Me by the Numbers

Of course, at the beginning of each year we always start with those obligatory "getting to know you" activities. Now that we are departmentalized, I wanted to do those general "meeting and greeting" activities with my homeroom, but I also wanted to do some more math-specific activities with each of my three math classes.  We did not rotate classes for the first two days of school so that we could have a little more time to bond with our new homerooms, and then on day three we did a "practice rotation" with slightly shorter periods and extra time for reviewing expectations. Our math activity on this day was something I called "Me by the Numbers."

This activity was particularly important for this year because, for the first time in a few years, I had never taught any of my students before.  Because I've moved grades a few times, I've had quite a few classes where I've actually already taught at least half of my kiddos. Even when I hadn't taught a particular kiddos, I had known all of the students in the grade reasonably well and could often remember anecdotes or details about them from their previous teachers. This year, though, I had never taught this cohort -- I'd moved to fourth grade by the time they were in first.

The connections I build with my students and their families is one of the things I value most, and it's a huge contributor to my classroom management approach.  So this year I was really nervous about how I would connect and bond with so many (58!) new kids and families. Granted, I'm still at the same school, so there were a few kiddos in this crew who I had known as babies when I taught their older brothers or sisters, but for the most part, we were all new to each other.

As it turned out, I had no reason to worry because these kiddos are such loves! They wanted to know everything about me as much as I wanted to know everything about them. I shared my own "Me by the Numbers" and added in some stories about my pets, where I went to school, and how long I'd been teaching. They were so into it!

Then, while the kiddos were working, I got to walk around, ask questions, make connections, and learn more about each them -- how many siblings do you have? what are your hobbies? how long have you lived in the neighborhood?  Instead of sending these home after we completed them, I held onto them so I could refer back to them during the first few week as I tried to put names and faces with personal details. I've found it really helps to know who likes sports, who loves to travel, who has pets, and who is an only child.  I don't necessarily use these facts all the time, but when I want to write a meaningful word problem or share a great book, I know who I can turn to!

 

What are we teaching?

I love to find cute pins on Pinterest and pictures on Instagram, but I admit I get antsy when I see endless crafts and clipart on teacher blogs and Pinterest boards. I cringe when I see writing lessons that involve cutting and pasting text boxes or reading lessons that are mostly tracing and coloring.  As a former Pre-K teacher, I know how tempting it is to want every lesson to include a Pinterest-worthy product.  Yet activities that involve perfectly painted handprints, marks inside the lines, and carefully-cut collages often lack genuine instruction or real content.  I have to question "lessons" that are essentially cutting, pasting, and coloring -- what are they really teaching?

This goes back to one of the Guiding Principles of the Responsive Classroom approach: How children learn is as important as what they learn.  I'm critical of how I have my kiddos practice skills and demonstrate their understanding because I want to ensure that they are always learning and creating in authentic ways. While I incorporate art in my classroom, I try to avoid "craftivities" that don't actually allow students to be creative, use teamwork, or demonstrate genuine learning.

My kiddos share their thinking through jotting in the margins of books (or on post-its), journaling, debating, or discussing.  They learn how to write short stories, articles, and letters to share their individual ideas and interests.  They sketch and draw to visualize concepts and capture observations. Sure, they also cut and paste into their notebooks, but I try to make sure they are also thinking and writing independently.

Readers make notes and discuss their books.

Scientists record observations of what they find in nature (after a field trip).

Mathematicians understand fractions by creating visual representations.

Authors share favorites sections from their books.

Home {away from} Sweet Home

I've had two weeks away from my "2nd home" and this morning I was actually looking forward to getting back into the classroom!

I have spent 4 years in this classroom.  Two years were spent as a Pre-K teacher and the classroom looked very different.  Our school had not yet been renovated so one wall (below) was actually a moveable wall that connected my room to the one next door.  Now I have my cubbies along this wall and a huge bulletin board above.  It's not the most practical place for a bulletin board, but I try to make it useful with our Class Expectations, Anchor Charts, and Goals that we refer to all year long (that way I rarely have to get up on top of the cubbies and change the board).  

On top of the cubbies, I have my classroom library. This is the first year that I've done this, and it's actually worked very well.  I have my teaching books (mentor texts, read-alouds, and guided reading books) on the very top, and then leveled books and category books (sorted by author, genre, or topic) in the top part of each cubby.  In the past I have used a bookshelf to store all of these books, but I actually find I can keep a lot more in the classroom this way. I still rotate out the category books depending on our theme and we take down the leveled books once a week when the kiddos book shop, but everything is always easily accessible which I love.

Going around the room to the right, the next thing is my math shelf (right).  I have had this shelf (or a version of it) every year I have taught and I wouldn't know what to do without it; it stores so much.  This year, I have all of my math manipulatives in clear, labeled boxes.  This makes it very easy for the kiddos to take out any materials they need for games or activities.  In addition, I keep table boxes on top of the shelf.  The table boxes store the games and materials for each table that we are using currently.  I refill these as needed throughout the week.


Continuing around the room, is my kidney table, math wall, SMART Board, and then white board.  I leave half of the white board empty for current Anchor Charts or teaching during the day. The second half of the bulletin board (below) has our Morning Meeting materials: calendar, days of school counter, and schedule. I also have a countdown timer clock which we use constantly throughout the day to time lessons, independent work time, and activities.  Below the bulletin board, I have pocket charts with our Class Helper Jobs.

To the right of the white board is my writing shelf.  I also love this shelf for all that it holds.  On the top are bins for our current writing paper options (which change with each unit), below are various writing materials (clipboards, letter stamps and magnets, white boards), and at the bottom are our Literacy Work Station bins (Learn how our Literacy Work Station are organize here).  

Finally, next to the door I have a shelf with additional writing and craft materials.  On top of the shelf are the colored pencils we use for Writers' Workshop, plus some stuffed animals from different colleges (even though you can't see that in the picture).  The colored art caddies on the top two shelves have scissors, glue, and colored pencils which we pull out for Word Study and other times.  Below them I have bins of additional arts and science materials.