Classroom Makeover 2014-15

If you read my last post, you know that I am at a new school this year teaching 4th grade. When I walked into my new classroom, I had a few reactions--it's a little on the small side, so get rid of everything that is not necessary for students and PAINT!!! So, I spent quite a few days over the summer weeding out the former teacher's stuff, deciding what furniture I could get rid of, and then painting and decorating my walls. Here are a few before pictures:

The most hideous desk ever. It ended up the same color as my walls.

 

And here are the exciting results!

I'm trying a focus wall this year. These are themes, concepts, and skills that could
be found throughout many subject areas and concepts this quarter.

Reader's Workshop: Ready!

This area still needs a rug, but I have a really cute one on the way from amazon!

These awesome inspirational notes came from a Dollar Store Calendar! ($1 bulletin board, yes please!!)

Math Routine: Exit Slips and Data Tracking

To catch up on previous math posts, check out My Math Schedule/Routine and Departmentalizing 3rd Quarter.

Once my team made the decision to departmentalize and I became "the" math teacher for my grade level, I knew that I had to step it up. I relish in the opportunity to do an even better job teaching math and in the fact that all energy I put into teaching math next quarter will benefit not just one class of students, but an entire grade level. I also love the fact that this opportunity means that I don't have to plan for science or writing. While I'm focusing lots of my attention on math, I don't have to worry that another subject area is not getting planned. I felt stingy stealing math because I know we all love to teach math, but my team so graciously let me take it. So, I made a few promises to them and myself:

* I will differentiate math for students to the highest level of my abilities
* I will do a better job of tracking data
* We will implement assessments more regularly (I've only given 2 math tests this year!)
* I will further analyze our state test samples and align parts of my instruction with the way questions are presented
* I will not only focus on students who need extra challenge, but implement a structure that allows for remediation and extra support for those who need it (see yesterday's post)

With these goals in mind, I needed some new materials. I made two fantastic purchases from TPT, including One Stop Teacher Shop's Spiral Math Homework and Math Mojo's Math Exit Slips.

I'll talk about homework in another post, but today, I'm going to focus on Exit Slips and Data Tracking.

Math Mojo's Math Exit Slips contain 5 to 10 problems for each of the 5th Grade common core math standards. (She has also created exit slips for 3rd and 4th grade). When I saw these at such a good price, I new it was exactly what I needed for a quick morning work assignment for all grade levels. (Now, these were created as "exit slips" but I am using them as review/entry slips.)

On our workday, I got right at "getting ahead." I copied the exit slips for Numbers and Operations in Base 10 with two sets to a page to save on paper. Then I cut all the sets, paper clipped them,

and organized them into bags by concept.

Since the slips are so well organized by standard (and a dependable 5-10 practice problems for each concept), I also knew that I wanted students to be aware of their performance in each area and track their data. I created "Bar Graphs for Tracking Student Success" to go along with the exit slips.

I got carried away with my designs and ended up making 5 options. With Math Mojo's blessing, I uploaded this data tracking system to TPT.

 

How do I plan to use the exit slips?

1) Students receive 5 exit slips on Friday or Monday to glue into their math journals to prepare for the upcoming week. Students glue 2 exit slips on each page, leaving 1/2 of the page available to show their work or write a written response. (If you print the exit slips 4 to a page instead of 8 to a page like I did, students should have enough space to complete the problems on the slip).
2) Students complete one slip each morning for morning work and get it checked by the classroom teacher.
3) Since I am starting with exit slips mid-year, I will give students a mix of standards each week to allow for review and practice of previously taught concepts.
4) On data day, students color in their data bar graphs to show how they did on the week’s problems.

How do students fill out the bar graphs? Here's one possibility:

I'm so excited to use these math exit slips, and I think it will be exactly what my students need, no matter where they are on the continuum. (I have students who need review/remediation and then I have students who simply need to gain control of their accuracy with computations.) Next up, I will talk about my plans for "Algebraic Thinking Day."

My Math Schedule/Routine

I'm chiseling out my vision of next quarter. Did you hear that I get to teach math for all three classes? As promised, I'm going to be spending the next few weeks posting about my plans. First up, an outline of my routines/schedule for math block:

I like to think of my math block as broken into at least two sections. (Maybe it's from doing a few quarters of station-type math instruction, but it seems to work well to plan for 25 minute blocks. This helps to make sure instruction is varied and that whole group, small group, and independent work can happen throughout the day and the week).

To begin planning, I laid out the quarter with our "Focus Standards" (new material) and "Review Standards" for each week. For the first part of the week, we will focus on our "Focus Standards" (catchy, I know :). I will provide students with typical math lessons, explorations, and problem solving, as well as have them practice independently through task cards.

Wait! That's not all! Task card time will also be differentiated--I'll take all of the independent materials I plan to use for a given concept and "level" the resources. I'll decide which resources my more advanced students can skip and which resources some of my students will probably not complete. Basically, I will have a continuum of task cards and activities and I will place students where it makes sense for them to begin on this continuum. For students, it should feel like they are working in "stations" because each task will be placed in a different area of the classroom.

Why go ahead and plan for review throughout the quarter? I know that I have a lot of kiddos who either did not master skills earlier in the year or that need to spend time making sure those skills are maintained. With that in mind, I wanted review (and intervention) to be an integral part of our week and 3rd quarter. I am going to quiz on the review standards that I have designated for that week and then students who do not demonstrate mastery will work in the "review standards" station on Fridays. Friday is a great day for me to differentiate for these learners because my AIG teacher will take the AIG students for a 30 minute lesson. For the other half of Friday time, students will work with me to get extra reinforcement on the new math concepts we focused on during the week. Of course, students will be split into two or three groups during this time to provide for more small group time. (The third group may consist of students who don't need to work in the review standards station but also do not go to AIG. In this case, they will use an online program like Mobymax to work on individualized concepts).

In future posts, I'll delve deeper into what other things on my schedule mean, including Math Exit Slips, tracking data, Algebraic materials and website suggestions, differentiating homework, and maybe even the map of my quarter. Hope you enjoy hearing about math! I sure love thinking about it!

Departmentalizing 3rd Quarter! Math~Math~Math!!!!!

My team has been strongly considering departmentalizing for next year. We had pretty much convinced ourselves that we wanted to go for it in 2014-15, then I got to thinking....why not try it out 3rd quarter? We are a 5th grade team and we could use this as an opportunity to see if we like switching our students and we can prepare our students for middle school at the same time. I know many schools in our area departmentalize already, but with the great state of NC tying test scores to teacher evaluations (I don't really care about that part), every teacher has to have data (IE-be teaching in a tested subject). What this means for some schools is that kids get extra tests so that the teacher who teaches social studies has a test (over testing kids, I care about that part!).

To be honest, planning for science is the bane of my existence and I think life would be better if I didn't have to worry about it. It's also been a tough year to be a teacher and I've left many a math lesson this quarter saying, "If I could just teach math all day..." So, I am so excited about this opportunity to focus on a few things to teach well-rather than spreading myself thin and knowing that I could always be teaching a few subjects better on any given day.

How's this going to work? I am teaching math to all three classes, one teacher will teach science, and one will teach writing. Then, our social studies will be integrated into reader's workshop, and each teacher will teach reading for our homeroom class. I know everyone loves to see schedules, so ours will be something like this:

8-9               Block 1:Science
9-10             Block 2: Writer's Workshop
10-11           Block 3: Math
11-11:25      Lunch
11:25-11:55 Independent Reading/Writing Conference groups/Class meetings, etc
11:55-12:40 Specials
12:45-1:45   Reader's Workshop
1:45-2:20     Pack Up/Recess/Dismissal

One of the kinks we worked out was the transition time from homeroom to the first block. We decided that the kids would actually switch at 8:10. This gives us time to take attendance, take in any money being turned in, forms for the office, etc. Students will receive a morning work assignment  or something to get them prepared for their first block from that teacher. So, my math students will get a question to complete and my students will get something from the science teacher. The schedule also worked out nicely because students see us for a few minutes in the morning, transition to their two other blocks, then come back to their homeroom teacher for the rest of the day.

Here's the letter we sent to parents:

I've been outlining math for 3rd quarter (and even had to make some new purchases!) Stay tuned as I share about my plans for teaching math next quarter!

Clutter Free Update (paper-stacking)

Hey all,

I just wanted to share some pictures from my "Clutter-Free" efforts and some awesome supplies I recently bought. I had a rough day two Tuesdays ago and it was a Tuesday with no after school staff meeting or other engagement...Guess what I did to relieve some stress---started cleaning out my desk. And it looked like: BAM! 

 

Look at that baby, shining in all it's glory! I even had time to wipe it down and clean off some dust. Those *cute* little flower trinkets are crafty gifts from some of my kiddos. And that spinning supply organizer is a little something I coveted all summer before I grabbed it from overstock.com.

In Week # 7's Challenge, the Clutter Free Classroom encourages us to work on our paper clutter. I like to convince myself that I don't have a paper problem. I saw her handy method for organizing and filing papers in the teacher bag--a file-folio with labeled sections, and I thought "I don't need that. It's ONE MORE THING to 'organize' me, and I don't really have a paper problem." Ahh-hemmmm. Begin DISTRICT COMMON ASSESSMENTS here...OPEN ENDED, lots of GREAT components, and ahhh-hemmmmmm...lots of paperwork. Not to mention, I also assign student work out of my own choosing and would like to think sometimes I have the time to read it, grade it, rubric it...all that jazz (are you reading my hint of toooooo-much paperwork, end of quarter sarcasm?)

 Not too bad, huh? (whimpering a little as  I type here :( If everything has a place, where is the place for this stuff? I feel like I have too many containers, too many shelves, what to do that will work? (and not cost more money?? and not take up more space??? This sounds like a clutter-free dilemma!)

 I call this pic "paper stacks".

 I call this pic "more paper stacks," still whimpering! And yes, I strategically placed the stapler there so that we could all see how tall this one-of-ten paper stack is. Needless to say, all of these paper stacks went in my bag on Friday as I headed off for a weekend of sifting, grading, and preparing report cards.

And, in walks my common sense. Yes, I do need a "filing folio" for all of my paperwork. Although paperwork (like everything in my education world it seems) EBBS and FLOWS throughout a quarter, I really need a method for handling my TO DO, TO READ, TO GRADE, TO FILE, TO COPY, TO HOLD ON TO piles. These just get stuck into my bag until I get a chance (read--evening-at-home-not exhausted-motivation) to sift through them--almost never. BUT, I do find that when I sift through the papers, I keep shuffling them to "I'll need that again later, I still want to hold on to that." These papers obviously need a labeled section so that I don't have to constantly sift a whole pile but will know where to start when I want something or want to clean out all the paper.

I was even thinking it might help to have one of these file folders at school to house stacks of papers that need to be returned to students or need to be corrected by students. Unfortunately, I don't have the classroom space for student mailboxes and don't really love the look of them, so I do need baskets or something for organizing student stuff. I think it is a sign of insanity that I constantly carry the same things from home to school and back and some weeks I go until the weekend before I actually open my bag. (You must be thinking I'm a terrible teacher!)

And, hence, at 5:45 on a Friday, I bust into my favorite designer store, Tarjay, to find the perfect file-folio. And, they had one that matches my home office--bonus awesomeness!

In other Tarjay perfection news, I found file boxes in the dollar spot for--you guessed it--1$ AND the design also matches my home office.

Excuse the not-so-pretty shelf. Those file boxes made me pull it out from the garage where it's been for a year now. I think I'm going to paint it a pretty coral to spice it up. (Those baskets came from the dollar store a few weeks ago.) Next, I just need to figure out what else to store in the file boxes and make some cute labels for them.

Have you embarked on the Clutter-Free journey? If not, you should hop on over and catch up on the challenges! (I myself need to catch up on a few :)

Focus Focus-Working on Behavior part 2

 

In my last post, I shared that my class was having focusing and behavior issues.  This is the time of the year when we should be getting a lot done, when I as a teacher am reminded of how much we just haven't got to in science and social studies, and when it's quite possible that the kids are ready to fall apart see how much they can get by with.

To solve our learning and behavior issues, I put students in teams of three to discuss ideas they had for improving our learning environment. I gave students the following criteria for their ideas:

It must be:

Simple and Quick (IE, not extra work for the teacher!)

Effective

Positive/Less Punitive

My goal was that students would help me find positive ways to motivate them. I explained that negative consequences (emails to parents, silent lunch, laps at recess, etc) would come if the positive method did not help them change their behavior. As students started working and discussing, I also had to add NOT HUMILIATING to this list. They were thinking of some embarrassing punishments that I would never be able to use (but might dream of ;)

Here are some of the ideas students came up with:

* Writing in a feelings journal that you share with someone you trust to help you deal with friendship issues like arguments at recess

* require students to play a team game at recess if people are unfocused in order to learn to work together

* class apologies (we did this in January and students wanted time to do it again)

* 3 strikes you’re out-sit out for 5 min--individual based with a daily reward

* Silent lunch and 5 minutes extra recess each day for good behavior

* class dojo

For a second, I thought Class Dojo might be a good idea. We could create a CLASS dojo based on our class values and behaviors and work towards a group goal. (I was pretty anti individual dojo's because I know I wouldn't be good at giving positive feedback and it would be hard to do it equally and fairly for 20 kids.) Interestingly, for the most part, students were against Class Dojo because it is being used in our special area classes and they mentioned that it is causing them to compete to be the first student to do the things that get them positive points. I would bet it is also not really improving the behavior of the few who need to improve. 

We decided that instead of the feelings journal, we could have a table in the lunch room that was for problem-solving and discussing issues you have with the person you are not getting along with. (For the most part, my kiddos are friends and get along--but being together for two years means they do get irritated with each other and have conflicts). If students go to the table to discuss a problem, no one (including me) is allowed to ask what they were discussing. A few students have already used the problem solving table.

Moving on to classroom behavior issues, I had a few students disagree with getting rewarded every day for good behavior (candy, extra recess, etc). One student said "I don't think we should get rewarded for things that are expected."~~Phew! I was holding my breath waiting for someone to say what I was thinking. My kiddos have been with me long enough to know my belief system--do what's right, work hard, expect nothing in return. And sometimes, you might be surprised with a reward "just because." I think they also realized that a piece of candy wouldn't necessarily motivate them every day and wouldn't solve our problems.

Next we moved on to discuss the "3 strikes" idea. I reminded them that I wanted to start with positive strategies so we had to find a way to make this idea motivating. In comes the RECOGNITION WALL. I said I like the idea of three strikes and then explained an idea I had come up with as I listened to a small group discuss "3 strikes."75% of students voted yes on this method, so here it goes:

I created a recognition wall outside of the classroom so that the "Hall of Fame" is visible by students as they come into class and by visitors and other staff members. I created student name plates and then attached velcro pieces to the name plate and bulletin board paper. This makes it easy to attach and remove names daily. (You could use push pins or staples, too).

Each day I review the recognition wall before I leave school or look over it in the morning before students return to class. I decide who needs to be removed from the wall and who may have earned MVP status for that day’s behavior. I use MVP status to recognize out-of-the-ordinary good behavior.

I also made little baseballs to use as warning cards throughout the school day. I place them on students’ desks when behavior needs to change.

Lastly, I considered a few of my students that perhaps wouldn't be too motivated by the recognition wall. I really tried to get into their heads and figure out why they behave the way they do (making extra noises, talking excessively while I'm talking, etc.) For these students, I think it comes down to a desire for more attention from their classmates. I decided that perhaps a reward that pulls in a few other classmates would be motivating--choosing 2 or 3 classmates to eat with at lunch. (We have these circular tables in the middle of our lunchroom that seem "special.") With NO strikes, students can pick three friends, with TWO strikes, they can pick two friends, with THREE strikes, they get no reward that day. (So it goes 3-2-1...3 friends, 2 friends, no reward). When behavior changes more regularly, we may move to once a week rewards.

I placed the 3 strikes card onto these students desks after negotiating the reward with them. Of course, you can use the score card for consequences, but I wanted to try positive motivation. You might also have a class of students that all need the cards on their desk. In that case, you would have to come up with a reward that is possible to give to everyone, but I have had the experience that it's a small few students that disrupt the class. Generally, most students are motivated by simple recognition. (Maybe students get their name in a jar for no strikes and you pull out a few at the end of the week to receive some type of reward).

I have worked on a few versions of the Recognition/Behavior Management wall.

I may come up with a few more themes, but these are the three I was able to get finished so far. Let me know if you have one you would like to see. I have decided to charge 1.20 for these. With a few minutes of printing and cutting, your recognition wall can be ready to go in no time!

2013 Clutter Free Classroom Challenge!

2013's Week 2 challenge for the clutter free classroom is to "share your plans," including generating a list of "non-negotiable rules." I started working on a Clutter Free Classroom in May of 2012. You can see some old, SCARY photos of my messy classroom. I am happy to say that some of these problem areas were improved tremendously last year, but now that I am over half a year away from that work, I know that I can go through the same process again and make even more improvements. (PS-If you want to check out any of my Clutter Free Classroom Posts, it's one of my labels, so they are easy to find.)

I LOVE the clutter-free classroom challenge because it BEGS us to STOP, take a look around, notice the pile-age and get to work on our environment.

A lot of my plan may look familiar, circa May 2012. 

Plan and Strategies:

* Have one goal/problem area to target each week. If I don't get it done that week, don't get upset. Move forward to the next week. (I am ALWAYS too ambitious with my to-do list :( )
* Work, work, work! Start small. Use music to make the process more enjoyable and time the work.
* When my ability to get rid of stuff starts to dwindle--stop for the day. (Ever notice the longer you work to get rid of stuff, the more you start to hold on to? Maybe I should be on an episode of hoarders...:))
* As I am working, continue to make lists of tasks that students can help with before the bell rings and after school

Rules for what I must get rid of:

(1)-If it has dust bunnies on it, LET IT GO. (Ha ha, makes me laugh. "Of course I will use this next year." Yeah right!)
(2)-If I know I can access it in my personal computer files or online (since we update things all the time anyway, I rarely just pull worksheets out of my folders and make copies anymore, so why hang on to the copies?).   


Old Rules from Last Year that I No Longer Need: (Success!!)
- it's not mine, it has to go (I have a tendency to hoard professional materials from the library in fear that when I need them, someone else will have checked them out...no more!)
-Get rid of it If I don't have a plan for using it (this will be tough! Don't we love to hold on to things, just in case...)
-Get rid of it If it doesn't fit into my grade-level (this will be tough since I have looped, but I'm sure there are things that just don't fit in either 4th or 5th grade curriculum.)
-If I have NEVER used the resource in my teaching career and don't foresee it being useful next year. 
 
What I Accomplished Last Year:
1)-Taking control of the mess on my desk: create a functional space for upcoming lessons (worksheets, materials, etc.) closer to my desk but separate so that it does not take over my desk  (This space is mostly functional, but could use some work.)
2)-Reduced file cabinets and get rid of one (Check! Now I'm going to work on doing it again and reducing the one that's left even more :) )
3)-Purged professional materials that I know I'm not using (Let's do this one AGAIN! Still have plenty on my shelves that I have not touched this year.)
4)-De-clutter wall space (This happened!)
5)-Reduce unnecessary picture books from my collection (My first strategy for this is to sort my books into two piles---I've EVER read it to a class and I've NEVER read it to a class. If I can see myself reading a NEVER book to my class next year, I can keep it. If not, I will be sending a gift of great books down to a lower-grades classroom.) (Got it down to one shelf, and made some donations to the lower grades' teachers!)

Lastly, I love the clutter-free classroom's rules to remember:

1) You can't organize clutter. (This reminds me not to buy a ton of things to ORGANIZE what I have, but to get rid of things that I do not need and buy organizational items when I know exactly what I need.)
2) Your trash is {quite possibly} another person's treasure. (If other teachers came into my room and said "Hey, I could use that," I would have no problem giving it away. So, when I was de-cluttering, instead of moving materials into our mailbox room, I sent an email with the resources I was trying to get rid of. They were taken up within the hour and I was pleased to be giving up something someone else might use.)
3) There is no value in an object that isn't being used. (This is harsh, isn't it? I think it means we have to get rid of gifts kids have given us and other cutesy things that are just sitting around with no purpose.)   

If you want to start organizing your classroom, don't forget to head on over to the clutterfreeclassroom blog  for awesome tips and inspiration. And, blog up and join the LINKY party (at anytime, no real time limit. Jump into the organizing fun!:)

Back to School 2012-2013 Bulletin Boards Tour # 2

I have two more bulletin boards to share with you today...my content area bulletin boards for Social Studies and Science. This summer, I worked on a social studies board that would allow us to represent the time periods in United States History that we study as well as the themes of social studies. Here's what I came up with:

There are many reasons why I love this board, and as I kick off the school year, I'm finding more things to love about it! I have really been reflecting on social studies and trying to figure out what pulls it all together--I think my timeline notebooks and this bulletin board are going to streamline my social studies instruction, make it MEATY-er, and spiral many of the themes in history throughout the year so that my students (young as they are) can start to understand the big ideas and themes that keep popping up in history. 

Later this week, I'm going to tell you about my social studies workshop.  One component of social studies workshop is a 5-7 minute minilesson. I love this board because our minilesson can focus on an aspect that we aren't going to study in too much detail, but I can talk about it enough that we can summarize it on our board and make connections with what we have learned so far. Basically, it can allow me to elicit students ideas and create knowledge about the strands in social studies even if we don't have a ton of time to spend on that aspect. I also love that this board will allow us to make connections between time periods. For example, when we study the Civil War, we can go back to Colonization and the American Revolution to examine how the economies of the Northern and Southern colonies differed and how the fear that the constitution would not be ratified planted the long-term seeds of slavery. 

Another component of social studies workshop is a debrief or reflection. Many of our debriefs will focus on composing a paragraph that summarizes the knowledge we have gained about the different aspects of social studies, for example, the geography of the colonies. We can then post our summary on the bulletin board. 

In very similar fashion, I created the following bulletin board for science. I had to use two of my small bulletin boards to display our science curriculum for the year. Here we will post our key learning from the unit. These are the big ideas that I need students to master and walk away with. I also had in mind to add a section for each goal for key vocabulary, but I didn't have enough space on the board, so I am posting our science vocabulary in another area of the room.

If you would like to download the social studies bulletin board materials, it's a freebie on TPT. 
If you are a 5th grade NC teacher and would like the science bulletin board materials, I have put it in google docs for you. 

Have you made functional bulletin boards for your classroom? What I love about these is anyone (student, teacher, principal, parents) can walk into the room and see what we are going to be learning by looking around.

Social Studies workshop....coming up!

Back to School 2012-2013 Bulletin Boards Tour #1

One of my biggest goals for this year was to create bulletin boards that represent our curriculum, tie everything together, and most importantly that are interactive and serve a purpose. With my goal of creating a Love of Language and dedicating more time to language and vocabulary study this year, I needed bulletin boards that would help me represent our Love of Language as it develops throughout the year. I created this bulletin board where I will post our Figurative Language and Context Clue examples for the week.  This board should be in full action on Friday when I post examples. I will be sure to take another picture to share with you.

 

I used my messy (now sort of organized) storage cabinet for another component of our Love of Language studies. This is where I will display our Nifty Thrifty Fifty words as they are introduced. (We already have some posted from this week but I forgot to snap a picture of it.) Can you see that brown contact paper in the background? I think I found the perfect use for it and it ties in with my brown/aqua theme nicely.

Under our Love of Language bulletin board, I have created a space for us to classify our read alouds into themes. I think this is so important to get started with right away this year so that we can take our understanding of theme deeper as we reach for the common core standards.

Have you checked out my Love of Language classroom materials? You can learn more about it here: http://lifeloveliteracy.blogspot.com/2012/07/for-love-of-language-classroom.html

Stay tuned! Next, I'll share my content area bulletin boards.