It's Been a While

Oops... I guess I took a bit of a hiatus.. for a couple years. My goal is to get back into sharing my ideas and linking up with other teachers to find new ideas. So here it goes. I'll give you a little update about what's going on with my teaching life since there's actually a lot to update.

First, and most importantly, it's September 13th and we haven't started school yet. Our first day with students was supposed to be Sept. 9th, but instead we went on strike. We're working toward a better contract and it has been very slow going with the district. I won't get into the details here. I can't wait to start school. I have a classroom that's all set up ready to go that I'm not even allowed to enter. It's a strange feeling to say the least.

Another important part to the start of this year is that we're departmentalizing the 5th grade. I will be teaching three sections of reading and one section of math- the year ahead math class, along with a homeroom. This has taken a ton of thought and planning to figure out scheduling, logistics, etc. Because we have a class of students who have qualified for advanced math, we have to run a schedule that is more similar to a middle school schedule. Many elementary schools that departmentalize have students rotate through different subjects as whole classes. If we rotated this way, the advanced group would be self-contained all day. Our building worked hard to integrate these advanced classes years ago and we don't want to undo that work.

The basics of how our classes will rotate begins with each of three homeroom classes being split into three cohorts (as we call them) making 9 cohorts. Each cohort will travel together to all of their classes. In each homeroom, one of the cohorts is entirely composed of kids in the advanced math class. These three cohorts come together for math but rotate separately otherwise so that all other classes are integrated.

A rough example of how the cohorts rotate is below. There 9 groups are coded by the first letter of the teacher's last name, so we have K1, K2, K3, S1, S2, S3, W1, W2, and W3.

I'm really looking forward to departmentalizing because it will be less prep and planning each day. I'll teach each reading lesson three times, and therefore only have to prep two lessons, math and reading. This will allow me a lot more time to differentiate and adapt lessons for various needs. I think grading will also be less time consuming. I've always found that grading goes faster when I start to memorize the answer key or rubric. I'll have about 75 reading notebooks or assignments to grade, but all 75 will have the same expectations so they should go more quickly.

I'm hoping to post again soon with the design of my classroom, as I've made some changes to the space to accommodate classes rotating through the room and carrying their resource binders with them from class to class. That post is dependent on the strike ending so I can get back into my classroom. I'll also try to post an update on how departmentalizing is going for us.

Thanks for visiting!

Assessment Poster

Alright, I wrote in a previous post about my Post-It Parking Lot that I would post about this poster. A focus of my year is to help students become more metacognitive and better able to self-assess their work and progress. When I saw this kind poster on various other blogs (I'm not sure where it originated.), I knew I wanted to make one for my classroom. I had something similar that I created on the fly last year, but it was made quickly and was more specific. Once I got my Silhouette Cameo, I tested it out by making this poster.

I can't wait to teach my students to self-assess and be critical of their own work and progress. How do you incorporate self-assessment in your classroom?

Another Summer Project: Teacher Toolbox

A couple weeks in to every school year, my once neat and tidy desk starts to overflow with papers and office supplies. Last year, I saw many other teachers posting on their blogs about making a teacher toolbox and I couldn't wait until I had time to make my own. 

Here it is: 

I definitely took the longest route because I had particular scrapbook paper that I wanted to use and my printer was low on ink. The easy way to do it would be to print the whole label for each drawer with a colorful background so you just have to cut the labels out and stick them on the drawers. Instead, I cut out all the pieces of scrapbook paper for each drawer and then printed and cut out the cutesy framed label for each drawer and glued it to the scrapbook paper. Then, I taped the completed label mounted to scrapbook paper to the inside of each drawer. I would suggest not doing it the way I did.

I also didn't like the color of the original toolbox (dark blue) so I spray painted it white using the spray paint that works for plastic. I had better luck with the Rustoleum 2x Ultra Cover Paint+Primer from Home Depot than I did with the Valspar equivalent from Lowe's.

I'm posting a link to the Word document (here) that I created in case you also have specific scrapbook paper you'd like to use. You may also edit it to add backgrounds, change fonts, etc. Because the frame I used is actually a font, I'm not sure if there is a way to keep the fill of it white while changing the background of the other text box. If you find a way, please let me know! There are two layered text boxes, one with the frame which is a font called KG Flavor and Frames Four by Kimberly Geswein Fonts. The text is the font VanessaLovesYou by http://bythebutterfly.com. Both of these fonts are available on dafont.com.

Post-it Parking Lot

I love the idea of having a place for students to turn in a sticky note. It keeps each kid accountable and the sticky notes organized. Last year, I whipped up a parking lot using a sharpie and piece of chart paper. I wanted something more durable, permanent, and attractive for this year. So, here's one of my many summer projects almost complete, just needs to be trimmed and laminated. 

A post-it parking lot can be used in so many ways. Here are some of the ways that I plan to use my new post-it parking lot:

-do quick assessments where students either write an answer or their level of mastery (using the Assess Yourself poster that will come in a later post). This is a quick way to find out which students get it and who needs more help. A post it is also less intimidating to many kids which may improve performance for students who are more anxious about tests.

- have students brainstorm on a sticky note and post it on the parking lot so students can build on each other's ideas 

- post their writing topic or project idea when it's decision time and students need to commit to an idea and stick with it

- give each student the opportunity to ask a question, give a compliment, or make a suggestion

- use it for a place for students to post their ticket out the door

Do you have any other ideas about how to use a post-it parking lot in the classroom? (Post in the comments.) 

Anchor Charts Galore

This year, I posted my anchor charts in a way that allowed students to access the most recent charts along with others from the same unit. I tacked them up and used post-its at the bottom to label them like tabs. Then students could come up and flip to the anchor chart they wanted to reference. I was amazed at how much students used them.

The only problem was that eventually the thumb tacks just couldn't hold up any more charts. I switched to giant push pins that I got a Target which held up better, but still had their limits. With the giant push pins, I could usually keep a unit's worth of charts up. I'm looking for a way to archive digital anchor charts for students next year because often charts from past units are still useful. Do you have any ideas about a permanent digital archive that I could use that would be student accessible?

I took pictures of my anchor charts before recycling them at the end of the year. They aren't in any particular order, sorry! Obviously some charts are better than others. Keep in mind that they were made in response to where my students were at the time.

How do you archive your anchor charts? Do your students have access to them?