I {heart} clipboards

Highlight of the day... all of the kids walking around the room with clipboards, asking each other what their favorite ______ was, and then compiling graphs. Well, not everyone was making a graph, but they were all engaged. It was a little loud, a little chaotic, but really awesome! Tomorrow I'm posting pictures of seeds in a bag... oh so cool!

Paper Slicers Are Fun

I almost lost my thumb today in an accident with a paper slicer. Yeah, you read that right. I had a run-in with a paper slicer. I wasn't being careful, maybe the lack of running this morning (it wakes me up) or the noise in the room (there were people talking), but I just simply was a bit aloof. The result was me sliding the paper (and thumb) under the slicer. I brought it down (relatively hard) on my left thumbnail. It left a mark, but didn't draw blood. Lesson learned:
Pay
Attention

Outliers

Instruction improved today... at least the results did. I am not sure if it was being back from break for a second day, or better planning, or simply being used to better weather (an April rarity), but things certainly improved. We'll see if the yo-yo pattern continues through tomorrow, or if it is steady as she goes. I'm hopeful.

Now why is this entitled "outliers"? Well I am curious if my instruction is effective with 75-85% of the kids, but just not working with the other 15-25%. I'm not sure if that is an instructional issue, or if it is a product of the social dynamics in the room (kids who want to be friends, want to talk all day long about what they want to talk about, etc). As I see it, the issue is creating a space for them to have those conversations so that the sidetalk will dissipate. Or... is the issue one of having relevant material? Hmmm.

Tonight I need to craft a letter to parents introducing myself, and giving them an idea that I have a clue what I am doing. What am I doing anyway? Well tomorrow we'll plant some seeds, and continue to improve our writing... amongst other things.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pictures. That depends on me bringing a camera to school...

Not too hard, not too easy

I did a mini-lesson on just-right books today. I talked about how I thought of them while I was at the bookstore over break, and how I wondered how they would go about finding their own book. So I played the part of 1st grader, and they played the part of private eye. Their job was to watch what I was doing while I looked for a just right book, and then share that with their shoulder partner. My plan was for them to share their partners idea out to the group, and then practice at their tables with bins that I had constructed for them.

Overall, I was pleased. They really haven't been taught how to do think-pair-share together, but have done it (to varying degrees) over the course of the year. Partnering is always a gamble, which is problematic for me as I want kids to work in partnerships as often as possible. But they were able to find my key points (you: looked through the book, looked at the title to see if I might be interested, tried to read some it, tried to sound out words too, compared to things I had read before). Practicing... they were great too. Some great moments of kids saying "this is not just right for me, the words are too hard," and others saying "I have read this before, so I know it is just right."

The biggest issue I run into is the combination of pacing and re-teaching. Partnering and just right books are new for them, and most lessons have tended to be small group through anthologies... so this is all very new! Overall though, I'll take it. Score one for just right books!

6-9 Weeks

My big job for the next few days is to make a plan for the next few weeks. "Few?" you say, "What do you mean by 'few'." Well I haven't narrowed down just how far out I want to go, but I want a working draft of the next 3-5 weeks. At the very least that will give me something to put into my university binder, but it with also give me an idea of what direction I want to take this bus of 1st and 2nd grade learning.

Normally I think a student teacher might be picking up where their master teacher left off. For me, I have been given a blank slate. I asked if I could implement some new ideas, such as having kids independent reading, new writing mini-lessons, etc... and I was given a green light. But in order for kids to read independently, they need to know how to find just right books. Kids also need to be taught what it means to think while reading, and how to talk to partners about the books they are reading. The bottom line is there is much to do.

Now I'm not quite sure how long my student teaching will go on for. Student teaching, solo that is, should go for 6 weeks and end by June 4th. I've gone one week solo, and have at least another 5. I'll teach for as long as they let me, maybe 6... maybe 9 (if it is through the 4th!). There is more planning to be done.

It Takes a Village

I am struggling with ideas for the "Village." Village is a giant project that the school undertakes where each classroom becomes a store. My master teacher has sold plants in the past, and we will be doing that again this year. But I am trying to conjure up other ideas that we can have at our store... Ideally I would have some ideas going forward, and I plan to also bring this to our kiddos... what do they think our class should sell to go with our plant/garden theme? Any ideas would be appreciated...

Recharging

Since I've been on Spring Break, I've made a clean break from school stuff (at least student teaching stuff). I'm running quite a bit, 54 miles thus far (another 37 planned for the other 3 days), and feeling great. I've also been doing some odds and ends in hopes of staying mildly busy. But that was until this morning, and the rain/snow mixture Mother Nature surprised us with!

I decided to get back on the horse today. I took TeacherWife into the classroom today to show her around, and to see what I might need to accomplish in the coming days. I was considering moving stuff around, and having another set of hands would certainly make it easier. Sooo... we moved desks around. The biggest change is that the document camera is closer to the projector screen, and I sit on that side (instead of on the opposite side, leaving a bunch of empty space). I shifted the desks too, and everyone has a good view of the screen. Beyond that... I can see everyone's face when teaching (instead of having 3-4 behind me, and looking at the back of everyone's head).