories. I am so glad that you are giving your students time every day for writing! The stories that the students write throughout the year are priceless - they are also a great way to assess how the students have grown as writer's throughout the year.
When we were doing the mini-lesson and getting the students started writing their hearts and wishes, I was feeling like it wasn't going very well and wondering if anyone was getting it. I think a few students did, but a few didn't. Setting up those kinds of routines in writer's workshop will take time and practice. Part of the problem is that I didn't have everything I would have like to have before starting a lesson like that. If I had a working story that I had been writing, the students could have read my story and practiced writing hearts and wishes about my story first before I sent them back to read and respond to each other's writing.
Here are a couple of ideas for upcoming mini-lessons that you could try with your students.
1) Do a mini-lesson on how to write good compliments and suggestions. On the orange poster, record prompts that students could use such as: I liked the part when....., You did a good job with...., It was exciting when....., .......was a good idea, Your story was...(organized, easy to understand, funny). Or for suggestions: Add more detail about......, I didn't understand......, Write more about......,
2) Do a mini-lesson on how conference corners work. Where are they located in the room? How do you act in the conference corner? Where are the materials (sticky notes/pens)? What do you do there? How do you choose a conference corner partner? (use your clothespins for this part) What are the rules?
Then have all of the students practice going to a conference corner and practice how to behave there.
3) Do a mini-lesson and model how a student can take the suggestions from the hearts and wishes and add more detail to their story. You might want to write a little story of your own on chart paper, have the students give you hearts and wishes on a sticky note and model in front of them how you would add more detail to the story or how you would cross out parts that don't make sense.
4) Do a mini-lesson and create a class chart that describes the rules for writer's workshop. Let the kids help you brainstorm. Here are some rules that my classes had: No talking when others are writing. Be respectful when other's are sharing their writing. Never erase or throw away stories (you might use them later!) Move your clips on the writer's workshop wall. Take care of the materials in writer's workshop.
The reason it is good to do this is that if any students start mis-using the materials (for example, wasting all the sticky notes) you can refer back to your rules, which have been clearly established.
5) You may want to consider getting an author's chair. Several teachers I know buy those cheap plastic chairs at Wal-Mart and every time a child shares a story in writer's workshop they get to sign their name with a Sharpie on the chair. At the end of the year, the class has a drawing and someone gets to take the author's chair home.
BUT - you don't have to do this, you can even just use one of the chairs in your classroom like I did today.
As a teacher, you can quietly encourage students who are normally too shy to share their writing to sit in the authors chair and share their story. You can decide if you want to let them read parts of their drafts or if the author's chair is only for published work.
I am going to look for more resources for writer's workshop and post those on Moodle. I will try to do that in the next couple of days.
Thanks for letting me come in...especially on a MONDAY MORNING! I know it was hectic and I appreciate your willingness to share your classroom with me. You are the best!
BLOG BACK AND LET ME KNOW WHAT OTHER RESOURCES YOU NEED OR WHAT QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT WRITER'S WORKSHOP!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Megan's Classroom 1/20/09
I spent the afternoon today in 4th grade in Megan's classroom. Megan invited me to come in and teach a writing lesson. I chose to teach the students how to do a better job at peer revision and editing during writers workshop, based on an earlier conversation that Megan and I had. She had mentioned that her students weren't giving well thought out comments or doing a good job with peer editing/revision.
When I first arrived, the students were finish up a science lesson and were sorting science words and matching them with definitions. I thought this was such a worthwhile activity and I could tell that the students were really thinking about the words and using the other people in their group for help and support. It was such a good way to make science learning more kinesthetic and hands-on.
I decided to use a checklist with the students and have them practice with writing samples I provided as well as with their own writing. A couple of things that I had found success with were having the students edit and revise only smaller parts of a story rather than an entire story at a time, which can quickly become overwhelming. Another thing I had done in my own classroom was to provide a container of red pens that were used ONLY during peer revision and editing sessions. This helped motivate my students to do more peer editing as they thought it was fun and novel to use the pens and checklists that were provided.
The students responded well to the lesson and did a good job of reading and working with their stories. However, one thing that both Megan and I noticed is that this skill might be a little too much for students who are extremely low in writing. One student couldn't read his own writing nor could anyone else. When you can't read the writing, how will you edit the piece? This made me start to wonder if peer editing is a skill that is only effective once a student reaches a certain level of writing proficiency? Megan and I talked about some ideas for helping the lowest students. Maybe they need to type their piece? Or provide verbal feedback instead of written feedback (but how do you do that?) It was very difficult for those low readers to look for grammar and punctuation errors in another students writing, when they can't recognize those mistakes in their own writing. This is a problem that I often encountered as a teacher and I don't know that there are any easy answers. I'll have to keep thinking about it.
I think that the class will need more direct practice before they really get the hang of it, but they are off to a great start. Megan has a few students that are extremely hard to motivate and keep on task. I am so impressed with everything she has done with her classroom management. She has created strong relationships with her students and they know the limits. It's funny that when I am there, those students push the limits with me. I am excited to spend more time in her classroom and figure out how to better manage those students.
Megan, thanks for sharing your class with me today. I want to see your guided reading template. Would you mind e-mailing that to me? I really enjoy working with you and want to thank you for letting me come in even though you aren't obligated to. That shows your level of commitment and willingness to grow and improve.
What are we going to work on next?
When I first arrived, the students were finish up a science lesson and were sorting science words and matching them with definitions. I thought this was such a worthwhile activity and I could tell that the students were really thinking about the words and using the other people in their group for help and support. It was such a good way to make science learning more kinesthetic and hands-on.
I decided to use a checklist with the students and have them practice with writing samples I provided as well as with their own writing. A couple of things that I had found success with were having the students edit and revise only smaller parts of a story rather than an entire story at a time, which can quickly become overwhelming. Another thing I had done in my own classroom was to provide a container of red pens that were used ONLY during peer revision and editing sessions. This helped motivate my students to do more peer editing as they thought it was fun and novel to use the pens and checklists that were provided.
The students responded well to the lesson and did a good job of reading and working with their stories. However, one thing that both Megan and I noticed is that this skill might be a little too much for students who are extremely low in writing. One student couldn't read his own writing nor could anyone else. When you can't read the writing, how will you edit the piece? This made me start to wonder if peer editing is a skill that is only effective once a student reaches a certain level of writing proficiency? Megan and I talked about some ideas for helping the lowest students. Maybe they need to type their piece? Or provide verbal feedback instead of written feedback (but how do you do that?) It was very difficult for those low readers to look for grammar and punctuation errors in another students writing, when they can't recognize those mistakes in their own writing. This is a problem that I often encountered as a teacher and I don't know that there are any easy answers. I'll have to keep thinking about it.
I think that the class will need more direct practice before they really get the hang of it, but they are off to a great start. Megan has a few students that are extremely hard to motivate and keep on task. I am so impressed with everything she has done with her classroom management. She has created strong relationships with her students and they know the limits. It's funny that when I am there, those students push the limits with me. I am excited to spend more time in her classroom and figure out how to better manage those students.
Megan, thanks for sharing your class with me today. I want to see your guided reading template. Would you mind e-mailing that to me? I really enjoy working with you and want to thank you for letting me come in even though you aren't obligated to. That shows your level of commitment and willingness to grow and improve.
What are we going to work on next?
Chelsie's Classroom 1/20/09
I spent the most wonderful morning today in Chelsie's 3rd grade classroom. (Thanks Chelsie, for allowing me to invade your teaching space and for sharing your amazing talents with me. I learn so much every time I visit your classroom).
I want to blog today about something I call "magic moments". These are moments when everything in a lesson comes together perfectly and all of the students are in-tune and are listening, right there with you in the moment. Well, I was so lucky today to witness one of those moments.
The day started with the usual lunch counts, daily oral language counts and silent reading. Then Chelsie gathered her students at the rug to teach a mini-lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. She began the lesson by asking the students "What do you know about him?" The students actually knew quite a bit and even commented on things they had learned in previous grades. Then she asked, "What do you want to know?" She listed the students answers on a chart and used it to activate the student's prior knowledge and set a purpose for later reading and writing. Then she shared the picture book Martin's Big Words. The students were asked to touch their nose when they heard an answer to one of their questions and touch their shoulder when they heard something they already knew. She also pointed out the text structure of the book, with Martin's quotes in bold, colored letters.
After the read aloud, she gave each student a copy of the "I Have a Dream" speech and the students stood in a circle to participate in a shared reading. I mentioned that the actual audio file of the speech could be found on-line, so we found it and were able to listen to Dr. King himself giving the speech as the students followed along. I thought the students would get bored, but they were amazingly attentive and quiet. It was as if he was right there in the room with us. After this, Chelsie asked the students questions about how the speech made them feel. Several students made comments that brought tears to my eyes. Some talked about how grateful they are for the friendships they have with students in the class of different nationalities. One girl commented on how Dr. King sounded proud and happy of what he had accomplished. It was just magical. Right as we finished this activity, the class watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was perfect. Chelsie commented that she couldn't have planned it any better and she was right. It was so ironic to think that fifty years ago, the African Americans were fighting for their most basic rights and now we have a new African American president. It was awesome and the students were perfectly behaved and attentive. They got it! I loved how well they followed along while listening to the King speech. The most important part of shared reading is that the readers eyes pass over the print with voice support. The students seemed committed to following along and so I would call it a very successful shared reading experience. Listening to the actual audio file also allowed us to feel the full emotion and passion of the speech as well.
Later in the morning, I was able to watch how Chelsie has organized her centers and guided reading groups. I was particularly impressed with a sheet she has created to track her guided reading lessons. She also told me that she has created a great new system of having the students edit their writing at home with their parents. She created a sheet to send home and several teachers at the school have asked her for copies and want to use her idea. Chelsie also mentioned that she had found some good online resources that will help her in working with her high readers in their guided reading group on the book Matilda.
Being in the classroom today reminded me of how much work it takes to stay on top of everything that needs to be done daily in a classroom. Wow!
Chelsie,
I was so impressed today with the depth at which you teach your students every day. It was a highlight to see how you are using assessment to guide your lessons. For example, today you used the KWL chart to get a sense of what your students already knew. Then, as you taught, you supported the students with any new information and used questions to guide you to the next thing you would teach or say.
You also do a wonderful job of getting your students to think critically without just giving them the answer. I saw an example of that when one of your students mentioned that black people use to be kept apart from white people. You immediately began giving clues and using questions to guide that student to use the word "segregation".
I don't know if you realize it or not, but you are skilled at supporting the students with their language skills. You explain definitions, have the students repeat big vocabulary words, teach students the correct way to say words that may otherwise be difficult and you provide visuals and other resources to support language learning.
Your students are so well trained, they knew exactly what to do at every minute. When you simply mentioned that the students would need to create a brainstorming web before beginning their writing on the I Have A Dream writing piece, I wondered if any of the students would actually do it. It was so refreshing to see every single student heading back to their desks and immediately begin work on their webs.
Your enthusiasm for teaching is contagious. After you finished Martin's Big Words, you looked at the students and asked, "Did you love that book?" Well, how could they not? You loved it and it showed. That excitement transferred to your students and set the stage for the later "magic moment."
Here are the things I need to follow up on for you:
Provide the sorting chart that can be used in conjunction with Words their Way
Provide you with a word wall chants, cheers and practice strategies handout I have in my files
Provide Words Their Way resources from upcoming conference
Schedule time to come in and teach guided reading
Get a copy of your Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template with the 3-columns. Could you e-mail it to me?
I want to blog today about something I call "magic moments". These are moments when everything in a lesson comes together perfectly and all of the students are in-tune and are listening, right there with you in the moment. Well, I was so lucky today to witness one of those moments.
The day started with the usual lunch counts, daily oral language counts and silent reading. Then Chelsie gathered her students at the rug to teach a mini-lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. She began the lesson by asking the students "What do you know about him?" The students actually knew quite a bit and even commented on things they had learned in previous grades. Then she asked, "What do you want to know?" She listed the students answers on a chart and used it to activate the student's prior knowledge and set a purpose for later reading and writing. Then she shared the picture book Martin's Big Words. The students were asked to touch their nose when they heard an answer to one of their questions and touch their shoulder when they heard something they already knew. She also pointed out the text structure of the book, with Martin's quotes in bold, colored letters.
After the read aloud, she gave each student a copy of the "I Have a Dream" speech and the students stood in a circle to participate in a shared reading. I mentioned that the actual audio file of the speech could be found on-line, so we found it and were able to listen to Dr. King himself giving the speech as the students followed along. I thought the students would get bored, but they were amazingly attentive and quiet. It was as if he was right there in the room with us. After this, Chelsie asked the students questions about how the speech made them feel. Several students made comments that brought tears to my eyes. Some talked about how grateful they are for the friendships they have with students in the class of different nationalities. One girl commented on how Dr. King sounded proud and happy of what he had accomplished. It was just magical. Right as we finished this activity, the class watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was perfect. Chelsie commented that she couldn't have planned it any better and she was right. It was so ironic to think that fifty years ago, the African Americans were fighting for their most basic rights and now we have a new African American president. It was awesome and the students were perfectly behaved and attentive. They got it! I loved how well they followed along while listening to the King speech. The most important part of shared reading is that the readers eyes pass over the print with voice support. The students seemed committed to following along and so I would call it a very successful shared reading experience. Listening to the actual audio file also allowed us to feel the full emotion and passion of the speech as well.
Later in the morning, I was able to watch how Chelsie has organized her centers and guided reading groups. I was particularly impressed with a sheet she has created to track her guided reading lessons. She also told me that she has created a great new system of having the students edit their writing at home with their parents. She created a sheet to send home and several teachers at the school have asked her for copies and want to use her idea. Chelsie also mentioned that she had found some good online resources that will help her in working with her high readers in their guided reading group on the book Matilda.
Being in the classroom today reminded me of how much work it takes to stay on top of everything that needs to be done daily in a classroom. Wow!
Chelsie,
I was so impressed today with the depth at which you teach your students every day. It was a highlight to see how you are using assessment to guide your lessons. For example, today you used the KWL chart to get a sense of what your students already knew. Then, as you taught, you supported the students with any new information and used questions to guide you to the next thing you would teach or say.
You also do a wonderful job of getting your students to think critically without just giving them the answer. I saw an example of that when one of your students mentioned that black people use to be kept apart from white people. You immediately began giving clues and using questions to guide that student to use the word "segregation".
I don't know if you realize it or not, but you are skilled at supporting the students with their language skills. You explain definitions, have the students repeat big vocabulary words, teach students the correct way to say words that may otherwise be difficult and you provide visuals and other resources to support language learning.
Your students are so well trained, they knew exactly what to do at every minute. When you simply mentioned that the students would need to create a brainstorming web before beginning their writing on the I Have A Dream writing piece, I wondered if any of the students would actually do it. It was so refreshing to see every single student heading back to their desks and immediately begin work on their webs.
Your enthusiasm for teaching is contagious. After you finished Martin's Big Words, you looked at the students and asked, "Did you love that book?" Well, how could they not? You loved it and it showed. That excitement transferred to your students and set the stage for the later "magic moment."
Here are the things I need to follow up on for you:
Provide the sorting chart that can be used in conjunction with Words their Way
Provide you with a word wall chants, cheers and practice strategies handout I have in my files
Provide Words Their Way resources from upcoming conference
Schedule time to come in and teach guided reading
Get a copy of your Guided Reading Lesson Plan Template with the 3-columns. Could you e-mail it to me?
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