Note: Post your initial WIKI entry by February 13th. A healthy paragraph is all I'm looking for. Feel free to comment on or reference your colleagues' posts. Don't forget to sign your name.
This week has really interesting. Its was our first five day week after a long time off. With most students not in attendance last week for the two days we had school, we had a rough week getting back into routines. I'm starting to feel like maybe it is time to try some new things in the classroom. I am always struck by how different my three classes are. I use different but similar strategies with all of them. I struggle most with my sixth grade. Management is bad, they are less invested than my other classes, and they just seem to really struggle to grasp the concepts. I'm starting new units in all of my classes and I'm implementing some new procedures and investment strategies that I hope will work out well. My students love stations and they do so well working in them. I'm hoping to implement more stations to help with application of the material. If anyone has any ideas about how to invest students in science topics that may not be as applicable to them, (ie rock cycle, water cycle) let me know. I have some ideas but would love any suggestion if something has worked for you.
- Emma Bradley
This week I felt like my morale and energy were a little low-- I think having the snow days interrupt last week threw me out of my routine, and it was hard for me to get back into it. My students have been having a lot of interpersonal issues, and while I've been using the "ignore them" or vague "talk it out" strategies for a while, I'm realizing that I'd like to talk to them about friendship and forgiveness. I feel like they view relationships as temporary, and immediately walk away from someone when they're mad. Even though they eventually forget about the problems they had with each other, I hope we can get to a point where they're helping each other make better decisions instead of holding grudges for the decisions their friends made. Academically, I'm excited that my kids got really into the letters they are writing to celebrities, and realizing that writing is a practical way to make your voice heard to people you want to communicate with. I also feel that my students are feeling much more successful since I started incorporating reading strategies into my science lessons-- I'm excited to see where this goes.
--Stephanie Fakharzadeh
This week was a pretty quick, short week for me. I'm excited for the Teacher for America summit I and others will be attending in Washington D.C. this weekend. I'm looking forward to re-energizing for the rest of the school year with new ideas to bring to my classroom beginning Monday morning. I really want to get my kids invested and set on a track at the end of the school year in which they will pursue academic goals that they set for themselves and that they hold themselves accountable to achieve. It should be a good opportunity to pick up on new ideas to bring back to try and freshen up my class in the dark of winter. --Tom Schalmo
This week was up and down in my classroom. 2 or 3 boys consistently create behavioral disturbances that can throw the entire class off. Management took a knock or two on Wednesday. Today, we bounced back pretty well. Honestly, the week sort of flew by. I'm finally starting to get into a good rhythm with the curriculum and finding ways to make it work with my teaching style which are very different. I think that I'm learning to bounce back for set backs quicker. I take them in stride, learn from them, and let them go rather than over-analyzing and stressing about that hour I'll never get back. I'm glad to be in Washington, D.C. for the Teach For America summit. It's a welcome break as well as a chance to become re-motivated toward my end classroom's end goals. - Sarah Vester
A Short Week There's something about a 4-day week that changes my mentality. It's not that I take days off, but I'm much more relaxed and carefree. I notice that my students' demeanors positively change when I'm in a more positive mood. It may just be that I have something to look forward to, and it's a change of pace from the norm.
Being able to maintain this fun, positive attitude on full weeks will be key to sustaining this fun yet productive environment my students and I have enjoyed. Math has been efficient and the kids have learned while being relaxed. The other subjects have been generally similar. I realize that it starts with me and that my kids feed off my attitude. Let's just hope I maintain that mind frame the next time things go haywire. michaelnguyen248
This week started off with bang...literally. Two scholars chose to bring matters taking place outside the classroom inside, and engaged in an extremely physical fight. I initial reaction was to intervene, because I could not believe MY kids were dealing with their issues this way. After being hit and kicked a couple of times administration stepped in and separated the boys.
After I was able to catch my breath and my legs stopped shaking, I started to reflect on what had happened. It started so fast, I don't think I could have prevented it from happening, especially not knowing the drama taking place outside of school. My principal said reminded me of the actions my other scholars took when this was all happening - staying in their seats and following my direction to put their heads down - spoke to the strong culture of my room and the respect they have for me.
I chose not to share this incident with very many people, because I wanted to maintain the integrity of my class and the students I serve. I wanted the retelling to be honest and not an exaggeration of the events, because I do not feel this is representative of my kids or who they are. We had a class discussion the next day about who we are and how we want the world to see us. From their I had them write a journal entry about the legacy I they want to leave earth with and what they are going to do to insure their legacy is realized. As a class, we have chosen not to wallow in the past, but to use it to motivate us to continue to work hard at making changes and to prove the outside world wrong. Chelsea
I focused my refleciton on these three questions this week. These are all three areas in which I need to improve. I have discussed strategies with my Program Director about them and they will be the focus of my professional practices for the next three weeks.
1. Are students following directions the first time and completing work? Why or why not?
I was able to string together some good classes with the 6th grade (typically my biggest struggle) last week. I started holding students more accountable to their in-class work and the practice problems in the we do section. This did help some of my students who struggle with focus to get to work quicker. I will also much more clear in my instructions, and kept everything simple and consistent.
2. Are students more invested in GP? Is your INM simplified?
I think I still struggled with this last week. I need to make more investing problems and not spend as much time in the INM.
3. How is planning? Did you have time to plan this week? Why or why not?
I was fairly well planned last week, but I shied away from a couple of the more daring activities I had planned. I didn't feel the behavior was quite were I wanted it to be. I think though, regardless of misbehaviors I need to move forward with my plans. This will shift more of my focus and the students focus away from the negative behavior and more toward the positive.
Robbie
We're up and we're down, academically. In the last few days, I've given a test (Decimal +/-/x) that totally bombed (based on grading 1/3 of the tests--from the highest class) and I've started up what I can already tell is going to be the highest investment thing I've EVER done in math... A Survey project that starts with kids crafting a survey question, outlining the responses, stating why the research is important to them, and making a hypothesis. It slowly shifts to a combination of direct instruction and practical independent application of different data table and graphing skills. After 1.5 days on the project, kids are HYPED. As far as test mastery goes, I can't explain the low scores I'm seeing. Students had really been putting in work in the classroom, with tons of multi-operations problem solving sessions, and big emphasis on discriminating between estimation and non-estimation situations, etc, but they just don't seem to be transferring it to the test. D.E.A.R. time is also paining me now. I'd like to say that I'm just trying to get by, and that I'm okay with quiet noncompliance so long as most students are reading, but there always seem to be a few people at a time who don't have their heads in their books and I really care about getting them reading independently. I can't afford to buy new book sets again (like I did earlier in the year), even though I know that would excite many of them. Got free books?? Got hands on deck to help me level (and neatly organize) my library??
This week has really interesting. Its was our first five day week after a long time off. With most students not in attendance last week for the two days we had school, we had a rough week getting back into routines. I'm starting to feel like maybe it is time to try some new things in the classroom. I am always struck by how different my three classes are. I use different but similar strategies with all of them. I struggle most with my sixth grade. Management is bad, they are less invested than my other classes, and they just seem to really struggle to grasp the concepts. I'm starting new units in all of my classes and I'm implementing some new procedures and investment strategies that I hope will work out well. My students love stations and they do so well working in them. I'm hoping to implement more stations to help with application of the material. If anyone has any ideas about how to invest students in science topics that may not be as applicable to them, (ie rock cycle, water cycle) let me know. I have some ideas but would love any suggestion if something has worked for you.
- Emma Bradley
This week I felt like my morale and energy were a little low-- I think having the snow days interrupt last week threw me out of my routine, and it was hard for me to get back into it. My students have been having a lot of interpersonal issues, and while I've been using the "ignore them" or vague "talk it out" strategies for a while, I'm realizing that I'd like to talk to them about friendship and forgiveness. I feel like they view relationships as temporary, and immediately walk away from someone when they're mad. Even though they eventually forget about the problems they had with each other, I hope we can get to a point where they're helping each other make better decisions instead of holding grudges for the decisions their friends made. Academically, I'm excited that my kids got really into the letters they are writing to celebrities, and realizing that writing is a practical way to make your voice heard to people you want to communicate with. I also feel that my students are feeling much more successful since I started incorporating reading strategies into my science lessons-- I'm excited to see where this goes.
--Stephanie Fakharzadeh
This week was a pretty quick, short week for me. I'm excited for the Teacher for America summit I and others will be attending in Washington D.C. this weekend. I'm looking forward to re-energizing for the rest of the school year with new ideas to bring to my classroom beginning Monday morning. I really want to get my kids invested and set on a track at the end of the school year in which they will pursue academic goals that they set for themselves and that they hold themselves accountable to achieve. It should be a good opportunity to pick up on new ideas to bring back to try and freshen up my class in the dark of winter.
--Tom Schalmo
This week was up and down in my classroom. 2 or 3 boys consistently create behavioral disturbances that can throw the entire class off. Management took a knock or two on Wednesday. Today, we bounced back pretty well. Honestly, the week sort of flew by. I'm finally starting to get into a good rhythm with the curriculum and finding ways to make it work with my teaching style which are very different. I think that I'm learning to bounce back for set backs quicker. I take them in stride, learn from them, and let them go rather than over-analyzing and stressing about that hour I'll never get back. I'm glad to be in Washington, D.C. for the Teach For America summit. It's a welcome break as well as a chance to become re-motivated toward my end classroom's end goals.
- Sarah Vester
A Short Week
There's something about a 4-day week that changes my mentality. It's not that I take days off, but I'm much more relaxed and carefree. I notice that my students' demeanors positively change when I'm in a more positive mood. It may just be that I have something to look forward to, and it's a change of pace from the norm.
Being able to maintain this fun, positive attitude on full weeks will be key to sustaining this fun yet productive environment my students and I have enjoyed. Math has been efficient and the kids have learned while being relaxed. The other subjects have been generally similar. I realize that it starts with me and that my kids feed off my attitude. Let's just hope I maintain that mind frame the next time things go haywire. michaelnguyen248
This week started off with bang...literally. Two scholars chose to bring matters taking place outside the classroom inside, and engaged in an extremely physical fight. I initial reaction was to intervene, because I could not believe MY kids were dealing with their issues this way. After being hit and kicked a couple of times administration stepped in and separated the boys.
After I was able to catch my breath and my legs stopped shaking, I started to reflect on what had happened. It started so fast, I don't think I could have prevented it from happening, especially not knowing the drama taking place outside of school. My principal said reminded me of the actions my other scholars took when this was all happening - staying in their seats and following my direction to put their heads down - spoke to the strong culture of my room and the respect they have for me.
I chose not to share this incident with very many people, because I wanted to maintain the integrity of my class and the students I serve. I wanted the retelling to be honest and not an exaggeration of the events, because I do not feel this is representative of my kids or who they are. We had a class discussion the next day about who we are and how we want the world to see us. From their I had them write a journal entry about the legacy I they want to leave earth with and what they are going to do to insure their legacy is realized. As a class, we have chosen not to wallow in the past, but to use it to motivate us to continue to work hard at making changes and to prove the outside world wrong. Chelsea
I focused my refleciton on these three questions this week. These are all three areas in which I need to improve. I have discussed strategies with my Program Director about them and they will be the focus of my professional practices for the next three weeks.
1. Are students following directions the first time and completing work? Why or why not?
I was able to string together some good classes with the 6th grade (typically my biggest struggle) last week. I started holding students more accountable to their in-class work and the practice problems in the we do section. This did help some of my students who struggle with focus to get to work quicker. I will also much more clear in my instructions, and kept everything simple and consistent.
2. Are students more invested in GP? Is your INM simplified?
I think I still struggled with this last week. I need to make more investing problems and not spend as much time in the INM.
3. How is planning? Did you have time to plan this week? Why or why not?
I was fairly well planned last week, but I shied away from a couple of the more daring activities I had planned. I didn't feel the behavior was quite were I wanted it to be. I think though, regardless of misbehaviors I need to move forward with my plans. This will shift more of my focus and the students focus away from the negative behavior and more toward the positive.
Robbie
We're up and we're down, academically. In the last few days, I've given a test (Decimal +/-/x) that totally bombed (based on grading 1/3 of the tests--from the highest class) and I've started up what I can already tell is going to be the highest investment thing I've EVER done in math... A Survey project that starts with kids crafting a survey question, outlining the responses, stating why the research is important to them, and making a hypothesis. It slowly shifts to a combination of direct instruction and practical independent application of different data table and graphing skills. After 1.5 days on the project, kids are HYPED. As far as test mastery goes, I can't explain the low scores I'm seeing. Students had really been putting in work in the classroom, with tons of multi-operations problem solving sessions, and big emphasis on discriminating between estimation and non-estimation situations, etc, but they just don't seem to be transferring it to the test. D.E.A.R. time is also paining me now. I'd like to say that I'm just trying to get by, and that I'm okay with quiet noncompliance so long as most students are reading, but there always seem to be a few people at a time who don't have their heads in their books and I really care about getting them reading independently. I can't afford to buy new book sets again (like I did earlier in the year), even though I know that would excite many of them. Got free books?? Got hands on deck to help me level (and neatly organize) my library??
-Joe
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