New Routines

I have yet to find the sweet spot in my schedule. If it isn't a lack of continuity with my reading/writing workshops, it is a lack of focus on strategy instruction in reading. If it isn't one thing, it's another. I feel like I have solved part of my reading/writing workshop issue with my larger blocks of study. Going to 3+ weeks of consistent writing focus have given us more continuity, and led to some better results. Our writing stamina could use some work, but alas I digress.

The issue I have currently is with the reading section of my social studies block. It is a combined literacy block focused on social studies. But the issues we (I) run into are a lack of reading strategy focus as we continue through units. Additionally, we end up missing much of the fiction component that goes into reading. We end up doing more writing about social studies, and re-reading for specificity as opposed to simply reading.

The solution I've started to employ is breaking my social studies block into 2 parts: reading strategy and a social studies content focus. We start with 10-20 minutes (15 as a ballpark est) of silent reading in our 5th grade reading anthology. The reading is half, or a quarter, of a selection (which they already break into sections). Then we transition into our content focus area for the next 35-45 minutes. I need to front load the content and strategy info on Monday but the carry over should be successful.

My objectives in doing this are that 1) we'll engage in some thoughtful fiction/nonfiction study unrelated to social studies, 2) we'll practice reading comprehension strategies in a variety of formats, and 3) we'll have a period of time to acclimate, similar to having a read aloud or silent reading.

Let the Feasting Commence

We are 3 hours away from the Thanksgiving break. Conferences are complete, and we're all staring at 4.5 days of relaxation ahead. No homework, no projects, no planning (at least for the kids). I'll likely take a day or two then put some work into the next block of teaching time, ensuring instruction and assessment are in line.

Conferences do many things. The amount of work put into instruction is less, simply because there is less instructional time to work about. Work is shifted to looking closely at assessment data, and deciding where some instructional gains can be made. Time is invested in building relationships with parents and families, and it has been fantastic.

I walk away more committed to my kids. I'm excited to rest up, take a fresh look at what is coming up, and ensure that I have quality instruction planned. That is, of course, after lots of turkey.

It All Starts

Parent-Teacher-Student conferences start tomorrow. I'm a little nervous, but really excited. I've got folders with a variety of information setup, and I feel pretty organized. Of course if I had my wits about me I would have prepared far further in advance. As it was today was a busy day of going back over everything, making sure assessment data was in folders, and writing down strengths and areas for improvement.

Once the first one has started I don't really have a chance to breath, which is a good thing. More time to think means more time to stress over what went well/not. I feel comfortable adjusting as I go, and this will be a similar experience. As a whole, the formula is fairly similar for everyone. Talk about what has gone well, and overall strengths. Then go over assessment data and evidence, and use that as a segue into a conversation about areas for improvement. The goal is for it to be a conversation about where the child is on the continuum, with everyone interested in the child's development. Should be fun. A full slate tomorrow and Monday, and fewer on Tuesday.

From Good to Tremendous

There are a variety of good things happening in the classroom right now. I've got my assessments laid out for the remainder of my unit, some small and some big. I didn't quite have this laid out earlier, and it is a bit of a relief (I knew where I was going, but there are few assessments with the curricular materials... and they're spotty). So assessment is going on the right track.

One of the lead up projects is creating an audio advertisement for one of the early colonies. This requires finding main ideas in our social studies text, deciding which they'd most like to live in, and then spinning the information into a written script. To put it all together, I'm teaching a few kids how to use Audacity, and then having them teach others how to use it (they essentially become engineers leading their peers). Thus far it has been really successful. Hearing their ad, and then knowing they'll be voting for where they'd most like to live based on the ads, has generated some buzz.

I'm also pulling small groups during each rotation. I have 3-4 students per rotation, per day, that I am focusing on monitoring their comprehension. Right now we are doing less strategy instruction, but that will come back post-Thanksgiving. I'm working more on nonfiction structures, and text structures as a whole, which has also been successful.

Lastly, some good things are coming in our writing block. Devoting a number of days to writing (3 weeks now?!) has given us a chance to really develop some ideas. We're writing essays, and now that everyone is back from sickness we're moving towards putting things together. Very excited.

Updating the Wiki

Our class wiki has been getting quite a bit of use. I've used it as a receptacle for information so that students are able to access information at home. This has alleviated sending home the textbook. Granted, the information in the textbook is at a lower level, and a bit more accessible. Nonetheless the wiki has been a useful tool.

This week is when I start to release some of the control. One of the assignments for the week is for the kids will be to describe one of the colonies using some of the information we've been gathering. The information fits into the categories of: Reasons for Founding, Geography, Economy, and Government. We created questions that matched those categories so that we could be strategic in our reading, and more focused when looking for information.

What students will be charged with is choosing one of the colonies, and writing a 1-2 paragraph description of the colony. They will also need to search for at least one link that adds more information for the colony. We'll then group responses by colony, and read them to evaluate which we think is most accurate and descriptive.

Soon after we'll add a section on where you'd want to live if... (you wanted religious freedom? you wanted self-government? you wanted to sow seeds of flax?!). I'm excited to relinquish some of the control (granted I still need to post things, or have kids post during class with supervision).

Grading and the Upper Grades

There is quite a bit to grade in the intermediate grades. Combine that with our rotations, seeing 60+ kids a day, and I'm under a deluge of papers. If there was one piece of advice I could give to new teachers, it would be that you need a system for tracking assessment information. You start with what your assessments are going to be, as well as what is acceptable evidence of learning. Then once you give that assessment, enter it into a grade book or spreadsheet.

Personally, I prefer a spreadsheet with names on the side and assessment on the top. Then you include their score and your rationale in each cell. I date mine as well, making it easier to sort (as well as to show growth over time- seeing it linearly). Right now I am behind in entering my assessment data, making this grading period seem to drag on for eons. I've spent today entering data, and then making claims from that data (another good thing is using an assessment spreadsheet and a grading spreadsheet, and tiling them so that you can look at the evidence on the top and the section on the bottom).

I've been behind, using more formative and informal assessment than summative. That is fine,
but not entering it is inexcusable. Well... maybe slightly excusable for my first year.
*Note: I'll display a screen shot later, but not currently as it has names attached and I'm in the midst of entering data :)

Quality Assessments

I wrote earlier about my reliance on the reading-writing connection. That connection has been one of my main ways of assessing comprehension. I want to ensure authentic assessments, and fewer photocopied sheets that relate to readings out of context. Those readings aren't entirely bad, as they certainly save time and they are focused in on particular skills. But I'd like to see where student thinking is, and see how they are processing information. Hence why I have relied on writing.

What I stumbled across this morning was a post on the Tempered Radical. His post was in regards to a classroom blog, and some of the in's and out's using that mode of technology. Among the many things I've been thinking about, a classroom blog has been one of them. In fact I've been considering it since September, so this was a nice post (series of posts actually) related to how to best make use of blogs.

Ideally I'd like to get one up and running. I'd assign different kids to write each week, and others to comment. We'd have a focus question or prompt related to the social studies content, and they'd be given some time in class to write (as well as time at home to finish). I've stopped short, largely because I've chosen to focus in on the instruction, and I haven't wanted to jump through the hoops of getting parent permission quite yet. But I think that time is coming near.

Why so near? Because I am going to get social studies podcasts up and running. I've got two working microphones, and a handful of student computers. My goal is similar to that of student blogging, in that students will be discussing what they've learned. They'd work on a script or have some focus questions to answer prior to their recording. I believe I need to get approval for students to record and publish (for the sake of uploading to the public at-large). If I am going to do that, I will get permission for both. Save paper, have clear instructional goals laid out. We'll see. I think both could be highly effective tools that aren't entirely reading/writing based.

Change of Plans

Probably the most important part of teaching is knowing your kids. As a first year teacher, I don't have the wealth of experience that veteran teachers do, and that I second guess myself a bit. Are my kids having the expected outcome? Are they meeting my learning target? What could/should I change to make maximize engagement?

This week I had one of those second guessing moments. We had transitioned from reviewing some cause-effect relationships in fairly easy text to looking for them in our social studies text. In particular, what caused events that formed colonies, and what was the effect of those events? Once we transitioned, the learning became fragmented, and lots of off-task behavior started. For me, the off-task behavior isn't the kids fault. It is related to my instruction, and my lack of scaffolding (as well as engaging work).

Instead of working with small groups and helping them on the text, we read whole group. We stopped looking for events that happened, and looked for the cause/effect. Big questions were "Why did that happen? Who did that impact? or What was the impact of that?" For example, the Jamestown colony was built on a marsh. What was the effect of that? Light bulbs went off as we traveled through the idea that mosquitoes were there in the wet marsh. Mosquitoes carry malaria, and the settlers got bit by them... hence they died. Ah ha!

Again, it takes re-reading. Re-reading isn't lots of fun. But it needs to be done.

The Reading-Writing Connection

I wish that I had a Reader's Workshop. I do, in some respects, with my homeroom kids. But I wish I was able to implement it with the remainder of my kids. Why? Because I think it is a fantastic way to teach reading. In the workshop you provide mini-lessons geared towards the needs of your kiddos, from which you are able to individually monitor as needed. You can also use reader's notebooks to track the thinking of your students as they employ the strategies you've taught.

My reading instruction is currently heavily dependent on writing. Why? Writing is my main method of assessing their comprehension. In some ways this is great. It gets them actively engaged in processing the information they are reading. Additionally I find that writing is a way that forces them to fully communicate their thinking, something they might not otherwise do.

The main pitfall is that it is time consuming. Using writing also requires that kids are able to write in some capacity. I've fallen into this mode where I have kids writing a bit too much, instead of using other methods of assessing their comprehension. Right now we are taking information from three different colonies and describing them as though we were there. They need to use information from their FQR (fact/question/response) sheet to help them in their writing. But instead of going deeper with the reading, we get bogged down in the writing. Thankfully I have reading going home on a near nightly basis.

Appetizers... Starters

My afternoon is not setup ideally. In an ideal world I'd have 5 consecutive days where I have a 2:00-3:00 block of time, or something close to it. Instead I have 3 days/wk, with my Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays being my writing days. On Tuesday I have a specialist at 2:30, and on Wednesdays we have district-wide early dismissal at 1:30 for staff development. I love the latter, because it allows for collaboration and time to get things done (time as a whole!). The former is simply a necessity, as that is when we could fit it in.

What is the point of explaining that? Well, because I am pushing onward with a new unit of study in writing. We are going to work on crafting essays. Thus far it hasn't been the most successful endeavor. Much of this is related back to my instruction. I jumped too far ahead from the start, prompting them to use the small things they notice as essay starters. That is fine, but you need to give them a scaffold:
small things---> larger generalizations.

How am I changing? We are going to move forward, and eventually circle back to the small things. We'll use a prompt as a starter "I learn many new things are school." From there we'll be practicing using elaborating phrases like "for example; this connects with; In addition; this makes me realize...". After modelling, and guided practice, we'll move onward to taking some of our ideas further with these phrases. I'll also point out some of the different ideas that can be used, and those that are being used by our class.

Then later in the week we'll go back and look at some of our ideas to see if there bigger ideas inside. We'll also use some other strategies to generate essay ideas- conversational starters etc. The end going being that we'll start working on the structural elements (thesis, big ideas, examples/supporting details). The hope is that this allows them to extend thinking on ideas further, and construct arguments related to big concepts. Right now it is a work in progress.