Acceptance

Every year, I work really hard to cultivate a classroom environment centered around respect and acceptance. Yesterday, I realized that what I was doing was working.

Yesterday was 80's day at my school. After our Morning Meeting, I decided to play "Vogue" for fun. The next thing I noticed was that my kids arranged themselves in a circle to have a dance-off. I had no part in this, besides video taping my students.  What I observed during this was wonderful. They cheered each other on, helped organize the circle, laughed, and just had a lot of fun.

I think adults could really learn a lot from these kids.They demonstrated what it looks like to accept others, regardless of the differences present. In fact, diversity is embraced and acknowledged in my class, by my kids.

Take a few minutes and watch this heart-warming video!

YOU MATTER!

"You matter" might look like two words put together. You might think, "yea, okay...I matter." However, it's so much more than this.

Before I get into this blog post, I want to thank Angela Maiers for inspiring this post. She doesn't know me and I don't know her per se, but that's why the Internet is beautiful.

What makes an exceptional teacher is the connection he/she has with his/her students. Without a connection, it doesn't really matter what is taught.

What makes a good person, is not the talent, job, money, or possessions one has. What makes a good person is someone who recognizes the people who matter, who thank those who help him/her, who knows that other people matter and acknowledges them. It's someone who not only works hard and passionately, but recognizes others who do the same.

My students matter. They matter to me, to each other, and to people around them. How else could their confidence grow? How else could they truly be successful? Mattering is the easy part. Students and all of the human race need to be recognized, something that we often do not think about.

In a class of 23 students, each student matters differently. It's recognizing a student who is working with a student needing help, without me asking. It's acknowledging a student who struggles with remembering what is learned day-to-day, when he/she connects to something learned the day before, to a current read-aloud.  It's taking the time and recognizing those students.  It's modeling this behavior constantly. It's understanding that recognition is the key to success.

"YOU MATTER" is my behavior system in class. There are no prizes or extrinsic rewards. When recognized, students get a token to put in our class bag and a stamp on their hand to show their parents. Tokens are pulled to help with classroom responsibilities. 

I wouldn't be the teacher I am today without certain people in my life. They know who they are, because I've told them that...they matter. And, thank you to those incredible professionals who have recognized me, because... I know that I matter.

Responsiveness

Is that even a word? Oh well. I am all about the Responsive Classroom this year. I have always been an "affective teacher," as you probably know if you follow my blog. This year, I am learning even more about the components of a Responsive Classroom.

A Responsive Classroom:
1. Values each individual in the classroom. That means teachers, staff members, and students.
2. Has Morning Meeting every day.
3. Uses language such as: " I notice that half of the students are making a smooth transition. I'm waiting for the other half," as to not single anyone out.
4. Takes the time to build the classroom community.
5. Has class meetings when needed.
6. Is built around mutual respect.

Having a Responsive Classroom is not as simple as reading the book and doing the activities. It takes passion, desire, and time. It may not be perfect right away. It may never be perfect. But, with that passion, desire, and time, I can guarantee you will be pretty impressed by the results.

This year, I am continuing to incorporate Character Education Lessons into my Responsive Classroom. The combination of the two is essential to create my close-to-ideal classroom.

Take a brief look at the greeting portion of my Morning Meeting. My kids love it!

Productivity!

Hello Blogosphere! It's been too long since I've blogged, but I swear, I have good excuses! I went on two vacations (plus two weekend trips), took two classes, and tutored. This has been by far, my most productive summer...hence the title of this post.

Productivity also describes how the beginning of the school year has been and will continue to be for me. I reorganized all my closets at school. This was no easy feat. They are very deep and much of the stuff all the way in the back was from the teacher who used to be in my room. (Little embarrassed that I didn't deal with this a teeny bit sooner, but I'm moving on) What matters is, now my closets are organized with current material. Very productive.

Tomorrow is our first building in-service, where the morning's focus will be on Morning Meeting. Any Morning Meeting fans out there? I have been doing Morning Meeting since I began teaching and the impact it has had on my students has been large. This year, I will make more changes and update what I've been doing, which does provide me with excitement. Seriously.

So, stay tuned...

Happy New School Year!

Got Character?

Well, unbelievably enough, the end of the year has arrived! With that, I tend to ask the kids questions about their year. I like to know what they liked and what I can make better for next year. So, one day during morning meeting, I asked them what they thought of our daily morning meetings. I was floored to hear some of their mature and insightful responses. I knew that I had to capture their candid comments on video. I then decided that I should ask them to reflect on more aspects of our classroom. So, that's what I did! Their thoughts were unprompted--they were completely their own. Here is the movie I put together:

Those Moments...

I had one of "those" moments last week. Those moments where you think to yourself "wow, this is really working. My kids are really succeeding. I am doing a good job!"

Let me back track. In January, I wrote a blog post about how I teach math this year (and every year from now on!) I teach math in 3 small groups; a remediation group, a middle group, and an enrichment group. The lesson's objectives are met in each group, but the activities and delivery vary, depending on the kids' needs.

Trust me when I say that teaching math this way is harder than the traditional way and requires me to be "on" the entire time. However, my kids are succeeding in a way that I have never seen before. The students needing remediation receive one-on-one or two-on-one help from myself and the special education teacher or assistant. The kids in my middle group get remediation or enrichment depending on the need. In fact, sometimes when I'm helping a student, students who grasp the concept readily are teaching it to students who need a little more help.  Finally, my enrichment group is challenged and excited every day.

Last week, I taught a lesson about factors. I knew that my enrichment group would grasp this concept immediately, so I took the lesson to the next level. Take a look at the video below!





     I love when I have "those" moments.

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

To a third grader, walking in someone else's shoes is such an abstract thought. Teaching empathy is necessary in today's schools, though. Kids have to be able to relate to others and understand the way that they feel. This is what helps today's youth grow into productive and respectful citizens.

With that being said, I made it a point to have a class discussion about the horrific tragedy that occurred in Japan. With technology creating a global learning environment, kids need to be exposed to current events from around the world. But more importantly, I wanted my students to understand what Japanese children and adults were experiencing.

Then, my unit on empathy started to come together. After much discussion about empathy, my grade level partner and I put our heads together and came up with a culminating activity that allowed our 3rd graders to process the definition of empathy, and how it related to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

The students chose 2 different shoes. On one shoe, the students collaged words that dealt with empathy. On the other shoe, they described why they had empathy for the Japanese people.

I Teach Children

I teach children.

I do not teach curriculum or subject areas. Now, before you start thinking that this blog post is taking a strange turn...hear me out. 

My passion for teaching lies within the children to whom I teach. I love to think of ways to reach them and I am continually looking for new and innovative ways to foster life-long learning. I differentiate instruction daily, even though it's easier to teach to the whole group. I spend many evenings and weekends looking for web resources that support the learning that goes on in my classroom. I create and recreate lessons regularly. I self reflect daily. I make changes all the time. I understand that my goal every day is that my kids learn--that they learn the daily objectives, how to have good character, and that to accomplish their goals, they must be the best they can be...all the time.

Wow, that's a huge responsibility. Every single child must learn every single day.

So, I teach children. I teach them first and the curriculum second. And do you know what? I think they learn the curriculum much better this way.

The Hidden Curriculum

The Hidden Curriculum. There is nothing more important in a classroom.

Kids want to feel safe, happy and wanted in their environment. Research shows that test scores improve when kids are happy. This year, I decided that it was important that I teach explicit lessons in Character Education. My kids and I have discussions about real life issues, we read books about people with good character, we learn words such as perseverance, to describe peoples' actions.

For the first 3 months of school, I taught character lessons at least 3 times a week. The lessons slowly became shorter or more infrequent because I was using that time to teach other curricular topics. But...It doesn't matter. The community in my classroom is built, and where I still do lessons, the goal is to build upon what we already have, not to change it or to convince them to be good people. They already understand that (as much as 3rd graders can). Character building is integrated in everything that I do in my classroom. I don't have any bullying problems in my class. In fact, most kids go out of their way to show good character. They point out when their friends have good character or not-so-good character. They write about it. It seeps through every lesson and discussion we have.

Amazing. It is my passionate belief that Character Education be part of the curriculum.

Just Write, Right?

I love to teach writing.

I also love to teach character education. 

During the essay unit we do, the kids observe or notice events, objects or people around them. Then, they think about what it/they mean(s) to them. It's always during this unit where I learn so much about my students. Essay beginnings such as: "What does being trustworthy mean? OR Why can't people do what they are supposed to do? flood my classroom.

Struggling writers no longer have as big of a struggle. Avid writers seem to write essay after essay; reflecting on the world around them. Yes, they are 8 and 9. And, yes, their views are fascinating and very real. And finally, YES they LOVE to WRITE. Why? Simple. They are writing about topics that interest them.

My kids also blog. They go on to our class blog and write. They edit and revise. They can't post without doing so. They write about what INTERESTS them. See, it's simple. INTEREST. You can view their blog to see the beginnings of their essays.

My kids' response to literature has improved.
Their discussions have become rich and engaging.
Vocabulary development is obvious through their writing.


I love to teach writing.

Math Differentiation!

I know what you are thinking..."yea, yea, this is a topic teachers are told about all the time." That is in fact, true. We can't be effective teachers without differentiating instruction! So naturally, I am always thinking of ways to meet all of my students' needs, which is no easy feat.

This year I teach my EveryDayMath lessons in a brand new way! Since EveryDayMath is built on the principal that we learn on a spiral (which we really do!!!), some lessons are meant to be introductory lessons. In other words, the same lesson will appear the next year and possibly the year after. The thought is, the more a child is exposed to a concept, the easier he or she will master it. (It's true, it's true!)

In order to make the most out of my lessons and to reach all learners, I teach EDM in rotations. I teach the lesson 3 times (I have 3 groups.) Each group gets what they need, so my lesson might differ from group to group. While I am teaching the main lesson, the other two groups are doing either math boxes, a review, or are on the computers.

The kids LOVE it. 

No one is being left behind. 

They are all getting teacher attention. 

They enjoy working in small groups. 

Below is a video I shot of a few students in one of my small groups.