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.