Book Clubs

I have a huge passion for books and reading.  About 6 years ago I decided to start a book club collection.  I order books off of my Scholastic Book Club every month for my collection.  I order the 1 dollar books and then save up my coupons and order more expensive ones as well.  I have over 100 titles in my book club selection.  I have 6 copies of each title.

In the earlier grades many teachers do book clubs.  Most have parents that come in to run to reading club time.  Since my students are a little older I decided to try it without parents.  I began by grouping my kids into fluency alike, and interest alike groups.  This went very well.

In my selection, I have books from a 1st grade level up to 8th grade level.  I allow the groups to pick a book with a little monitoring from me.  I help pick books around their reading levels and offer selections that I think will be motivating.

One thing that I have changed this year is the size of my clubs.  Previously I have had 3 - 5 students in a group.  I have seen that they have a more difficult time agreeing on a book with a larger group.  This year I made my groups with 2 - 4 students.  The selection process is going better already.

During book club time I just have the kids read.  Reading for pleasure is the main purpose of my clubs.  I want the students to read great books for fun.  I don't give them tests, worksheets, or any other thing that they have to do.  Instead I just watch them enjoy books.  Once in awhile I have them to an in class project that is related to a skill that we are working on.  A recent example is a cause and effect assignment with their books.

The students value this time very much.  They often ask if they can read extra.  I currently have 2 groups of girls that go to the library during lunch to keep reading their books.  It's a great thing for me to add to my day if we have an extra 10 minutes here and there.  I love my book clubs!

Reading Genres

Every month I assign a different reading genre.  My intention is that I will expand my students' ideas of what they love to read.  In the beginning of the year I always get a little grumping from parents and students.  By October or November I usually get feedback that the students have found another type of genre that they love to read.  I started in September with realistic fiction.  October was mystery, and November is historical fiction.

In the beginning of October I brought a bunch of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Scooby Doo, A to Z Mysteries, Calendar Club, etc. books to our circle.  I did  a book talk on the different types of books.  Then I allowed them to select a book of mine, or one of their own.  I provided time in class to read that mystery book.  I was very happy to see that most loved the books!

Now that it is November, I went to the library and got about 60 Dear America books.  I went through all of the titles and did the same selection procedure.  One of my boys read his book 2 times this weekend.  He was starting for the third time yesterday, so I dug through the pile and we found another.  There are so many different subjects.  He is reading the war books.

It's very fun to motivate them to read.  In fact today I gave them the choice of iPad time or their realistic fiction books.  Many chose the books!

Grouping Strategies

I have been trying to use different grouping strategies this year.  In the years past I have used a few grouping strategies and repeated them over the year.  It feels a little boring when I do pairings that the students have done before.

I have found that different grouping strategies take very little time to prepare and are motivating for the students.  I also notice that the students are less likely to respond negatively when they find their partner when using these fun strategies.

One strategy that I used was an idea I found on Pinterest.  I picked up 30 paint chip samples from a local paint store.  I picked 2 each of 15 different colors.  When I needed the students to form into working groups I had them draw a paint chip from a basket.  Then along with their reading book, they traveled around the room until they found the matching color paint chip.  Then they read together with their partner!

Another grouping strategy I used was the same process, but different items on the cards.  I googled monster images and then printed 2 of each kind of monster.  The students found their moster alike card to begin working in groups.

I continue to keep finding more ways to group students.  The possibilities are endless!

Triumphs and Challenges - Entry 1

My challenge this week is a small number of kids who don't hand in their work on time or at all.  I have homework charts, involve Special Ed. teachers, and use a planner.  The problem is that even with me or another teacher handwriting a note home and attaching homework each night, this does not mean that the completed work will get into the basket the next morning. 

I came up with a homework book for those that need a little more monitoring.  I use a word document that I have saved on my computer for students who miss work.  I just fill it out and print it for as many as are missing.  I decided to also use this for a daily record of work completion. 

I made a book using a three ring binder and I print off assignments that are due.  Then I have the students who need the help hand all of their work in on  my desk in their own basket.  At the beginning and end of the day, we go through this basket and check off in the book that all assignments are in.  It is easier for me than to go through all of my other papers or work looking for just a couple. 

I just started this week, so we will see in a couple weeks how this is working.  Here is what it looks like...

Since I referenced my homework sheet, I'll use that for my other positive thing.  I type in the assignments given and then print them off for each absent student.  Then I staple the homework on the sheet and write the date on the front.  This is a very clean and tidy way for the students to come back to their missing work.  It helps me because I don't have to hand write a note for several that are absent.  It also helps focus them on where to start with the work.  Here is what it looks like...

Another thing that is going well is a way I have motivated my students to read chapter books.  I gave each student a piece of paper and had them decorate it with their name.  Then I put the names inside my cupboard doors.  Each time they finish a book, the student and I have a really short book chat so I know they read it. Then they place a post it note by their name.  They are so excited to use post it notes!  At first I was worrying myself with how long the book was, or other things.  Then I realized... who cares - they are reading!!!!    Here is a picture of one of the cupboards.  These are the chapter books read by two students.  Remember it's only October!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Idea

Earlier in the year I wrote a letter to my students introducing myself in detail.  I typed the letter, but addressed them individually to each student.  I told them things that I thought they could relate to, such as a story about my dog and what I like to do in my free time.

Then I gave my students time to reply.  I was pleasantly surprised when they kept asking for more time.  The letters that I received back far exceeded my expectations.  One of the letters is 4 notebook pages long!  In reading the letters I got a good look into what is important to each student.  I also realized that I found a very motivating writing assignment.  With this success, I will be adding these letters to their writing folders.

I am now thinking of times where I could extend this idea.  Maybe I will try it again after winter break or other times where I know everyone would have a sizable amount of time to write about.

Action Research Abstract

I began my research looking for a way to better assess where my fourth graders are at daily with math performance.  I was finding that waiting for the end of unit summative assessment was too late in reaching my learners.  I started researching ways to monitor progress more often, and ways to change my instruction to meet individual student needs. 

My review of literature brought me to many ideas that I can implement in my classroom.  A list of these ideas are as follows:  1) using assessments as a tool for improving teaching and learning, 2) assigning meaningful work, 3) using formative assessments, and 4) improving teacher feedback.   These ideas will help me greatly in knowing daily where my students are performing. They will also help in changing my instruction to guide them to the next level in learning. 

My question is, “How will using target-based instruction as formative assessment impact my fourth grade math students’ performance?”  My plan is to write learning targets for each math unit and use a self-rating scale of understanding to monitor progress toward the targets.  I will also use exit slips daily for current math topics and also previously taught math topics.  My students will then self-rate their understanding on a scale of 0 – 4 on a data sheet that I will provide.  I will use daily exit slips, bi-weekly data sheets, and observation of students to provide extra support and useful feedback.  This will help me know where my students are at daily and it will shape my instruction daily.

Questions

1.    Are formative assessments more valuable than summative assessments?

2.    Can learning targets and formative assessments be useful in all subject areas?

3.    Can students accurately rate their own understanding or  proficiency?

Backwards Design

My first backwards design unit of the year is my Earth Materials unit.  The beginning of the year has been a tough adjustment.  I have been trying really hard to get my class organized with curriculum, behavior, and into the routine of a typical schedule.  This process has been more difficult than it has been in other years.

Some of my curriculum has been hard to get to because of the time spent working on the classroom routine.  The best work that I have done with my students so far has been my Earth Materials unit.  I knew before I started where I needed to be at the end of this unit.  I also knew exactly how I was going to get there.  I am very focused and it makes my teaching of the BDU very easy, even with the hustle and bustle of the beginning of the year.      I would love to take the time to put many more of my teaching into this format.

Growth Mindset

I try to always have a growth mindset, both at work and in my personal life.  Currently I am beginning my 7th year of teaching fourth grade.  Each year I take in a new group of about 26 - 28 kids.  A teacher with a growth mindset helps to figure out what each particular group needs.  I know that I cannot expect each group, or even each student to function or behave in the same way.

As I am trying new ideas for teaching and behavior management, I always include myself as a part of the problem or solution.  I wonder what I am doing to contribute to the successes or failures of the group.  I find that when I look at my own role, I can identify things that I may be doing to make a situation difficult.  For example, if I make it a requirement that my students sit still, I may be creating unnecessary problems.  Instead I look at a problem and think about what I need the students to do, and what are ways to get there.

A New Year

I am always very excited to start a new year.  I love that in this job there is closure on each year.  It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the previous year and also the opportunity to make changes.  As I start each new year I add ideas or change things that need changing.

One thing that I am really excited to work on is the community.  I am having a slow start to my classroom routine, but this past Friday I was able to have a great conversation with the class about acceptance.  It felt for the first time this year that a classroom community is on its way.  This is by far my favorite thing about beginning a new year.

First Week

My first week was very challenging.  I felt really prepared and had fabulous plans written.  There were many more behaviors to work with than I anticipated.  The hard part was not being able to get to what I had planned.  I missed both my community building activities and academic plans.  I had planned a different energizer or brain break each day.  As I went along I could feel that the class was not able to tolerate so many different ideas.  Instead I worked on one activity for a brain break the entire week.

The activity I did was the greeting where you toss the tennis ball around the circle.  It took all week to get most of them tossing the ball and not pitching it, not laughing at each other, cooperating, etc.  I am glad that I gave them more time with the activity until we felt that it was successful.  Otherwise it feels like rushing through things just to get them done without any gain.

I am hoping each week will gradually get better.  I do love my group!

Action Research Project

My action research has to do with eliminating all of the weight on summative assessments.  Instead I am concentrating on daily formative assessments, learning targets, and really working on giving great feedback.  I have researched a lot on feedback.  I am finding that learning and progress is greatest when students know where they are going and are supported every step of the way.  If the teacher knows and communicates to the student about mistakes and how to eliminate them, then the student will benefit immediately.

One interesting thing that I found was from an article called, "Know Thy Feedback," written by John Hattie in 2012.  He said that when giving feedback, it should be very specific and not given with praise.  He said that if you praise the student while giving feedback, they may concentrate instead on the praise.  So be kind when giving feedback, but save the praise for a separate conversation.  It makes sense to me, but it also feels natural to give a "Great job!" along with my feedback.  This is something for me to work on.

This year...

This year I am so excited for a new beginning.  The things that I am most excited for are all of my new ideas.  Last year as I learned the new ideas, they seemed more difficult to implement because I was already in the midst of plans and other learning.  I think starting a fresh year with fresh students and families will make implementation much smoother.  Specifically I am looking forward to my technology ideas.  I did start the kidblog in my class last year and it went very well.  Now I felt that it was a practice run and I cannot wait to develop it from the beginning of the year.

I also blogged on my school website for the families.  It didn't go very well because I started about 2/3 into the year.  Not many parents read it.  I ended up quitting the blog and no one even noticed.  This year I am going to start it at the beginning and preview it with families at open house.  I will add class notes, homework assignments, a google calendar of events, a daily blog, links to websites for fun academic games, and some photos of our group.  I am hoping that it is a useful tool this year!

Community Building

Another important thing that I do for community building is very simple and it requires no planning or materials.  This is something that I do all year long.  It is simply talking to my class.  I always have my class community in mind and take every opportunity to work on the environment.

In the beginning of the year I get to know the students as quickly as I can.  I ask them their parents' names, siblings, pets, hobbies, etc.  I make a point to remember this information and then I ask the students often about their family.  We do a lot of connecting to each other through these conversations.  The students also know that I care about them as people as well as students.

As the year moves along, I keep a very close ear to what is important to them.  If something is happening that I think would be beneficial to talk about, then I take time out of the academic day to do so.  Some example topics may be a death of a family member or pet, home event, illness, news event, etc.  Other examples may be positive things like birthdays, sports accomplishments, or hobbies that students might be involved in.

I find that this community building really makes the students know that I care about them.  When they know that I care, they work hard, and also trust me when they need help with something.  These connections are one of my favorite parts of being a teacher.

Beginning of the Year Character Building

Now that I am on summer break I am doing a lot of planning for my upcoming year.  One thing that I work very hard on is community building.  I start from the moment my new little faces enter the classroom.  I begin this by the way I guide discussions and the way that I let some of the conversations bloom.  By modeling acceptance and excitement for every student, I see that they pick this attitude up very quickly.

As a group there are so many community activities that I do.  One of my favorites has been giving them a piece of paper with 6 blank boxes.  I have them write 5 little known true facts about themselves and then 1 fact that is not true.  I advise them not to pick anything too obvious, such as "I have been to the moon."  Then we cut out pieces apart and then bring them to a circle meeting place.

One by one they read and place their cards in front of them in the circle.  The class has to guess which fact is the false one.  This past year they took leadership as a group right away last year and I heard so many wonderful comments to each other.  An example was a boy who said he was not good at drawing.  There were many other students who said right away that they thought he was great at drawing.  Another great part was that they could openly discuss the fact that we are not all great athletes, or have a cabin, etc.  I learned this activity during a Responsive Classroom course I took many years ago.  I love the activity and am very excited to continue it in my years to come.

My Biggest Change Last Year

Last year my biggest change was to not be so wrapped up with end of the unit assessments.  I only gave one test the entire year in math.  The one that I did give was early in the year.    After that test I realized that I already knew what that assessment told me.  So I decided that a test took up too much math time and it wasn't really that necessary for mastery of concepts.

In place of these tests I paid very close attention to daily work and how they were doing during work time.  I did a whole group instruction in math each day and then did a small group for extra support during work time.  The group was open to anyone that needed help.  They could come and go as they wished.  I did see my test scores and I did just as well as I did the previous year on the state test.

I am happy about this change and am incorporating this into my AR and plans for the upcoming school year.

My Sensed Need Updates

I have thought about all of my sensed needs.  I have been looking at things that would support all of these ideas.  I think that I am going to informally implement some ideas that I've read about for motivating kids to read through self selected books.  I also am going to set up a differentiation math center with games and other resources that will support students at the place that they are at.  I usually am able to find a math support person somewhere to help me during math teaching and work time.  In the past I have found a parent, high school students, or even an AmeriCorps teacher.  I am going to look into the high school student this year again.  This will help me give extra support to the students that need it.

The sensed need that I am going to pursue for my AR is an extension of the one I did the first time.  I would like to look into how I can follow each student's progress in math along the way.  I will not rely on an end of the unit test.  I am thinking that I may not even use the tests for this process.  I am very excited to see where this leads me.

A New Sensed Need

I am starting to think of some new needs in my classroom.  I have three that I am interested in.  One is trying to find a new way to assess in contrast with my end of unit assessments that my curriculum includes.  I am finding that this type of assessment is too little too late.  I really want to make a big change on this next year.  My AR did this, but I want to look at it expanded instead of one subject, short term.

I am also really interested in supporting individual math concepts for each student as we move along.  I know that they are all at different levels of understanding, and I want to find a way to track progress and to support or allow practice of each skill.

The last one is that I feel that there is not enough self selected reading in my classroom.  I feel that I'd like to connect reading lessons to reading that kids are really interested in.  I have to figure out how to map that out to be a successful teaching program.

I am very excited to look into all of these ideas!

My Action Research Afterthougths

I am now winding down my school year.  As I mentioned in my last post about my AR, I had an awesome idea and experience, but my implementation had some challenges.  I loved this process so much that I would like to continue to make this work.  Since I am at the end of my school year, I am going to start developing this for next year.  I may even stretch this into my next AR project.

The changes that I need to make are to be more deliberate in my planning to include the right steps in my learning targets.  When I formed the targets this time, I just went off of the standards.  Sometimes that was enough, but I found for other math subjects, like long division, there are more steps that I needed to monitor along the way to a high level of understanding.  So I am going to write additional targets that students will need to get to the standard.

I also want to find a way to involve parents in my process.  The idea is that I will know where every student is at with math comprehension, every single day.  Often parents want to know where they can help, so if I create a second checklist, students could take this home and parents would also have a way to know if their student needs support.  I am not sure how I will do this.  My only idea right now is to have them self assess on two checklists.  I feel like I need one in my possession so I have it to refer to and pull students as needed.

The last change I would like to make is to have a plan on what to do when I see that students have rated themselves as not understanding a topic.  I did okay with it this time around, but I would like a more formal procedure.  I am thinking about setting a time aside at the end of the day that will be a math support time.  I currently have a snack break that I intend to change.  I would like to have a menu of options for each topic I teach.  I have been making a lot of games to use for this purpose.

Overall I am still very excited about this research plan.  I am feeling great about starting it, making some mistakes, and then having the chance to make changes and make this a very valuable tool in my classroom.

Vision Statement

This is a vision/mission statement that I wrote after my first year of my master's program.  I am proud of what I have learned and looking forward to making these changes in my years to come as a teacher.

Belief Statement:

I believe that students learn best in an environment that is safe.  I believe that they need to understand how to navigate through their environment and how to get along with others.  I believe that as a teacher I can facilitate this warm, compassionate, and understanding environment which will in turn create a place for hard work and self motivation.  I also believe that students need to be immersed in the same technology that they use in the real world.  Educators are preparing them for work and life and we need to incorporate the tech tools that they have access to.  These technology skills go along with the 21^st Century learning that need to be taught in all schools.  Society is different, jobs are different, and we need to equip our students with tools that they’ll need to get jobs.  I also believe that we need to teach children that they are all great at something.  They are not carbon copies of each other and we need create opportunities for all learners to learn and excel. 

Action Research - A summary of my plan

I started my Action Research implementation at a time in my school year where I was getting prepared for my state testing.  Unfortunately these two things didn't go very well together.  My implementation is in the subject of math, and in my classroom I was reviewing many concepts instead of teaching new material.  The great news is that my testing is now over and I can get some more solid results.

The plan that I developed is to set learning targets for my math curriculum.  I wrote up the objectives that I needed the students to learn and formatted them in "I can" statements.  I put these in a chart for each student.  Each math concept has its own chart.  For example, I have a chart for multiplication, geometry, fractions, decimals, etc.  After I teach and give my students work time, I ask them to rate themselves on a scale of understanding that I gave them.  The scale is...

0 - I don't understand
1 - I am starting to understand
2 - I can do it with an example in front of me
3 - I can do it on my own
4 - I know it so well I could teach someone else

So I have them self assess their level of understanding and record it in the chart.  I collect the charts so I have them to work with.  I look at the self scoring and I reteach and support all of the ratings of 0 - 2.  I am finding that the kids are very honest with this process.  Then I give a problem of the day (like an exit slip) within the concept that I am teaching.  I also ask them to rate themselves 0 - 4 on this single problem.  I collect these and correct them.  Again I work with the 0 - 2 students.  I also make sure that the 3 - 4 scores are accurate by checking the work.  Then once I work with the 0 - 2's, I have them re-rate their level of understanding.

I think that the system works very well in terms of me knowing where they are at.  The downfall as of right now is that I haven't had a unit that I have taught from beginning to end.  I am looking forward to beginning another unit on Monday.  I am moving into a measurement unit.  This will be the first start to finish unit since my implementation.

The kids seem to be very interested in the rating process and are very thoughtfully rating themselves.  It's great for me to be able to support them every day, instead of being surprised by end of the unit testing.  My hope is to be able to work the bugs out of this system and create this as a permanent teaching/learning tool in my classroom.

Action Research - The beginning

I am very excited to be working through my first action research project.  The process seemed intimidating at first, but I am already seeing the value in the research, implementation, and reflection.  My research has to do with monitoring student progress throughout the daily lessons.  I am trying to implement a plan that will allow me to support the learners along the way and not find out at the end of a unit that they didn't understand what I wanted them to learn.

The following is my annotation to an article that I used for my research.

Kenkel, Sue, Steve Hoelscher, and Teri West. "Leading Adolescents to Mastery." Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development April (2006): 33-37. Print.  This article was about a school that adopted an approach called ABCI approach.  In this approach the school as a whole works together to make sure that everyone completes assignments with a C or better.  This approach took a few years to get to work.  All of the school employees were required to change and support the students.  It took many unusual tactics to make this work, such as finding tutors and transportation to teach students in need on the weekends.  This school did see large improvement in work ethic and performance.