Question- Courtney

Does anybody have or can send me copies of those sheets from the beginning of the year with the charts on them, like special lessons and parent contact. I seem to have lost a big pile of my stuff. Thanks!

Week 5 - Meredith

This past week was a fairly normal week for me. I've been excited about my math lessons this week because the students really seem to be understanding the connection between decimals and fractions. I used the curriculum as a basis for what I taught and made sure to go over in my own words the concepts being taught so make sure the students really understood. The students also had many chances to work in groups to figure out the problems and I was able to observe some great group work occurring. Overall, I am feeling much more confident about teaching math than I was originally. It's been fun to see my own teaching ability grow over the past few weeks and it makes me excited to see how I'm going to continue to grow as a teacher.

Week Five ~ Lauren

Our week at Woldumar was one of the best weeks of our year. Our whole team enjoyed it so much! It was just really nice to get out of the classroom and experience some great, authentic learning in nature. We learned about everything from Native Americans and Pioneers to Forests to Turtles to Mysteries! The learning really seemed to stick with the students too. They were so engaged in the activities and really just enjoying themselves. We were concerned heading into it about behavior problems and the logistics of everything. But, things went so well! Some of our students that have the hardest times in school really worked well and loved Woldumar. It was a cool lesson to me about the different ways that students learn and about how the classroom format is definitely not always the best/most natural format for all of our learners. This week also really showed the power of our classroom community because the students were looking out for one another and learning together so well. We came back everyday so impressed by our students. The whole experience was just really wonderful. On our last day we went on a goodbye walk and talked about some of the life lessons we had learned from Woldumar and the students came up with some really poetic and beautiful ideas. "The river taught me that sometimes you need to just go where life takes you" and "The trees taught me to move with the wind".

Now our thoughts are turning to how we can continue the amazing experience that started there. How can we keep that kind of authentic, engaging learning going on at school?

Week 5- Courtney

This week went unbelievably great! I was very nervous about teaching an authentic writing lesson to get to a mystery story. Since it had never been done this way before by anybody that I have talked to, I was afraid that the result would be not so great. I did the mystery bag items Monday and had them fill out an organizer for that saying what it would be used for in their story. Then they had a "Recipe" that they needed to fill out with all of the elements. Once they had the two of those they needed to start writing. I decided to make three sheets that actually say beginning, middle, and end on them to organize this part of the lesson. We talked about what should be in each part and the kids came up with the requirements. I posted different sheets for each class based on what they said. They are so into writing these stories right now! Yesterday 45 minutes of each class was used just to write. They are long and coming out great! I am so happy my ideas were a success and that I put it all together. I was a little worried that all the pieces would not go together. This week we will finish putting together the puzzle and do some peer editing and critiquing and draw our covers. I will then be able to grade them, which I am really excited to do since they are looking so great!

Monday I have my "read-a-thon". I think this will be a great way to get the kids into reading and allow them to have time to do it. They will also be able to bring blankets and wear Jammies so it will be fun! I am planning on joining right in as long as discipline is not a problem. I think that just my example of sitting with my book will go a long ways.

This week a student stole a bag of treats from me and sadly it was not returned. The suggestion to me was to stop homework club until further notice. I am sad to do this, but I think it might just have to be done since the kids are getting very angry about me not giving answers, but only helping. They needed to take on more responsibility and need the ability to do their homework in order to be successful next year and in the future.

Week 4 - Meredith

I agree with Lauren that this past week seemed to fly by. I started the week finishing up in Danise's room and ended the week with math and science in Shannon's room. I feel equally comfortable in both rooms, but I think I will struggle more with the content in math and science. I officially start my unit of Living Systems in science on Monday and feel okay about it. The thing I'm most worried about is being able to get through all the content in the amount of time I have. It's a new unit with new materials, so I'm not sure how long everything will take. I also want to suppliment activities into the unit, but I'm not sure what to do with it or if I'll have enough time to get anything else in.

From what I have started in math with the students, I think this unit is going to be a struggle. The idea of going between fractions to decimals is hard and confusing for the students. They lack a deep understanding of place value, which makes things even more complicated when converting from fractions to decimals. I'm thankful that I can talk to everyone to get advice on what to do with this math unit. I'm okay taking things slowly, but I know there's still a time limit on getting everything done. I just want my students to understand these difficult math concepts.

Reflection Week 4 Courtney

This week I got to transition back into Amber's room and teach language arts. Although I enjoyed teaching math, I am so much more comfortable and confident teaching language arts. I really missed my home base and I enjoyed being welcomed back into the community. I love all the kids on Team 53, but that home base does hold a special place in my heart.

I got the opportunity to begin a mystery unit. Monday I did the scavenger hunt and it was a BLAST! The kids keep asking if we can do it again, and sadly I do not think that is going to happen. So much work went into setting it up, and I seriously could not have done it if Amber hadn't been there to set up between classes since we have three switches.

I read the book, " The Web Files", and all three classes got really into it. They wanted to take the book and read it again when I was done. I was overjoyed to see them that into a book. I also read "Yo, Yes" and did an inference lesson with them that they were completely into. They also loved to act out the book. During my last week, I plan to do the other book, "Ring Yo", and have them write a story of what is going on. These are great books to teach inferring and get the kids to act. I can't believe how much they enjoy being up in front of the class. My lower level children especially enjoyed this. I wish I had been able to take pictures it was so fun! We started our murder mystery and it was very engaging for the students. I have also tried to get back on track with doing word study for a little break up in their days. I enjoy teaching word study because I feel as though some of the kids are just more confident with that sort of thing in Language Arts if they are not that into reading and writing.

At our PD this week, we were talking about how the students should be writing 45 minutes per day, and I don't feel like we do this in language arts class. I am going to try to get them doing this more this week, even though they really like to complain when I give a writing assignment. The one I have planned seems a lot more engaging then ones in the past have seemed and I think the way I am going to go about doing it will be a lot more fun. I am going to do the mystery in a bag, but I am going to include them writing a recipe for their mystery which will be a really fun graphic organizer that allows them to be creative, but still have an idea about what needs to go into their story, since their are so many components of a mystery.
I am excited for the next two weeks and I seriously cannot believe my time lead teaching is almost over! It is insane to think that four weeks have already passed. I love it so much, I can't imagine not teaching everyday all day!

Week 3 - Lindsey

This week went by pretty quick! I wish we had more time for writing assignments. There never seems to enough time alllowed for students to finish quality work. The students this week were very excited about their mystery stories. They have been working on their drafts and then conferencing with me. They they work on their final copy. Most of the stories have been really good and suspensful too!

The students are also putting really good effort in to their colonies brochure. At first I think they were a little hesitent about the project, but on Friday they really got in to it! The final product for some is amazing.

I am really nervous about starting my math and science teaching. I have been told several times that I only have so much time to complete the units. And I have no idea how I am suppose to get that much done. These units are intense, especially science. But, Jodi has been pretty good about sitting down with me and helping determine what I can get through. However, neither of us really know since these are two new units.

The Star Students thing is still going well. I did something else too on Friday. Each table had a piece of paper and when I noticed that all the students at the table were doing what they were suppose to, I would give them a picture (star or smiley face). At the end of the day, the table with the most got a sucker. The students really got in to this. They worked very hard for me that day. It was great! This is something that I am going to every once in a while though.

Week Four ~ Lauren

This week kind of seemed to fly by. It was really fun being back in Sarah's classroom again. I think I feel more in my comfort zone there, just because I'm more familiar with the daily routine and curriculum. I wrapped up the mystery book club unit, which seemed to go pretty well. This was my first experience with book clubs this year and I think there are definitely some positive and negative aspects to it. For example, it's nice that the student spend some class time reading independently at their own level in class because then it provides time for me to read one-on-one with them, which I don't always have much of a chance to do. But, it also is quite a challenge time-wise because every student reads at his/her own pace and they cannot take the books home. So, when they were discussing and wrapping up in their book clubs, not everyone was at the same point, which became difficult. Overall, though, I think the students really enjoyed the time to read and seemed to like and benefit from their conversations with one another. One student said that the books clubs were especially helpful when they were confused about something from the book. Plus, it's always fun to be able to share and talk with a friend about a book you're both enjoying!

Next week, we are heading to Woldumar. We spent a lot of time this past week preparing for it and we still have a lot to do this weekend to get ready. I'm really looking forward to it though! Keep your fingers crossed on the weather for us! :)

Week 3 - Meredith

This past week went great for me. In language arts we continued reading View From the Cherry Tree and the students seem to be enjoying the story a lot. Every day I have kids asking me if we're going to read another chapter and Willo Davis Roberts does such a great job at writing and leaving cliff hangers at the ends of the chapters that the kids always want to read another chapter as well.

I had Dean come in to observe me this week. It was nerve wracking at first, but I was confident about my lesson, so it wasn't too bad. The lesson he saw was over different Encyclopedia Brown stories. The students were broken into 7 groups and each group read a different mystery story. They were in charge of reading the story in their groups and creating a chart that had been modeled with a previous story. They had to write down on their chart the detective, the crime, the evidence, the suspects and what they thought the solution was going to be. Once they had read their story and completed their chart, they got the solution to their mystery and had to write down the clues Encyclopedia Brown used to solve the mystery. The lesson went super well and I was pleased with the group work that I saw during the lesson. Dean also had positive things to say to me about the lesson.

In social studies we finished up our PowerPoint presentations and reviewed for the test, which they took on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on which class they were in. They did well on their tests, which was exciting for me to see. (Although I don't put much weight on the test grades, because it was only 14 questions and they were all multiple choice.) On Friday we had a colonial celebration and the kids got to make corn husk dolls and eat colonial type food - cookies, corn bread, spiced cider and bacon. They had a great time and it was a great way to spend a half day.

Week Three- Courtney

This week was long, but great. There were so many schedule changes because of our play, and conferences but I feel like it allowed the students to be more focused in class at times. Just a little shorter of a class, made them feel good about being in class I think. Conferences went well, it's funny how often the conference shifts to the parents problems and all attention is suddenly off the student. It was also great seeing some of the same traits in our kids come out in their parents.

I did a lot of supplementing this week, because I felt like the majority STILL did not understand fractions and decimals. I through percents into it on Monday and we played some games such as around the world, silence (to order the decimals fractions and percents), and bingo on the last day. I feel like these were successful for the most part, because at least the students were exposed to these concepts in a different way. The Bingo seemed to grab all of them. They were finally figuring out decimal place value, because they sure wanted candy! It was a fun Friday!

I was sad to leave Joe's room, but I am excited for my change. New classroom, new home base, and new subject to teach on Monday. I am not even close to being ready since there is so much to do in such a short time. I wish we had a week off to prep like last time! It will definitely be a lot of work, but hopefully worth it in the end. I am setting up the scavenger hunt, and with the help of Amber it will hopefully go smoothly! I am also starting a read a loud from A View from the Cherry Tree. I am a little nervous about reading out loud for three class periods. My voice is going to really be worked!

Week Three ~ Lauren

Like Lindsey said, this has definitely been quite the week! Conferences went really well for us. It was so nice to meet with the parents and be able to discuss what's going on in our classroom. I feel like it really gives more of a glimpse into the students. It was nice to hear how the students think things are going for them and for the class, as well. Sarah and I alternated leading each conference, which worked really well.

I also wrapped up teaching math and science this week. Overall, it was a really good three weeks. The biggest and most important lesson I've been learning through this part of my lead teach is to remember that it's alright to just slow down and work at a pace that works for the students. With behavior concerns and difficult curriculum concepts, the best thing to do was just to slow down and process. I'm finding that when I try to rush through in order to "stay on track" it ends up throwing us off more than anything. But, as I slow down, students behavior issues and frustrations really diminish.

So, as I look forward to language arts and social studies that is something I am definitely keeping in mind. I need to balance being patient while still having high expectations. There is so much going on in these students' lives and we just need to recognize it and meet them there.

Week 2 - Lindsey

I think everyone will agree with this...it was one LONG week! It went really well though. The big thing of this week was conferences. I think they went well. I was able to lead some and contribute to the rest. This time I was with Jodi. This was actaully nice since I am doing my lead in the other classroom, which allows me to contribute ideas.

There was one conference I was very uncomfortable about. This one student has divorced parents. We have to do separate things for each parent. So, there was supposed to be two conferences. However, mom and dad (w/ girlfriend) showed up for the same one. The mom argued in front of the kids and us (the teachers). This was a strage feeling for me. Jodi and I thought it was one interesting conference. After that night, I realized why my parents were the way they were and I really appreciate them for that now!

Teaching this week was good too. Social Studies behind from what I planned. However, it is ok. The students really enjoyed putting time in to their colonial billboards. This project took two days longer than I planned. So, on the last day I gave them a time limit and they punched out some good work. They presented well and now the billboards are in the hallway. Take a look if you have the chance!

LA is going well also. Students seem to be excited about the books they are reading for book clubs. They have pretty thoughtful responses as well. We have been working on our Mystery stories as well. They began last week with the clues and continued this week with the characters and a story map. They seem to be doing well with this scaffolding. Next week, we will begin the rough draft process. I am excited to see how the stories come out.

The students are still excited about the raffle tickets that I am doing. They respond well to the tickets as I am giving them out. I have realized that I need to remind them of when to put thier tickets in to the bin. They are getting up in the middle of the lesson. So, I think I will tell them on Monday that they cannot put them in until LAF of before the last switch as I dismiss them. I think this will keep them more focused on the lesson and be a lot less of a distraction.

Week Two ~ Lauren

Looking back on the week, I feel really good about how it went. Things were feeling more natural than the week before. I feel like the students and I are through the transition period and were able to get into a consistent routine this week.

Math is going really well. We played some neat fraction games on Friday instead of completing the book work I had planned, because I felt like students needed more time to focus on the basic ideas of fractions before we moved on to some of the more complicated aspects. It made for a really fun, learning day. During one of the games, I could really see the light bulbs going on in the students' heads about the relationship between tenths and hundredths.

Science has been a little more of a struggle, because the students are more wound up in the afternoons, but I am still pleased with the learning that occurring. On Friday, we starting reviewing the circulatory system and the digestive system and I'm really happy with the how much they are remembering about them.

My goal for this weekend is to develop an authentic and engaging assessment to see the students' learning about body systems. When I planned my unit, I had planned to end it with a test. But, the more thought I have given it, the more I am leaning towards a more active, authentic kind of assessment. I'm thinking about some kind of drawing activity, such a flip book, but I can't quite settle on an idea. Any suggestions?

Weeks 1 and 2 - Meredith

Well I forgot about this blog after our first week (oops!), so I'll write about both weeks for this post.

My first week of lead teaching was exhausting. After being in Guatemala for a week, getting back super late, and not having all of my work completed for the lead teaching time, I spent an incredible amount of time preparing every night. I was nervous about what I was doing because I was starting two brand new units in literacy and social studies, and I had plans to start both units with interactive things. The mystery scavenger hunts ended up going so great! I was nervous about the afternoon class being able to handle being around the school, but they ended up handling it great. Everyone was excited about the mystery and asked if we could do it again. If you would like the list of clues I used, just let me know and I'll email them to you. I had the kids come up with the rules to follow while they were in the halls and reminded them several times that if they were breaking the rules, they would be sent back to the classroom. The activities I had planned for social studies also finished up nicely. The afternoon class had some trouble on the first day and about half the class lost the privilege of going to do the activities in the science lab. But the second day they were allowed to participate and did a good job in their groups.

This past week was a great week. For the most part, the kids had good days every day. Tuesday afternoon was rough for me, but otherwise it was good. It was so encouraging for me. We spent most of the week on the computers so the kids could be researching information on colonial times to put into a PowerPoint. Each student has a different topic associated with colonial times. It was a rough start, and I wish that I had created more of a base of websites that would be helpful to get information from. I did require the students to have at least 2 books as their sources and a few students ended up finding all their information from books. After 3-4 days on the computers, most of the students are either finished or almost finished with their PowerPoint slides. Throughout the week I took the time to look at their planning sheets and wrote down suggestions of specific topics for them to look up information on, which helped most of the students. Monday is our last day on the computers, so hopefully everyone will finish by then.

In language arts, we have been continuing our mystery unit with a read aloud of The View From the Cherry Tree. The first chapter was hard for the students to sit through, but every chapter after that is engaging and now the students don't want me to stop reading when I get to the end of the chapter. I'm also supplementing the unit with mystery picture books, 2-minute mysteries, and Encyclopedia Brown stories and the students will pull out the different mystery elements of the stories including the detective, the crime, the evidence (including red herrings), and the suspects (including the criminal). Reviewing each mystery element helps the students grasp the meaning of the words better.

Overall, I'm excited about how these units are shaping out and wish I could stay in the classroom longer. I don't really want to switch because the language arts unit will not be anywhere near completion by the time I switch rooms.

My First Week - Lindsey

So, as you all know I am a week behind all of you. It was a good first week. I have realized I need not worry about sticking exactly to my plans. Things are taking much longer than I thought they would.

I began Mystery with a mystery theater. I had no idea what to expect since it was the first time it had been done. I thought it would take only one day, but it took two. The students really enjoyed this activity! They really got in to it by bringing in costumes and props. If I were to do this again I think I would allow the students to take their scripts home to practice. This would allow for them to read it more fluently. They students would also be able to act it out more, which I think they would have like to do.

In Social Studies the students are working on billboards to 'sell' their colony. They are really getting in to this as well. However, I had to stop the second group yesterday and talk about group norms. This group was having a difficult time working with one another. They were arguing to say the least. However, after the talk, I think things will work a lot better. I wrote their ideas about working together on the board. I think I will transfer these ideas to chart paper on Monday so we can refere to them in the future if things get out of hand.

On Friday we began "Mystery in a Bag". I gave each group of students a bag with four or five objects. These were clues. They had to decide how these clues would connect. They then had to tell what their mystery would be. The students really enjoyed this. I had so much fun doing this with them. Monday they will build their three main characters. I am excited to see how the stories develop.

This week I also began a new positive reenforcement program. I am calling it Star Student. When the students are doing what they are suppose to be doing, they earn a raffle ticket. They write their name on it and put it in to the AM or PM bin. On Friday I will draw four names. These students will have an opportunity to choose a coupon at random. The students really got in to this this week. I feel this is working so far. And one of my students who gives me problems won this week. I was glad to see this because I want him to know that his good behavior does pay off. The coupons I chose to do are Homework Pass, Stinky Feet, Teacher's Desk, Chair of your Choice, Free Time, and Lunch with the Teacher. The students seemed excited about all of these as well.

I am looking forward to the up coming week. However, I am not sure how much teaching I am actually going to do! This is one crazy week coming up!

Week 2 Lead- Courtney

This week I spent a lot of the time feeling like a zoo keeper. Emotions are flaring, behaviors are decreasing, and the students just seem to want out. I could not blame them yesterday with the beautiful weather, but it got out of hand. Right in the middle of my lesson, I noticed students that were all paying attention to something on the other side of the room. I stopped and tried to redirect, then ended up going over there cause it was a little out of hand. There were a bunch of push pin thumb tacks and the boys were playing with them. I inquired about who they belonged to, and a boy fessed up. He had about 15 on him that he gave, if not more. Then the kids told me that the new thing they are doing is flinging these with rubber bands at one another. I was completely outraged! That could hurt someone terribly. We tried it out at lunch (not at a person) and these things really flew. The other part about it was that they are stealing them from our bulletin boards and from teachers that have them. One teacher brought up, do we need to baby proof our rooms. No more staplers, scissors, or push pins in school at all. We have had the rubber band issue in the past, but this was just way over the top. On top of that yesterday felt like everyone was mad about something. One boy ran out of the room screaming about how rubber bands were flying at him from all directions. I looked on the floor, not one piece of evidence. This was a totally different class than the one we had the discussion in.

From what I hear it is that time of the year and that mixed with the weather made yesterday a very trying day not just in our team. I did have some success however. I was trying to do center based games, but it didn't turn out very good in my first class. They wanted to take it as a time to socialize and not do work, minus a few groups. I changed it up later and did one at a time and it went really well even though we only got to one or two games. I feel like although we want it to be, Friday should not be the day that we tend to get more unstructured. Monday or Tuesdays behaviors lend themselves so much better than Friday. I gave them an inch and they took 5 miles, so I had to tighten up to get things more smooth. I am glad that I tried though, it was something I normally would not have done.

The rest of the week went pretty good. I wrote report card comments on Wednesday and I feel really confident with them. I had so much to say for all the kids. I had not even realized that I knew them that well. I was glad to be able to have a part in the process. This week is conferences, and I am excited to be able to take the lead. I am nervous for some of them, but I think that it will go alright. I have been working a lot on parent communication this week, and I think I am getting it better and better. I am still really scared I will say the wrong thing since I tend to have a big mouth, but I am working on pausing and thinking before I speak so I do not say something I shouldn't.

Our First Week! ~ Lauren

Looking back on last week, I really feel like the first week of my lead teach was successful. It was fun being in John's room, an environment I hadn't been in recently, and I think it made the transition into my lead teach more clear and easier for me and the students. The little changes have been fun and it's been interesting to see the different dynamics that are emerging in our community.

I was admittedly nervous about teaching math and science because I had heard that the students were really struggling with some of the concepts they had been covering lately. But, knowing that, I was able to plan to go over things slowly and thoroughly and I'm feeling confident in the student understanding so far. I've learned how much the students are benefiting from going over instructions explicitly too. It has really helped their individual and group work to go more smoothly because they have fewer questions once they have begun. Like Courtney, I'm definitely enjoying how concrete and definite math is. It's cool seeing the students have those "ah-ha" moments when something really clicks for them. It's also been really neat to see their questions and the interest their taking in the body systems in science.

My biggest challenge has been classroom management, specifically relating to chatting and blurting out. I'm working on finding the best method to handle these things. I've tried some positive reinforcement through a "pencil/prize box" for students who are on task and working well together and that has been really motivating to many students. This week I want to work on developing some thing that will help the students to be more self-motivated to control their talking, though.

I know I've said it before, but I just really feel like this lead teach is a new adventure for us. It has been such a neat experience for me and for the students so far and I'm really looking forward to the rest of it!

Reflection- Courtney

This was week one of lead teaching for me and it was awesome! I was so nervous about the transition into a new environment (Joe's room), but the kids were extremely receptive and respectful of me and changes that I made. I feel like it was a fun and very successful week overall!

One thing that really worked well this week was the implementation of a new incentive system in our team. I came up with a token system, called tokens of hope. Students could receive them by showing respect, empathy, and responsibility. These are the concepts that our school is based upon. The use of these has made management more manageable and the kids love them! I am going to take it a step further this week and have the Parthenon person of the day based on how many tokens they get per day.

I learned this week that I love to teach math! It is so much more concrete than anything I have taught before and I love hearing the discussion and problem solving going on in the classroom. This is something I am looking forward to hearing this upcoming week as well. I enjoy getting to see students that I normally don't see in math excel in something, if they may not in language arts where I was more likely to see them. I love seeing those successes, especially in students that I am not used to seeing it in. I have enjoyed building the concepts up as the week went on and drawing connections between that days lesson and days previous. I was also very excited to see a great connection to calendar math in this weeks lessons with the turning fractions into decimals. They do this weekly, and it made the lesson a whole lot easier to understand and connect to!

I have also really enjoyed getting to know another set of kids as well as I know the kids in Mrs. Hergenrader's homebase. There is such a different dynamic in Mr. Cleary's room and I have really enjoyed working with it. Man are the chatty though!

Thank you - Lindsey

I just wanted to say thank you for everyone's support during this difficult time.

I have to say it was amazing coming back on Friday afternoon. The students were so excited to see me. I knew they always cared and looked up to me, but I never really knew how much. I had 50 some cards waiting for me. And another student brought me cookies. It felt so good coming back to that!

I am starting my lead tomorrow now. I am beginning with my Mystery in the Library theater. The kids are very excited about this. I am a little worried though because I have never seen this done. But, I think it will be fine. There may be some hang ups in the morning, but I will learn from that and alter it for the afternoon.

I am so ready to get back in a routine. And thank you all again.