Next year is going to be drastically different- I will be making a move from third grade to kindergarten!

I am excited and nervous about the change.  I’ve been asking lots of questions and reading lots of books.  I am trying to be as prepared as possible for this leap.  I know I will need to be more patient and more prepared than ever.  I’m excited about seeing emerging literacy and math skills and concepts.  I am grateful to have trusted friends and family who teach kindergarten.  They are answering my questions and lending me books, and I know I will think of new questions all summer long.

I was lucky enough to attend the recent International Reading Association conference in Phoenix.  The conference was fantastic.  I attended some really thought-provoking sessions.  The conference helped me think about my classroom from a broader perspective.  It helped me remember the reasons I teach.  I want to help my students become life long learners.  I want them to be curious and eager to gain knowledge.  There is a much larger goal than the end of year tests.

One of my most important realizations seems really, really basic.  I was reminded that read alouds are vital in a classroom.

Reading books to kids is a basic activity, but one that is woefully underused.  There are so many benefits.  Reading to kids is a great way to model fluency, increase comprehension, and model good language.  It increases vocabulary and stimulates the imagination.  Students who are read to often are more familiar with story structures and patterns.  They have a better familiarity with non-fiction text features.  They are better writers.  Reading books to kids increases their background knowledge quickly and effectively.  And as anybody who loves reading knows, books are just plain entertaining.

How Did I Lose Focus?

I know it’s important to read books to my students.  I have always believed it, and passionately argued for the importance.  At the beginning of the year, I had a goal of reading at least two books each day.  It worked for a few months.  Our list of “books we have read” grew at a steady pace.  I read one or two picture books during the day and a chapter from The Series of Unfortunate Events right after lunch.

As the year went on, I stopped reading as many books to my students.  Other lessons got in the way.  When I did read a book out loud, I did it with a specific skill in mind that I wanted to teach.  I read to my students for a purpose, never to simply explore and enjoy a book.  Because the enjoyment was gone and each book needed to have a specific lesson attached to it, the read alouds dwindled even more.

If I had told myself as a student teacher that I could go a full week without reading a picture book to my third graders, I never would have believed it.

Committing to Reading Out Loud

When I got back into my classroom after the conference, I called my students to the rug and told them what I had learned.  I told them how important it is to read them books.  I told them there are so many good books in the world that it’s silly to not read at least one every day.  I promised them that I would read them a book every morning.  I made a big deal as I inserted it into the morning routine.

Now, right after our morning math warm up, I read my students a book.  Sometimes I have an instructional goal, but more often the goal is simply to enjoy the book.  Our list of books is growing again, and quickly.

My students are excited about each book.  Some of them bring me books they have enjoyed reading and ask me to read them the next morning.  The overall excitement about books and reading has spiked up.  I’m excited, too, and looking forward to reading so many books for the rest of this year.

I’ve been quiet for a long time.  The reason for this is that at the end of this school year, my school is being closed.

The reasons behind closing the school are familiar and all too common- budget shortfalls, declining enrollment, difficult economic times.

After our staff was informed of the news, I began to mourn my impending loss.  I thought of everything I will miss and everything I don’t want to change.  I went home sad every night.

Focusing on helping my students got me excited about teaching again.  I do this job for my students.  I still want them to learn.  I want their new teachers at their new schools to be happy with what they know and rejoice in how they are curious, strong, eager learners.  Even though I will be in a new place next year, I’m continuing to do everything possible for my students this year.

The second year is light years better than the first, but still not without problems.  I know I’m still learning about management.  I am still facing problems, but this time I am able to recognize the problems before they get out of control and focus on fixing them.

These Are Problems I Can Handle

It helps that I’m only having one problem at a time.  Last year I had dozens of problems piled up on each other.  It was hard to focus on one thing because there was so much happening that needed to change.  This year I’m actually able to address the behavior issues in a logical way.

They Were Noisy When I Wasn’t There

A few weeks ago, we had a problem with noisy behavior in the cafeteria and specials classes, and after a few discussions and lots of role playing, reminders, and some accountability, we are again under control.  They have now had good behavior in the cafeteria for three straight weeks, and the specials rooms are no longer deafeningly loud when I pick them up from a specials class.

They Ignored Calls for Attention

In class, my students were falling into the habit of ignoring me when I called for attention.  To call for attention I count down from four to zero.  I started a marble jar- ten marbles whenever the class has all eyes on me by the time I get to zero.  That’s the only thing we get marbles for.  After a few days, the class became nearly perfect when I called for attention.

Long Bathroom Breaks

A little after that, the bathroom breaks began to take too long.  I knew some students were playing around in the bathroom, taking too long and being too noisy.  I dealt with it.  For one day, we didn’t get a bathroom break at all.  The next day, we had a discussion about behavior in the bathrooms.  I timed the break and it only took 6 minutes for everybody in the class to use the bathroom and be back in line, quietly.  I wrote the time on the board  and complimented them on how well they did.  The students understand my expectations and are working hard to meet them.

A Chatty Class

The current issue is that the students start conversations whenever I’m not talking.  When I tell them to clean up, they talk while they clean.  When I ask them to get out a book, they talk while they do it.  It’s a familiar issue that dominated the classroom last year.  This year, though, I know that I can trust them to stop when I call for attention.  I know that the tone of the classroom is much better than it ever was last year.  I know that I am the one in control this year, not my students.

On Monday, I’m going to deal with the issue of talking too much.  I will make my expectations clear.  I will enforce consequences for students who don’t follow my directions.  The students will change their behaviors because they know I mean what I say.

To first year teachers- go ahead and look forward to the second year.  It really is better.  Not perfect by any means, but a hundred times better without a doubt.

Recently, a parent asked about her student’s performance.  I used data to guide the conversation.

Together, we reviewed the student’s assessment results.  That information made the conversation about facts instead of feelings and guesses.

We specifically discussed where the student is academically.  Using the data to guide the conversation showed her that I am aware of her student’s high abilities and that I’m differentiating her student’s instruction to her student’s level.

Keeping my student assessments organized allowed me to quickly grab the data I needed for the impromptu meeting.  Last year I kept student files in my filing cabinet.  It didn’t work for me as I never caught up with my filing.

This year, I’m using an idea I got from a first grade teacher at my school.  I use a big binder with a tab for each student.  I record assessment scores on a page in the front of each student’s section.  I keep assessments and parent communications in the binder.  I also add student work.  This means that if I ever need student work samples, parent notes, or test scores, they are all in one place.

This isn’t to say that all parent communications should be based on data.  It’s still important to listen carefully and talk about ideas and feelings.  But data can add another layer of information that enhances the discussion.

Are They Learning or Am I Just Talking?

During the last two weeks I’ve been trying to take the spotlight off myself and let my students drive more of the learning in the room.  I need to back off and let my students learn things more than just give them information.

I’ve given them too many definitions.  It’s not enough to just tell them what something means.   They have to come up with the definition on their own to really understand what something means.

So I’ve been using more guided questions and having longer class discussions.

What is an animal?

One of the major science concepts is talking about the definition of an animal.  Most of my students think an animal is something with four legs and fur.  Lions, cats, dogs, and hamsters are animals.  To some students, frogs, turtles, spiders, snakes, crayfish, and birds are not really animals.  People are absolutely not animals.

My initial urge was to define animal and tell them what animals were.  I squelched that urge.  I asked my students to give me ideas of types of animals.

They gave me a long list.  It started with small furry animals.  Eventually somebody included a bird.  Some kids disagreed and we discussed it.  The class decided that a bird was a type of animal.

We kept adding animals and somebody said a turtle was an animal.  The class was split in their decision on the turtle.

So I asked them to tell me what all the animals have in common.  Somebody said, “they’re alive.”  I agreed that was true, animals are alive.  So then I asked if we could add a plant to the list of animals.  They all said no, and somebody said that animals can move.  I put that on the list of what defines animal.

Somebody else said animals eat food and drink water.  The class agreed with that.  Somebody said animals have fur.  But another student pointed out that birds don’t have fur, they have feathers.  So fur stayed off the list.

I asked about the turtle again.  Are turtles alive?  Do they eat, drink, and move?  The students discussed and decided that a turtle is a type of animal.

Student Success

The discussion went on for a while and we eventually had a good list of qualities that defines animals. Animals are alive, eat food, drink water, move, can make noises, and live in a habitat.

It’s not exactly the list I would have written to give them.  But it’s something I’m prouder of than anything I could have written because the students arrived at the definition through their own discussion and debate.  They used higher order thinking to decide what an animal was.  I was more of a guide than a teacher.  Now they all know what an animal is because they built the definition themselves.

Disappointing my students

The 3rd grade science curriculum requires several animals for studying life sciences.  The delivery dates of crayfish and bess beetles were set.  My class got ready for the animals a few days before delivery.  They set up the habitats and we discussed the organisms.

Then things went downhill.  The day before the crayfish were to be delivered I got an e-mail from the district.

Apparently there was a problem with getting crayfish and they couldn’t be delivered.

My principal authorized me to buy some.  I called several bait stores and pet shops and discovered that crayfish are banned in Arizona.

Apparently there are too many in our lakes so they are not allowed to be sold or transported.  Even if you catch them in the wild, you can’t transport them away from the lake alive.

I freaked out thinking about telling my kids the crayfish weren’t coming after all of their hard work setting things up.  And I was right to feel bad.  My kids were really disappointed when I told them.

They came in that morning excitedly asking where the crayfish were.  I broke the bad news to the class first thing and they were subdued all day.

It’s not fun to disappoint your students.  But being frank and truthful is the best approach to dealing with bad news.

Collaboration rocks

Sometimes great things come out of frustrating situations.  My colleagues saved the day with their helpful advice and generosity.

I spoke with my friend Ms. Bloom about the life science standards.  She explained that if my students could study the structures, behaviors, and adaptations of animals, we would meet the standards.

So I decided to find another animal to study.

A wonderful fifth grade teacher offered to loan my class her turtle to study.  She even moved the tank to my room.

Later, my principal offered to buy hermit crabs.  I’m taking her offer and my students will research and compare the needs of hermit crabs to the needs of the turtle.

What a wonderful community of educators I work with.  I’m not isolated in my classroom.  There are so many fantastic people in this with me.  They care about me, my students, and the curriculum.  I am so grateful to be a part of this profession.

How do you decide you’re close enough to done?

The first day of school was last week and I didn’t finish my to-do list before class started.  It was long and I kept finding things to add to it.

There were unexpected meetings and tasks the week before school that took time I planned to spend working in my classroom.

As the week went on and my time left got shorter I started prioritizing the items on my list.  I realized I couldn’t do everything.  But everything didn’t need to be done to be done enough for Monday.  My focused goal became Monday.

On Saturday, my work was purely about making the room ready for Monday.  Any projects left out that weren’t needed for Monday to be a success were put in bins and the bins went in the closet.

Did I meet my ideal goal?  No.  But I finished what needed to be done to be successful on Monday.

A fantastic first week

What an improvement from last year.  I’m feeling confident that things are off to a great start.  I set procedures and expectations to a level that will make the entire year better than last year.  I’m being very firm and consistent.  It’s paying off.  My students are quiet and eager to please.  They follow my procedures carefully.  I hardly recognize my classroom this year compared to last year.

Every time I start to think I should let up and allow a little noise to pass unchecked or one broken rule to go unnoticed I think about last year.  I think about the worst days when the principal walked in and winced at the noise level or the days when I cried after the students left.  Those memories strengthen my resolve and I stay consistent.  Consistency was a huge challenge for me last year and this year I am determined to fix that.

It is very hard for me to be consistent

My urge is to give extra chances and reminders.  But clearly that urge didn’t work well last year.  So this year I keep reminding myself that my consequences aren’t bad.  They will not damage the students.  All they will do is reinforce my expectations and make the year easier and more productive for everyone.

The surprising thing is that because I am so fast and consistent this year with giving my first consequence, which is a warning, I have not had to give another reminder.  So far no students earned the second consequence, a ten minute time out.

Once I write that tiny “W” for warning on their behavior slip they stop the behavior.  And the other students take note too and become even more focused themselves.  I know the students will start testing the limits more next week. But this week they simply didn’t act out.  Why wasn’t it this easy last year?

Procedures are making it all work

Compared to last year, I established very structured procedures to start this year.  Harry Wong says that rules are made to be broken but procedures are just how something is done.  My students are proving that to me this year.

Last year I had lax procedures.  I figured that as long as everybody was reasonable we would be okay.  It didn’t work out like I thought and the class was off task more than I was comfortable with.

They were also too noisy.  Not that I’m opposed to noisy work just because of the noise.  I’ve observed successful classes that are louder than my class ever was.  But my classroom has an internal connecting door and limited sound proofing with another classroom and so when my class is noisy it unfairly impacts the students in the other class.  I don’t want to do that.  So staying quieter is one of my goals this year.

To help keep things quiet I thought through all my procedures well in advance of the first day and focused heavily on improving and streamlining transitions.

I have clear procedures for how we get our homework, how we enter the room, how we move to the rug, etc.

I taught the procedures to the class with clear instruction and modeling.  We’ve been practicing all week.  I’m praising them to the point of gushing and taking pictures of when it’s done the right way.  Students love the positive reinforcement of having their picture taken while they are doing something correct.

I will review everything like it’s the first day of school on Monday for extra reinforcement.  In a few weeks, hopefully, we will have it down without thinking about it at all.

This class behaved better in the first week than I think last year’s class ever did.  I’m sure some of it is the new mix of students but I also know that my focus on procedures and being consistent with my rules is a major factor.

It is hard and long (but good) work

Each day this week was at least a 14 hour work day.  Pretty excessive, I admit.  But it’s worth it.  I refused to leave until I completely set up the classroom for the next day.  If I’m fully prepared the students are never waiting for me to be ready, like they did too often last year, so they don’t get distracted and lose focus on academics.  I think (hope) the time commitment will relax as I get into more of a routine for my new processes.