A Booming Economy

The sixth graders of Bristol Bay are going to be learning a lot of useful life skills this year as they take part in a token economy. Money management is a vital skill for every adult, so why not start practicing at eleven? Thanks to www.mykidsbank.org, our kiddos will get TONS of practice. On the site, I have set up a classroom bank where each student has an online bank account that can be accessed from any computer. Parents will be able to access the accounts to see the credits and debits their child has earned. Each student will start the year with a balance of $15 and will earn a salary of $4 a week (with $1 being deducted from the salary with each detention, eek!) Students can also earn money by turning in assignments on time and holding a classroom job. Debits will be given for classroom misbehavior, late assignments, and missing materials. And don't forget the rent! Desk rental is $10 a month.

With the money students earn, they can purchase passes to use in the classroom or small prizes from the Shopping Shack (again, we have a beach theme this year). As the year goes on, I would like to add some large prizes so that students learn to save for things they really want. I am very excited about getting this started, and I truly believe the students will get a lot from this experience. Take a look at www.mykidsbank.org to see how you can incorporate it in your room!

Now That's Pinterest-ing!

www.pinterest.com 

Go there! I heard about this site a few days ago, so I thought I would check it out this morning. It functions as a virtual pin board so you can collect all of the cool images you find on the web in one location. I am loving the teaching blogosphere that I have recently dove into, and Pinterest helps me organize all the neat things I find! I have a pinboard dedicated to classroom ideas so that I don't lose track of all of the great ideas out there. Check out my pinboards; my username is MissKnudsen. Happy pinning!

It's Getting Closer

I am working tirelessly decorating a classroom that is strangely similar to mine but drastically different. Huh, I don't remember having a hallway in my room, or a wall full of cabinets. I begin to think that it's time to get my plans together, and in walk 15 or so 6th graders, backpacks and school supplies in tow. I'm not at all ready! Running frantically into the hallway I see teachers lining the hallway to the left and right (weird, since my real classroom is at the end of the hall). All the other teachers are ready and smiling, and I have no idea how to occupy my antsy eleven year olds for 4 hours. I take a deep breath and pull out "The Hobbit" and begin to read it aloud. After a few spellbinding chapters, I am rattling my brain to think of our next activity. Out in the hallway I see some of my students from last year walking down the hallway towards 7th grade. A few hugs and "my, you've grown!"s later, I open my eyes and I'm lying in my bed and the clock reads 2:35.

It was just as dream--I'm still teaching in my classroom next year, I still have time to finish everything I need to finish, and my students won't show up for a few more weeks. I feel much better knowing that for now I can relax and go back to sleep, but I can't help but think about what my dream may be telling me...

The Math Center

This is the math center that will be essential to implementing guided math in my classroom. The cabinet in the corner is where students will track their progress in mastering their math facts. Each time a student passes a test, they will add a surfboard to their tower (we have a beach theme this year). Timers and the paper surfboards will be kept in the surfboard bin on the table. The wall has reference posters for students as well as expectations posters for completing the problem solving journal entries and seatwork. The large lined paper poster is for writing notes on in dry erase markers. This is a place where I can copy example problems and other notes that will help students in their seatwork and other tasks. The table has a bin with the timed math facts tests and review games. The binders hold the answers to the timed tests, seatwork assignments, seatwork answer keys, and the problem solving journal prompts. This center provides students with everything they need for their independent work. When I meet with students in small groups, we meet at a table in the front of the room near the white board. Please check back soon for posts that give more information on each of the stations students complete during math!

Don't forget to follow Give Them the World on Twitter! @GiveThemWorld

Looking Ahead

It’s almost the start of a new school year, and I can’t wait to get into the classroom tomorrow and jump back into the world of teaching, learning, and discovering. There are bulletin boards to be decorated, bins to be organized and plans to be made, but most importantly, there are 30 eleven and twelve year olds that need to walk into a room with a teacher that is ready to help them grow, learn, and experience the world. My number one goal this year is to provide all of my students with questions and challenges that make them think deeply--all day, everyday. I want this year to be a year where I open the doors of discovery to the world that surrounds them.

I am looking forward to teaching ancient world history again and helping the students discover the world they live in through the world that has been. I am excited to start a new journey teaching science and helping students discover the natural world around them. I am ecstatic to introduce students to new worlds, new people, and new stories through reading, writing and listening. And finally, I cannot wait to help my students develop the skills they need to analyze the world of numbers we live in. My world will change when my students walk through my door on the first day of school, and hopefully so too, will theirs.

To Grade or Not to Grade...

Watching the evening news last night, a story came on that really caught my attention. It was a story on one school district that has said sayonara to grading homework. YES! A whole school district that has adopted a viewpoint that I feel is so beneficial to student learning.

When I put a “B” on one of my student’s report card, I want it to illustrate that this child has mastered 85% of the material covered in class. When I send that report card home, I want the parents to get that same message. If I were to start calculating homework completion as part of their grade, that “B” is going to mean something else. It may mean this student mastered 92% of the material that I taught, but just couldn’t find the motivation to complete his or her homework, or it may mean that this student really only mastered 74% of the material, but he or she turned in the assignments on time. This is why when I look back at my grade book at the end of a grading period, I see projects, tests, and quizzes—no homework—and each time, I feel confident that the grade each child earned accurately portrays the amount of material he or she mastered.

I hear a lot of teachers and parents say, “Homework is important, and if you don’t grade it, the students won’t be motivated to complete it.” I say they are right, unless they are provided with some other form of motivation. It was my principal last year who really helped me solidify my viewpoint on this. Homework completion is a behavior problem, not an academic problem. Not completing an assignment by the time it is due is a behavior that shows a lack of responsibility, so that’s why in my classroom, it leads to a behavioral consequence.

Don’t get me wrong, I still score the homework, look it over, mark incorrect answers, and review it with students, but I don’t put any points in the grade book. When the students do their homework without a reward of points, they are building an important point of view that some things need to be done just because it is the right thing to do. And when they don’t complete their work, I provide them with opportunities to adjust their behavior, which in turn sets them on a track towards responsible learning.

My Adventures with Guided Math

Last year I dabbled in guided math by incorporating stations, centers, small group instruction, leveled assignments, and individualized plans. But this year, it’s really going to take off. After learning about The 2 Sisters and their Daily 5 literacy system, it hit me—why not math?! There was born my own version of Daily 5 math. The sisters are currently working on a book for Daily 5 math, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it, but for now, I have some ideas of my own.

Let me give you a little background information before I dive in. I teach self-contained 6^th grade in an elementary building. This school year, I expect to have just around (most likely just above) 30 students in my class. As anyone in education knows, or really anyone around children,  not one child is at the same level as any other child in the class. That became agonizingly clear during the first few months of my teaching career last fall. Nothing pained me more than standing at the front of the room during the middle of my lesson seeing 5 students already done with their homework and reading under the table, 10 students miserably writing down notes that they don’t need in their notebook, 8 students staring at me like I am speaking in some strange language from another universe, and the 5 or so that are perfectly matched to my lesson for the day. For the first few weeks I found solace in the 5 students whom I knew were really benefiting from my instruction, but that little voice in the back of my head every day and night yelling “hello! You have 25 more in there, too!” finally got too loud. That’s when my attempt at guided math started.

Thanks in large part to the help of our district’s gifted math director, I would say I did a pretty good job differentiating, teaching in small groups, and assigning leveled assignments. My students scores went up, they were more engaged, and the overall climate in room 2004 improved. But with all of the systems I was trying, I felt like I spent half of my time teaching the class how to do their math assignments instead of teaching the math! I pushed through, however, and kept making tweaks and improvements to my math class. It was close to the end of the year and my teaching partner and I were excitedly discussing our plans for next year (as we just learned we would be going self-contained—I picked up science and language arts, and she would be adding math and history). I couldn’t wait to teach reading and writing using the Daily 5. LIGHTBULB! Out of nowhere I asked myself, why can’t I use this for math? My answer was you can … and you will.

I have spent my summer organizing my thoughts, writing them down, and beginning to put together what I think may be the best thing since sliced bread for my classroom. Here is what I came up with:

Set-up:

Students will be divided into 4 flexible groups. I will meet with 3 groups each day for about 20 minutes each. My group of highest achievers typically can get through more objectives at one meeting, therefore they will meet with me on average 3 times per week. When students are not meeting with me, they will have tasks to complete and a log sheet to turn in for accountability. Each student should do all 5 at some point throughout the week. I am still in the process of deciding how many times a week each student should complete each five, but that will be decided and posted for them before the first day of school.

The 5

Meet with Teacher

            This is where the heart of differentiating takes place. Depending on the group’s needs, I can alter my strategies, pacing, and work levels. This is where I can reteach and provide extra examples, or add enrichment work that I do not expect all students to master. This is where all new material is covered. On some days, I can use Meet with Teacher time to provide one-on-one instruction to a few students.

Seatwork

            All students will complete the assigned seatwork each day on their own at their desks. This is the practice and review for lessons that are taught at the small group table. My ultimate goal is to have most of my seatwork differentiated, but that may have to come in to play later on.

Math Facts

            Students should do math fact practice throughout the week. This consists of “mad minute” written practice with a timer and a partner, completing a “Math Facts in a Flash” test on the computer, or playing fact games. I will designate which of the above tasks is the option for the day or week.

Problem Solving Journal

            Every student will have a notebook that is solely designated for solving word problems. In it they will show and label all of their work and write a written explanation of their reasoning. Problems may be review from past topics, logic problems, or ISAT practice problems. I will respond to their entries when they turn in their journal. (See Odds n’ Ends)

Games

            What fun is math without games! I will provide an array of games that cover skills taught in small groups, strategy, logic, and sometimes even just plain fun.

Odds n’ Ends: All of my students will have a math folder that will contain their Daily 5 math log and seatwork. They should also keep their Problem Solving Journal in their math folder. Each student will have a specified day to turn in their Daily 5 materials and should turn in anything that has not already been checked; this should alleviate some of the grading stress by separating the students into separate days.

Well here we have it, the basic plan for math in Miss K’s class. My plan is to have an entry for each of the 5 so that I can delve deeper into what happens in my classroom, so please check back often for more information. For now, I would love to hear your comments and questions!

Hello! I will be posting my first blog within the next 2 days. Please check back soon to follow me on my teaching journey! Let's give the children the world!