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Monday, August 17, 2015

Classroom Setup

A new year, a new start.

There is always something I'm revamping. My major change this year was my classroom library. I'm also planning on tweaking how I do reading instruction after I read the Book Whisperer this summer (and didn't do a great job with Daily CAFE last year). I will have to post about that another time.

So I figured I'd do a post about how I set up my classroom this year...

Online Classroom: 
I updated my classroom website, which you can read about in this post, and posted a Tellagami video on the home page to welcome my new students (I sound dorky but was over another take). I currently only have the free app version. We'll see if I'm willing to pay for more features. The Gami is below. I'm also planning to use Google Classroom this year and already set up my first assignment.




Physical Classroom:

Back of the classroom:

The library area was redone this summer. (Insert sigh of relief!) You can see more detailed pictures and read about how I organized in this post.


Math board - Includes rotations chart, vocabulary, and "I can" statements. The long pocket under the rotations chart is simply a place to hold vocabulary strips I'm not currently using. Here's more about how I revamped my math centers.



All About Me Poster - I have students complete these posters at the beginning of the year. Then I pull one out each week to feature and students share. Afterwards, other students write letters to them.
The pocket with four sections underneath is a "note taking" sheet for students who are listening to the speaker. They note similaries, differences, interesting facts, & questions into the according boxes as they listen. They use this sheet to help them write a friendly letter to the student afterwards. 


Writing Advice Board - Our school uses some common vocabulary for the writing process, which is POWER (writing process) & CUPS (editing/revising), so I displayed them but with colored arrows noting the difference between revise & edit. The pencil cans hold blue and red colored pencils to mark revising and editing so students can see the difference on their papers. Underneath these posters, I put my tired word wall.





Reading Challenge/Book Review - After reading The Book Whisperer this summer, I decided to implement a reading challenge. I am only asking for a book review when they are done with the book to be placed in their baggies (which will have pictures on them along with how much of their goal they have hit so far on a book die cut). That way, other students can peruse their recommendations and I can have students share/recommend books weekly.





Economy System Board - (no student pictures with their jobs yet, but coming soon once students have their jobs): You can read about my economy system here. It's how I manage my class, provide responsibility, and more.



Student Work - This is the board I use to change out student work. It's on a ribbon because the board can't take staples. I had to staple gun everything on there. Since I don't have student work yet, I put up quotes in the mean time. The stars are simply laminated die cuts (so I can write their names on them) taped to a binder clip.



Math Curse Bulletin Board - To see a more detailed version of this board showing students how their teacher used math during the summer, see my post here.


Front of Room - Nothing super fabulous. My class motto is always up front and center though: "If there's a will, there's a way." My teacher computer and document camera are set up to the right of the SmartBoard.

Front of room teacher caddy - Ever need colors or scissors when working under the document camera? I decided to have a little caddy with all the supplies I would need right by my fingertips.



Student Desk Set Up - This year, they are not allowed to keep anything on their desks except this water bottle. Yes, even pencil boxes must be inside the desks. Keeping it clutter free... hopefully. Their names will be written directly on the desks with Sharpie Paint Pen, which can be removed with a black expo marker (rubbed on letters & wiped off) or hand sanitizer at the end of the year.


Work on Writing - Work on Writing activities I use are written in my original Daily CAFE post. I feel like this is a good board even if you don't use Daily CAFE (which I continue to reinvent). It's a good place for kids to go to when they say, "I'm done" during writing.

Morphology Board - This will be where we note the morphemes we are studying for the week, which is our spelling and vocabulary this year.


Class Constitution - Our three class rules are written constitutional style on the paper. The Bengal Way is our school-wide character trait focus, so I put it here too.


Computer/Laptop Area - Our school got rid of the desktops and in place we received hp laptops. So, the space is more, but I had to think of a charging station. I used a desk file holder to hold the haptops and had the charging cords numbered. All the cords are tightly wound and tied off bunder the desk near the power surge (picture below). The computer wall has a QR code to my classroom website and other tech bits/reminders.

Close up of the hp streams in our room. I ended up switching to this desk file since it was not tiered. The cords are held by these cable clips, which hold two per clip. The stickiness is great, so be sure you know where you want to have them taped down! I have not attempted to remove them yet.




Teacher Station - This is also nothing fabulous. I don't use this area much, but need a place to store files, resources, district items, and have a place to toss my junk because I'm too lazy to file it away right away. I like to keep a bulletin of class pictures from all my past years and post pictures of my family. The file trays to the right of the picture is probably the most helpful item in this area. I store all the needs of M-F in the according tray for the week.



Class Calendar - I feel long-term planning requires a visual. When you say something is a week or two away, it seems like forever! But when you talk about how there's the weekend, other events, etc., students (hopefully) start trying to plan ahead and not procrastinate (a theme we discuss year-long).


Hall Passes - The front and back of the bathroom passes are on a soap, not sanitizer, dispenser. For any office, nurse, or hall needs, I have a little smiling puppy as the pass. The tag on the toy has "Hall Pass" on one side and "Remember to smile at people when you see them" on the other.


Tips for 5th - At the end of every year, I have students write up survival tips for the incoming 5th graders. Then I take their picture and have them pretend to hold their list. It's a good display outside my room for incoming and past students.


Character Trait Door - I wanted to incorporate our school's character trait focus on our door since we review what they all mean in September before focusing on one or two in a month. So, since I titled it, "5th Grade Citizens Go Places," I had the name of mountains, streets, highways, & places named after the traits we focus on. The first week of school I plan to take pictures of the kids driving, hiking, sitting around the campfire, etc. to place them in various spots on the door.



 





Door with students in the various character trait areas.

Parent Volunteer Bin - I love that parents can prep work for me knowing where I leave items and where to place them when they are done. That way, if they walk in during a lesson, it is not interrupted.


And here is my beautiful boy helping me out in my classroom. Love him!!! Don't worry, it is an old laptop from years ago that 1) doesn't work and 2) the district didn't even want back.





Sunday, August 16, 2015

Math Curse

As I was reorganizing my classroom library this summer, I realized in the middle of building the shelves that I was doing a whole lot of math! AND, it was math that my students would be learning throughout the year!

Problems lead to questions, which lead to answers that can be solved mathematically.  Why not share this with my students at the beginning of the year to show them that I, too, do math... even during the summer. A bonus is that a bulletin board is also created so it's not left blank. :)

Since I read aloud Math Curse at the beginning of the year and do an activity with it already (students find and write their own math problems they find throughout the day), I figured it would be a good board to display.

The board features all the questions and problems I encountered through this one task of making bookshelves:


Here is where my problem starts:


"I don't have a pencil."

Waste. It sucks. Even with these posters I made (below) and discussions with students, it doesn't always work or get better. If any of this below has happened in your classroom, you feel my pain!


My BIGGEST pet peeve last year was hearing "What? I don't have a pencil." Repeatedly. I have done pencil management a million ways (okay... 8 different ways because that's how many years under my belt so far, including this way), but this year I came upon this blog and plan to see how it will work with some tweaks for my own classroom: Once Upon a Classroom Blog Post

I used a Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box, which is slightly bigger than I'd love, but I had the box and it will suffice.

Since I can have about 32 kids, I just made 36 holes (there are always more kids due to special education kids who come to certain class subjects)


 I painted and numbered each hole.

Yes, I purchased engraved pencils from Oriental Trading that say the pencil belongs to me...

Ta da! I still have to number them on one side and put students' names on the other side of the flag.

My current plan:

As part of the going home routine, students must return pencils SHARPENED and then pick them up each morning.

They will receive prizes/classroom money for every week they did this. I will play this up the first week of school by offering prizes daily/every two days such as pencil grips, personal sharpener, etc. to get it moving. Then I will most likely pay them with my currency system. I anticipate I'll need some refresher motivation techniques mid year so that will be when I incorporate prizes again like cool pens, etc.

Wish me luck!!!


Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Classroom Library Facelift... or Full On Surgery!

Alright. All teachers have pet peeves. I have a couple, or a few, or maybe a lot! Haha. But each year I pick and choose one or two things to tweak to see if my peeves can become more of a perk.

One of those pet peeves was my library area.  Problems included how to organize (leveled?, genre?, none at all?), and (the big one) how kids put my organization back in order! Throughout the years, I've tried a variety of methods, but here is a picture of the latest method before the major library facelift (combo of baskets with major themes and then other books on shelves by genre/theme).

BEFORE picture

Last year, I even made a sign letting kids know how to use the book markers in the library and how I've pulled out my hair every year. It doesn't work.  




Let's start the FACELIFT!!!

I felt after this last year, I needed to change up my environment to feel fresh & new again. So what better time than now to just fix this library up. I knew it would be a tedious process, but I guess that's what summers are partially for! Teachers on a break completely??? Pishh!

Basically, I researched different organizational styles and decided to follow these directions: 



10 Things I Learned From Having THAT Class


Ever have that class?? The one that drains you and makes you work harder than taking care of a one year old? The one that makes you think about going back to waiting tables where you don't bring your work home? The one that makes you feel like a bad person because you feel the way you do? The one that... you get it. No??? Me neither... until this last year.

This is probably part of the reason why I took a hiatus from blogging for over half a year! I was stressed out enough figuring out how to balance being a new mom, school, and home life at the beginning of the year that September and October were overwhelming. However, I felt like I just got the hang of it and then, BOOM, the honeymoon period with my class was over. I won't go into all the griping details, but I was so, very tired.

Just the year before, I felt like I was climbing this teaching career mountain and never wanted to reach my peak because the only place to go from there was down. Instead, I feel like I fell off somewhere on the other side and I don't know what happened. Anyway, here are 10 things this last year's class taught me that also helped me get back on my feet:

Sunday, June 28, 2015

End-of-Year Portfolio

When creative/proud student art or writing gets sent home during the year, the chances of it being kept are slim because what can you really do with awesome pieces here and there throughout the year, every year the child is in school???  Unless the parents/students have some organizational tool, those memories fade faster. What to do?

Well, when I taught kindergarten, we saved at least 1-2 items each month (it was much more season/holiday themed in kindergarten) and bound them all together into a book the students can take home at the end of the year. So, I decided to do this in 5th.

I decided I would keep all those poems, get to know you activities, random photos, and work that would probably be trashed or misplaced if simply sent home. Anything that was two pages or on larger paper was folded so it was more of an interactive feel. Here's how it turned out (just cock your head sideways to the left... I didn't want to resave them all the proper way!):

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Conferences - Guiding Kids to Reflect

So in my post on student-led conferences last year, I added one tid bit that made it much better this time around.  I HELPED them with wording to reflect on their thinking.

Here is just a sample of what I encounter yearly...
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses in ___ subject? 
    • Typical student answers: "fractions,"  "reading"... 
      • Are these strengths or weaknesses?  These are way too generic and broad. The best part is when they list a subject as a strength when they're getting a D...really? :/
We need to teach kids the process of reflecting so that they are better able to make decisions for how they will improve.  I always talk about how reflecting allows us to look back at what we do right and what we can change.  The change part is key because without knowing our weaknesses, we will never make a conscious effort to do better.  If we think we're "all that," then we have no further we can climb. 

This is part of the reflection form for each subject area and behavior. I want students to think of what SPECIFICALLY causes them to have strengths or weaknesses in a subject area.  This is where I come in with some ideas and suggestions.  I provide a list of habits or behaviors that lead to either doing well or not.

Overall: (academic)
  • pay attention when lesson is being taught
  • turn in work on time 
  • pace assignment work so it's done with quality rather than rushed work
  • organized and neat with notes/materials
  • ask help when needing clarification
  • pick good partners to work with
Specific Subject Areas - In addition to the "overall" academics, there may be certain behaviors that affect certain subject areas. If so, I note these when we discuss that school subject.  Some examples are below:
  • Math behaviors: neat notes/work, know basic times tables, double check work
  • Reading behaviors: check for understanding, skipping over multisyllabic words when reading aloud, etc.
Behavior
  • listen attentively
  • don't get distracted by peers or desk items
  • participate in discussions
  • honesty/accept responsibility
  • helpful
  • use time wisely
  • follow rules
Homework

  • turn it in on time
  • use planner to check what is due
  • bring materials to and from school

This is just a sample of some behaviors that I discuss as student fill out their reflections.  They are able to put the specific behaviors in either "strength" or "challenge" rather than be too generic and broad.