Turning Point

As part of a grant, our 4th grade received a set of clickers from Turning Point Technologies. If you are unfamiliar with clickers, it is basically a calculator sized response system. It allows you to ask questions at random or in a set of questions and elicit responses from your students that gives you instantaneous feedback. I have had the opportunity to use it in my math class multiple times. It really gives me an idea if students understand key concepts in the chapter. If students fail at a certain type of problem, I know that I need to reteach, review, or clarify how the problem works. This system also saves the data from each student, so potentially you could have students complete assignments or assessments and have their tests graded instantly when they finish the assessment. The limitations of our response system is that students are not allowed to type in answers or numbers to different styled questions. Another limitation is having to build or find all the different question sets that match our curriculum and goals of our students and classroom. Overall, I think this will be another excellent tool for reviewing that the kids can get excited about!

PREZI

I had the opportunity to attend a professional growth training focusing on a presentation tool called Prezi. This internet tool allows students to create presentations, that include writing text, drawing, inserting pictures, and videos. The concept is similar to all different types of presentation formats, however, this tool makes it a lot more interesting and fun for the students. The 3d effects are like you are flying through infinite space. The ultimate goal would be to have students make their own presentations about a topic of study and then present it to the class. Although, this would take lengthy time in the computer lab, which we all know is impossible. I would also like to integrate it into my teaching because it allows you to add a lot of dimensions to your lessons with pictures, videos, and linking to websites. If you was not able to make it, you should check it out. http://prezi.com It is also free for education members, and all you need is a email. Students can also work on the project together, while being at two different computers...wow!

responsive classroom (r)

I was pleased with the year and my focus on installing responsive classrooms. Improvements that I want to make next year include keeping the morning meeting interesting and exciting (as hard as they may be sometimes). This includes adding more greetings, activities, and sharing opportunities. In addition I would like to give more responsibility to the students as the year progresses. This includes allowing more choice in all aspects of the meeting. Also, I would eventually like to turn over the whole meeting by the end of the year and have it run by the students. I think this would be good for several reasons; public speaking, leadership, and responsibility. I am eager to find out if this would work in 4th grade or not. There is no doubt that I will continue endorsing responsive classroom ideology. Also next year I would like to include the "take a break/quiet place" for all students, and of course myself. I am still debating whether or not to have that inside the room or outside the room, and whether I want them to complete a check list or do some type of reflecting while they are refocusing. Overall it was a good year with RC and I hope to improve the skills I teach to the students.

Reflection on the Year

This year, I have been pleased with a lot of the RC concepts that I have implemented.  The most effective thing, and the thing I have referred to the most throughout the year, has been the introduction of CARES.  Before starting anything new--group work, first substitute, field trips--we discussed which of the CARES we were really going to need and how that would look.  We also discussed CARES when we had problems to address.  It was nice to have common language and clear expectations.

The other thing I have found very effective is activity breaks.  Particularly at this point in the year, I can see when my students are starting to get antsy or completely glaze over.  I have a variety of quick activities I can pull from in order to wake them up or just shake up the routine. 

The main thing I'd like to work toward next year is keeping up a more positive environment throughout the whole year.  I think we all expect things to fall apart a bit as we hit spring and the kids are ready to be done, but I find that this time is far too stressful for the kids.  I would like to work on getting ideas really enlist their help in keeping the classroom environment positive through the end of the year.

RC Year in Review

I have enjoyed implementing Responsive Classroom into my classroom this year. I can say that my greatest strength this year has been classroom management and I believe it is because of the responsive classroom framework. As much as I get sick of modeling over and over and OVER again it has really paid off. The things that were successful in my classroom this year were:

• Hopes and dreams- the flower pot at the front of the classroom and the students can change their hope/dream each quarter.


• Take a break chair and buddy room- The buddy room worked the best for my students. I also used a visual stoplight system that went along with the take a break chair and buddy room.


• MODELING-over and over for EVERYTHING!!


• Y Charts- What it looks like, feels, like, sounds like


• Morning Meeting: This has become very repetitive but it has been something that helps the students get going in the morning and it helps me know what kind of day I am in for based on the students behavior!


• Activities: I love the activity cards I made. When we have a few minutes of the students need to get up and move around I grab a card and we do a quick activity.

Next year I want build on what I did this year and learn more responsive classroom ideas from the website and my colleagues. I also want to work on making morning meeting not so repetitive. I want to find new ways to do morning messages and activities. It has been a great year and this blog has helped my get new ideas from my colleagues and keep my RC up to date! Thanks everyone for the great ideas!! Have a great SUMMER! 20 more days (but who's counting)!

Consequences vs. Short Term Fix

One of the things I've really been thinking about in the past few weeks is my reaction to negative choices at school.  I think I tend to play it safe, fearing that I will go overboard with a consequence that is hurtful to a student.  I constantly hear stories from friends of "that teacher back in ______ grade" that did something so terrible.  These are adults that aren't able to let go of the incident that occurred in 2nd grade because it was so hurtful or undeserved. 

Because I always have that thought in the back of my mind, I think I walk a careful line between giving consequences that solve the problem for the time being and consequences that are a little more serious.  For example, if a student is talking in the hall, I move him/her to stand next to me.  Should I be having that student practice at a different time?  Am I being too lenient?  I know that the most helpful thing is to help that child make better choices in the future--that is my job and my desire as a  teacher.  But I think that looks different for every kid.  One student may need to be moved in the line...another may need to practice during Quiet Choice.  That's the part that makes it tricky.  There isn't one right answer.

Reflection on the Year with RC

With only one month of school left, I have been thinking back a lot on how this year went. I have been thinking about the things that worked well and things that I am going to change for next year. My goal was to really start up the year with RC and use as many components as I could fit in. I did use it a lot at the beginning of the year in developing our hopes and dreams, creating rules, talking about consequences and setting up the Take a Break chair. I feel that all of these activities were beneficial, and I am for sure going to use them next year. I remember feeling crunched for time at the beginning of the year and not knowing if I should take the time to do these activities. I have seen benefits throughout the year and have referred back to them. I also redid their hopes and dreams 2nd and 3rd quarter and I will do this again. I didn't get to it fourth quarter, so I will give that a try. I also did a lot of modeling this year which I will do again. I have been lucky with a very well behaved class this year, so I need to for sure look through the book and papers from this summer to gear up for next year since we will have such a different population. I would also like to learn more about the problem solving meetings that go along with RC. I will also continue my morning meeting with greetings and activities. I have noticed that I have become comfortable with a few greetings and activities and another goal I have is to expand the number of activities and greetings that I do next year. Any other suggestions of things I should implement next year? Thanks! :)

Losing Excitement

I have exhausted the responsive classroom website with the list of activities and greetings this year. We are now cycling back through all of them. My students are getting "bored" or they are just not as excited about Morning Meeting as they were in the other parts of the year. Does anyone have any suggestions to "kick it up a notch"? Has anyone found another site with lists of activites/greetings?

Little Social Issues

As we are nearing the end of the year, I have noticed that my students are SO comfortable with each other that we are having lots more little social issues popping up, getting students upset and interrupting our learning time. Some examples are, sitting really close to each other and not moving over, saying things in mean ways, giving "looks" and other minor things like that. We have really been modeling polite ways to say things, talking about using your words so people know that you are upset and why and thinking about how you would feel if someone treated you like that. Any other suggestions for these little social troubles?? Thanks!

Breaking a Child out of his "Role"

This year, I have a student in my class that has challenged me all year.  He is incredibly kind and caring, and he is one of the first students that will go to help someone who is hurting or feeling sad.  At the same time, he has taken on the role of the "class clown."  He intentionally makes inappropriate comments during lessons to get others to laugh, and he'll purposely break rules to see what reaction he will get.

For a long time, I have felt that the issue for this student is not that he is a "bad kid."  The issue is that he thinks that he is.  Whenever I need to pull him aside to talk about a poor decision he has made, he begins by saying that he is receiving a consequence because he is a "bad kid."  No matter how many times I reiterate that he is not--that it was the choice that was bad--he can't seem to get past this view of himself.  We have had conversations about the great qualities he has, I praise him when I see him make good choices, etc.  Continually, though, he goes back to seeing himself as bad and, I think, makes poor choices to continue on in that role. 

Does anyone have any ideas about helping him to see himself in a different role?

"Take A Break"

At the beginning of the year I felt overwhelmed (as usual) about implementing new strategies and teaching techniques. One of my goals was to use the Responsive Classrooms approach toward behavior. However after going to the training I did not feel that I could do EVERYTHING involved in this approach. My theory behind it was that I only want to try a few things, and to do those things very well, instead of doing everything and getting overwhelmed and not doing anything correctly. With all that being said, I have a couple questiosn. #1 Who is using/has used the "take a break" chair this year. #2 How did you implement it? #3 Do you think it was successful? I would like to explore the possibilities of using this strategy next year in my class. I have asked students to take breaks in the cluster, but I do not believe I have used it to its utmost potential. Thanks!

Building Community

Last week I went to the lunchroom to pick up my students and all of the girls were sad due to social problems on the playground and different groups of girls being mean to other groups. I could only address it quickly right away because we had to go right to the Media center for checkout; however, I made sure to have a class discussion right when we got back to our room. I was thinking of the training this summer and realized I could skim over it and do math, but nobody would be gaining any knowledge if I did that. We all sat in a circle and passed a ball around and gave compliments to the person sitting next to you. The person who received the compliment said thank you and gave the other person a compliment back. Some simply said, "You are a good friend." But some students were really creative and thought of very specific traits to compliment each other on. At the end of the activity, they all were beaming. They just brightened up when they got the compliments. The girls on their own apologized to each other and wanted to make each others' "hearts happy" as I say. :) It was a very meaningful activity that built a positive community in my room.

Tone of Voice

In the past couple of weeks, I've noticed something about the way my students talk to each other.  I have a number of kids who will try to remind students to act appropriately if they are having a hard time.  I truly believe they want to be helpful and get the students back on track, but sometimes, they do it in a way that is counterproductive.  For example, if some kids are chatting while the rest of the class is waiting for them to be quiet, other kids in the class will say "Shh," or "Ms. Towner is waiting for you."  In writing, they seems like a good comments, but in reality, the tone of voice used to deliver these lines could be hurtful. 

I gave an example of this to my students yesterday, explaining that if someone came to me and told me to be quiet with a hurtful tone of voice, I probably wouldn't want to be quiet.  It might even make me want to be louder.  After giving a couple of examples, one of my students raised his hand and asked, "Did somebody really talk to you like that?"  He was shocked that a student would address me so disrespectfully.  I explained that students don't talk to me like that, they talk to each other like that.  In that moment, it was clear that my students understand the importance of showing respect to adults, but have forgotten why it is important to respect each other. 

Being the day before Spring Break, I obviously didn't launch into a major lesson on this idea, but it showed me that I will need to review respectful talk with my students when we come back from break. 

What Keeps YOU Inspired?

In the throes of progress reports, parent conferences, state testing, and the flu season how are you being inspired? I have been asking myself this question a lot lately. I remember the facilitator at my RC session kept talking about staying inspired and inspiring students. It is that time of the year where routines have become old and the students are sick of modeling. So, how are you inspiring your students lately? How are you being inspired?

I have a students who has been struggling socially and academically all year. Today I stopped and reflected for a minute about my students. I realized how far she has come. She was my inspiration today! The growth she has made and the struggles she has overcome was a reminder to me why I teach. There are tough days where nothing seems to be going right but just remember you inspire students, parents, and colleagues! Keep up the great work teachers! Keep inspiring your little ones!! That is my encouraging blog for the month! :)

Teacher Language

As cabin fever and the itch for spring break nears, I know that some attitudes and tempers have gotten more negative in my room than they have been all year long. A few kids in particular have really been trying to push the limits and have begun to act up. As a teacher, I have found that my patience has really been tested lately. As I was thinking about this the other day, I remembered the importance of our teacher language in those situations. I found the green bookmark that we received this summer on reinforcing language, reminding language and redirecting language and have found it helpful. Especially saying "I notice that you...", "Remind us how....", "Who can show...". I will keep this handy the next two weeks!

Friend Activities

Recently in my classroom we have been having a large amount of "girl problems" in my classroom. A lot of the girls are complaining about each other and fighting over "are we friends, or are we not friends?" As a male I always feel inadequate in handling "girl drama" in my class. I have tried to highlight key characteristics of good friendship and what that looks, like, and feels like during our Morning Meetings. However I do not feel that this is being successful. Do any of you have some good ideas for activities or projects that focus positive friendships? If you have any ideas, please let me know. Thanks!

Smoothing Transitions

I got the Responsive Classroom newsletter in the mail last week, and I was thrilled when I saw that the front page article focused on transitions.  Transitions are a challenge for my students, and it is during those times that I often see students having trouble meeting the classroom expectations.  It is hard for them to stop what they are doing, come to the meeting area right away, and stay calm when they arrive.  I was hoping for some new ideas to help them be more successful.

The information in the article wasn't anything new or groundbreaking, but it did remind me of the importance of consistency.  I was struck by the line, "During September, there were few transitions that did not need to be redone."  It's good for me to keep that in mind and consider that spring, for students, is often a bit like September.  Reminders abound!

Here's the link to the article if you're interested:  Smoothing Transitions

Recess Plan

I had this situation arise this week where a boy in my class went home and burst out crying because he doesn't have any friends to play with at recess. It has turned into a big thing for him and it came out to his parents and me that this issue is causing anxiety for him and making him not enjoy school. I was thinking of different things I could do, such as, putting a nice friend's desk next to him, modeling assertiveness with him, ex. Then I remembered talking about recess at the Responsive Classroom training this summer. My facilitator had brought up this same exact point that as teachers we think it is a fun time and just send them outside; however, this can be a really stressful time for some kids who don't have anyone to play with. I remembered her telling us to have the students make a plan for recess of who they were going to play with and what they were going to do before they went outside. This activity ensures that everyone has someone to play with when they get outside. On Friday, I had my class all sit down and make a plan before we went outside. The students loved it! They were excited to have the time to look at all of the students and pick new friends to play with and think of an activity to play. One girl mentioned that it is hard when they get outside because there are so many kids it is hard to find people to play with and things to do. I am going to remember to take a few minutes to do this activity before recess more often.

They're Tired of Modeling

After reading through the last few posts, I felt the need to go back to modeling when the kids returned from Winter Break.  For my class, the biggest challenge is always transitions, so I started there.  I would have a student model picking up his materials and lining up for math.  Then the whole class would follow.  I would have a student model how to go from her desk to the meeting area, and then the rest of the class would follow.  They were very successful with this for a couple of days.  Then came the moaning.

After a few days of doing A LOT of modeling, my kids would groan every time I asked for a model.  I tried transitioning without a model, and they reverted back to their old behaviors.  I could tell they were sick of the modeling process, and I could tell that they knew what was expected.  Many just weren't doing it that way.

I decided to try something a little different.  I told the kids that I knew they were tired of modeling, and that I knew they didn't need me or anyone else to tell them how a transition should look.  I also explained that the reason we had been modeling so much, was that I wasn't seeing the majority of the class follow the expectations.  I asked them all to close their eyes and silently think through what our transition should look like and sound like.  After about 30 seconds, I said, "Go."  They all went to their desks quietly and efficiently, and waited for the next directions.

I'm not going to pretend this has worked every time, but I think my age group really appreciated the independence this "visualizing" process gave them.  I go back to this process once or twice a week, now, and there seem to be fewer groans.

Touch Someone Who

This time of the year can be hard for not only the students but also the staff. When I was in college a girl in my Blocks did this activity with the class when we were all in a slump and feeling a little discouraged. It was really a humbling and encouraging activity for everyone who was involved. I know as teachers it can be hard to to find the time to encourage our colleagues but this activity is great. I am asking Mr. Leonard if I can do it at our next staff meeting because I feel like we all can use a little encouraging every now and then. This is also a great activity to do with older grades. You can change the words and add what you would like. This is the one I really like and want to share.

Modeling

I was just reading your posts about the Y charts, and I realized that I have been very lucky this year with my class knowing the rules, verbalizing them to me and following them. If they break a rule, I have frequently had students on their own say, "I deserve a consequence." I have not made as many Y charts as in the past years. Modeling is the key in my class this year. Any time that I notice we are getting antsy and things aren't going as smoothly as they should, I realize all I need to do is slow down and model this year. The students love to be the one to model, and they all get excited to do the activity just as well as the others who modeled it for us. I remember my facilitator saying, "Don't assume they know how to do things right away, or that they will always remember. Slow down and model it." Modeling has been great for me this year!! You all got me thinking that I should do more Y charts, though. Do you do them for hallways, quiet work time reader's workshop, etc.? How often do you do them? Thanks for the ideas!