Day 1 plans for routines

Yesterday I wrote about planning for the upcoming school year in general.  Today, I want to start getting into the details of how I hope to establish routines and procedures that will lead to greater student choice and independence.  Lofty goals, but I’m going to try…

First up, I reread my Daily 5 book. I am not planning on implementing the whole structure or framework (that would not be in line with my Montessori philosphy), but I do hope to establish some of the same routines and use some of the same practices.  I think this will help me to establish a classroom where everyone is busy at work and completely independent (a goal of both Daily 5 and Montessori)!  How will I do this?  By explicitily teaching and practicing behaviors until they become habits (as The Sisters explain in The Daily 5).  This will need to start on Day 1 and below are the beginning lesson plans for teaching these behaviors.  They are based on info from The Daily 5 book, tweaked to fit my needs…

Teaching the quiet signal

This is our quiet signal (ring chimes).  When you hear this sound, you need to stop what you are doing and listen for directions about what to do next.  The faster that everyone can get quiet, the faster we can hear the directions and get on with our day. Let’s practice.  Everyone talk to your neighbor about your favorite movie.  (Let students talk for 10-30 seconds.)  Ring chimes, wait for silence, and whisper the next direction—Wow, that was nice and fast.  Let’s practice again.  Now, talk to a different neighbor about your favorite restaurant.  (While students are talking, approach a small group and ask them to continue talking when the chimes are rung).  Ring chimes and wait for silence.  Let the assigned students continue talking for 10 seconds.  Then ask the class what went wrong and why that would be a problem.  Review the expected behavior for when the quiet signal is used.  Practice using the quiet signal one more time to reinforce the positive behaviors.  After this quiet signal, whisper directions for the next activity.

Teaching how to transistion/sit in group

We will spend a lot of time this year moving from our work spaces to our group spaces for meetings and lessons.  We need to make these transition quick and quiet, so that we do not waste time.  Usually someone will ring the chime and announce that it is time for circle or time for a lesson.  If it is time for circle, everyone needs to stop what they are working on and come sit in a big circle on the carpet.  If it is time for a lesson, everyone needs to stop what they are working on and come sit on the carpet facing the board. You should not bring anything with you, unless you are instructed to do so.  And you should make seat choices quickly, not worrying about where your friend is sitting.  The quicker we can make this transistion, the less time we waste and the more time we have to do our work and other fun stuff.  Let’s practice.  Everyone head to your seat.  Once everyone is seated, ring the chimes and whisper“Time for circle.” when everyone is quiet.  Point out the positive behavior and explain that we will practice this transition again.  Practice this transition several times throughout the first day.  Each time, reinforcing the expected behaviors.  Can also have some students demonstrate some unacceptable behaviors (sitting with back to group, etc.) and discuss the problems with these behaviors (should be brief discussion, nothing long and preachy).

Wow!  This is taking longer than I thought!  I will be back tomorrow with a few more first day “lessons”.

Planning for the upcoming school year

As I think about the upcoming school year, I am trying to figure out how to make my room more “Montessori.”  I teach in a public Montessori school (and have for many years) and it is always a struggle to balance the Montessori philosophy with district requirements.  This year, I hope to allow more independence and choice in student learning.  I want to actually “follow the child” as Maria Montessori encouraged.  What this means to me is that I will give some whole group or small group lessons, but the majority of my time will be spent giving individual lessons or very small group lessons.  This sounds a bit daunting to manage—which is the biggest obstacle in my way.  But, I think it will be well worth the effort…

First, I will need to set up procedures so that the students can work independently (without me having to constantly monitor).  I like many of the ideas from The Sisters regarding setting up Daily 5 and I think I can tweak their procedures to work for my situation.

Next, I need to figure out what I want the students to do all day.  Again, I will take some inspiration from The Sisters, but also tweak it to encompass all subjects and feel more true to Montessori.

Then, I’m also thinking I will need to schedule in some type of a daily conference with each child for accountability purposes.  And maybe incorporate some type of data folders/progress monitoring with it???  Still not quite sure where I want this to go…

Finally, I think I will be ready to start planning some lessons.  There will be lots of assessing (formal and informal) the first few weeks so that I can begin to truly individualize learning. 

Once I have all of this “finalized” or at least fleshed out a bit more, I can look more closely at my year plan and work on pulling work/lessons more in line with this style of teaching/learning.  Because sadly, this has not been how my last few years have been…

Just putting this in writing, I already feel better.  I know I have a lot to do, but feel like this plan is a good place to start.  And this year will be ten times better than last year!

A.S.B. (After Spring Break)

I am so sad.  Today is the last day of my Spring Break.  Where did the week go??  I am trying to find the strength to face the final 10 weeks of the year!  Woohoo!  The end is in sight!  (I'm trying to psych myself up.  Not sure it's working...)

Anyway, in my last post I had some great ideas to start tackling my to do list.  But sadly, I did not do so well on implementing them.  I loved the weekly reflection sheet that I came up with and I think my students did too.  So, I will continue to use that.  Now, I need to get those data tracking folders up and running.  Maybe that will happen this week...

But I also have more ideas that I want to try to implement.  The one that sounds kind of fun and somewhat ties in with several ideas on my to do list (differentiation, motivation, improving class culture and being more Montessori?) is to start a "Genius Hour."

I'm still thinking through the details, but I love the ideas on this blog post: http://www.rundesroom.com/2013/11/passion-projects-in-classroom.html.  I'm thinking I will do this on Wednesdays.  That way students can use their library time in the morning to get books if needed for the afternoon work time.

So, for day 1 of Genius Hour, I am thinking it will look like this:

Show these videos as an intro:

https://youtu.be/FEQzKH7v0-Q

https://youtu.be/pkVX55aSAn4

Talk about finding our passion or topics for our Genius Hour projects.  Then give students time to think and jot down ideas.  I will project some questions to think about on our smart board such as:  what do you like to do in your free time?  what are you good at?

**Students can jot these ideas on the Genius Hour worksheet.

Once they have some possible topics, students will need to brainstorm some more.  They will need to think about how they can turn their passion into a project.  They need to think about what questions they could research and how they could present this info.

**Students can continue to jot these on their worksheet.

After everyone has had some time to think, we will share with partners or in small groups.  I don't think this is necessary, except I have such a chatty class that I think this will help them hold on a little longer.

If we have time, we will go back to brainstorming and fine-tuning our ideas.  By next Wednesday, students will need to have some possible project ideas.  

Next week we will work on selecting a guiding question or two and begin the actual research.

Hoping this plan works!

B.S.B. (Before Spring Break)

Suddenly the year is flying by and we have 2 weeks left until Spring Break!   I am not complaining in the least (I have been counting down the weeks since January), but it does make it hard to find time to implement new ideas.  Or even find the time to come up with new ideas...

That being said, I am going to try to accomplish a few things B.S.B. (before Spring Break).

First up is to work on goal #4 from my previous post:

Find a way to motivate students to improve work quality.  It took me a long while to find a system for assignments that worked with my students, but I think I finally found it.  Now, I need to raise the bar and focus on quality over quantity.  I want some type of record-keeping system that students can use to monitor their progress and be shared with parents.  I'm thinking of a type of data binder, but just not sure how to make it work...

So this week, we will work on setting up our data folders.  I think I will start with pages for math timed tests, spelling tests, reading fluency, AR goals, and work completion.  I may add other things later, but this will be a good start without being too overwhelming.

I also am going to start sending home a weekly reflection sheet on Monday for the previous week.  This will allow me to have all work graded (I can complete it on the weekend if I don't stay on top of it during the week) and have a higher chance of being seen (since my school utilizes "Monday Folders").  I'm hoping this reflection will help inform parents of work habits more effectively, and in turn work habits will continue to improve.  We'll see...

Anyway, with the addition of these two items, I will be close to meeting my goal!  Woohoo!  Feels good to be making a little progress!

Thinking about my classroom...

My main reason for starting this blog was to improve my teaching and to document my thoughts along the way.  (And to be quite honest, keep a record of my thoughts before I forget them completely.)  So, today I am going to start a list of things/areas that need work in my classroom.  I'm hoping that each area will eventually turn into a post of it's own...eventually...  Obviously, if anyone actually reads this and has ideas to share, I am all ears!

1. Find a way to better differentiate the assigned work.  Currently (and I am somewhat ashamed to admit this), the assignments are all pretty much "one size fits all."  I know this is not right.  I just can't figure out a way to find the time and organization to change this.  And make it seem "fair" to the students.

2. Find a way to better help my struggling readers.  I teach 4th and 5th graders, but I have a few students reading at a 1st-3rd grade reading level.  I need to find some age appropriate interventions (i.e. ones that don't scream "1st grade" when you look at them).  And find the time in my day to use them.

3. Find a way to teach more science and social studies.  This is another thing that I am ashamed to admit, but I have almost completely ignored these two areas this year.  I have been too worried about making sure I teach math well (so many of my students lack strong basic skills).  I know my students would love to learn more science and social studies, but I struggle with finding the time to plan it (and teach it).  My hope is that I can find some great articles/reading passages to use--that way I can kill two birds with one stone.

4. Find a way to motivate students to improve work quality.  It took me a long while to find a system for assignments that worked with my students, but I think I finally found it.  Now, I need to raise the bar and focus on quality over quantity.  I want some type of record-keeping system that students can use to monitor their progress and be shared with parents.  I'm thinking of a type of data binder, but just not sure how to make it work...

5. Find a way to be more Montessori.  I teach in a public school, so my hands are tied on some things.  But there are many areas where I can do better.  I need to allow more choice.  And find a way to make choices seem fun, or at least not a punishment.  I think I also need to re-read some Montessori books. I feel I am losing my way...

6. Find a way to improve our class culture.  I have always prized myself on having a positive class culture where students and I work together to "run" the classroom.  It just hasn't happened this year.  Perhaps it is just starting over at a new school or maybe I have lost my touch.  Whatever the reason, I want it to change.  I want the students to take more ownership.  I don't want to give up our morning meeting, but it is feeling a little stale.  I need to make it more meaningful.  I love the ideas from here:  http://applefortheteach.blogspot.com/2015/02/our-morning-meeting.html  I also am struggling with jobs.  Some students help out with all jobs, while others just ignore the idea of taking responsibility for our classroom.  I need to figure out how to tackle these areas (and maybe the incessant talking as well...).

7. Find a way to stay on top (or get ahead?) of planning and grading.  I can't be the only one who feels like I am constantly trying to get caught up.  Or the only one to be running to the copier minutes before starting a lesson or having to make adjustments to my plans because I forgot to make copies and the day is in full swing.  I need to learn some better time management skills.  Or just find a way to schedule these tasks and hold myself accountable.

8. Find a way to better organize student materials and work.  I had great ideas at the beginning of the year, but I just didn't follow through on them.  Some students were able to keep it up, but most were not.  Now, it is a hot mess.  I've kind of given up for this year.  But I need to start thinking and documenting my ideas for next year.  Or it will happen again I am sure.

Wow!  I have my work cut out for me!  I hope I can make a small dent in at least some of these in the next 14 weeks.

New Blog

I have been wanting to start a blog for a while.  I wanted a place to record my thinking about teaching.  A place to record ideas I want to try in the classroom.  A place to record reflections of things I did try in the classroom.  And eventually, a place to get feedback about my teaching from others.
I look forward to finally starting this journey!