Cooperative Learning

I was fortunate enough a few weeks ago to meet with a "star teacher." This person came into my classroom and showed me how to implement a variety of different strategies. I have been using this time off to put some groups of students together in a organized fashion and also to create the tools necessary to implement the strategies that she taught me into my everyday classroom curriculum. I have become so interested in this style of learning that I have decided to complete my action research on it!! Hopefully all goes well :)

Winter break!!! I made it!!! I cannot believe that the year is half way over. When I return on January 7th to begin the second half of the year things in the classroom are going to look a little different. Shouting out will not be tolerated. This is my biggest pet peeve and diminishes the wait time other students might need to process a question that is asked. I also plan to do a lot more cooperative learning activities. I will have groups already developed, often comprised of 2 low, 2 middle, and 2 high students. I feel that this will increase my classroom community and will help students to become more successful and confident in their answers. This is what my research paper will center around.

Consistency is the Best Policy

Being consistent is the concept that I am finding most challenging in the classroom. Kids need to be held accountable for their behavior and actions. I have realized that in order for their behavior to improve, I have to better mine as well! I need to practice using more consistent language and being sure that I am sticking to the expectations that the kids and I have developed in the classroom. Monday is a new day and will begin a new week. A new Miss Walz will emerge and will demand appropriate behavior from my fourth graders!!!!

Assessing and Grading

As the first trimester draws to a close, I am realizing that an area that I am struggling with is assessing and grading. I have taken many effort and completion grades and have realized that this has left with a small amount of grades to work with. I do not feel that all of these numbers are a reflection of what some of these students have earned. The areas that I stuggle with assessing the most are reading and writing. I look forward to a new trimester and a new approach to grading!!

Token Economy

I have recently begun a token economy in my classroom. It has really motivated my kiddos and their behavior has greatly improved. We determined the rewards together. Some of the things that they came up with were computer time, lunch with the teacher, a homework pass, and a pick from the treasure box just to name a few. It give the kids practice working with money and teaches them the importance of saving. My classroom looks like a completely different place with the implementation of this program. I hope it continues!!!!!

Great Site For Classroom Blog Entries!

Last week was the first time that I have ever used a blog in my classroom and to my surprise it went well. I have found this great educational blog website that is free and safe for teachers and students. I as the teacher, have discretion upon what to and what not to post. I thought that this feature was great considering how students can be inappropriate at times. I used this as an individual assessment tool but I think that it could be more conducive to student learning in a small group setting. Particularly I plan to use this frequently in my upcoming book clubs as a way for my kids to respond to one another while also gaining experience in using technology. They love using the laptop computers that are available at my school and I feel that the use of this blog website will be extremely motivating and engaging for them.

http://edublogs.org/

Holding Kids Accountable

I have discovered the secret to a success of a classroom is holding the kiddos accountable for the expectations that you have established together. At the beginning of the year students were very compliant with the procedures, routines, and promises, that we as a classroom community developed. As the year progressed students began to settle in and I was forgetting to remind and rehearse the essentials that were crucial in our classroom. Together the students and I had a class meeting and established the importance of rules in our classroom. Since then the behavior has improved and my life has become a lot easier. I get to enjoy the kids rather than harping on them about what appropriate behavior looks like. I have made several charts listing the steps of the morning routine, dismissal routine, and what a good listener looks like and hung them on the walls of the classroom. This seems to be working at the moment!!! I hope that it continues.

Now things in my classroom are in full swing. The kids are beginning to feel comfortable and are settling in...this has been causing some problems for me. I have done a good job in practicing the procedures and routines with my students in the first few weeks of school but I am forgetting to continue holding high expectations for the students day in and day out. I am trying to get back on track. The three biggest concerns that I have are...students are not raising their hand (they are shouting out), they are coming up to me if they have a question (this makes me feel very overwhelmed), and I keep giving students warning after warning after warning. This is going to change. On Friday I began holding students accountable for their behavior and we had one of the best days we have had all year. I plan to continue this week...I will let you all know how it goes!!

I Can't Believe That This is the Third Week of School!!!!!!

As we are quickly approach the ending of the third week of school, I cannot begin to explain how much I have learned over these 15 days. It is still so strange for students to be calling me "there teacher." I have completed my first phone calls home, my first open house, and officailly today had my first student miss the bus :( Each day brings new and exciting experiences and challenges. I try new things everyday and am not afraid of change.

My First Day of School!!

Today was my very first day at McKelvey Elementary. What a GREAT day :) I was so nervous but as soon as my kids entered the room my nervousness turned to excitement. We did a lot of community building activities and practiced procedures and routines. I know that this year is going to bring many challenges. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. I will keep you all up to date!!

First Post Ever!

I am so excited to officially begin my very first blog experience.