Today, my class and I created 19 new energy buses. I gave each student a yellow card with a bus on it, wrote "Bus Driver (Name)" on the top, and on the bottom I wrote "My goal is_____." I began by explaining to the students that they only had one half of First Grade left and that it was important to revisit our Hopes and Dreams. We talked about how our "magic buses" were going to represent our new hope, and that these buses would be fueled by positive energy. The students immediately referred to the Magic School Bus, which I thought was kind of a fun connection.
I sent them back to their desks with the card and said they could decorate their bus however they wanted to. In the meantime, I called each of them over to revisit our current Hopes and Dreams, and to see whether or not they had reached it and if they wanted to work toward a new goal. I was very impressed with what they created!
I will admit that I was a little skeptical about trying this at first. With it being such a metaphorical expression, I wasn't sure they could make the connection. They had so much fun with it, though, and were so excited about their creations!!!!!!
My next step....to create a long bus with me as the driver, and all of them as passengers....and ask for their trust on the journey.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Energy Bus!!!
I read some more of The Energy Bus tonight and got one more idea for my classroom! George's coworkers told him that he had never really done anything for them, so why should they choose to ride his bus? All of a sudden, he turned from a continuously negative person, to one who wanted everyone to be positive with him. When the book started to talk about how building positivity takes a lot of energy, every single day, similar to building muscle, I got an idea!
I thought that was a very intriguing point. If you start exercising, but then stop for a week, when you come back the next week, it is never as easy to pick up! Similarly, if you lose your positive energy, it makes it more difficult to pick back up. It is easy to get the "poor me" attitude and hope that things will turn up, but you are the driver of your own bus!
I think this can hold true in the classroom. If you think your class has had a bad week, your students may go home feeling negative and not being excited to come back the next day. While not everything can always turn out the way you had hoped, looking at it in a constructive manner can help it to improve for the next time.
My idea for the classroom is to end each day with three positive things that happened that day. I will use a class list to make sure that everyone gets a turn each round to share a "positive." I am hopeful that this will also help us to realize that we are all riding the same bus!
I thought that was a very intriguing point. If you start exercising, but then stop for a week, when you come back the next week, it is never as easy to pick up! Similarly, if you lose your positive energy, it makes it more difficult to pick back up. It is easy to get the "poor me" attitude and hope that things will turn up, but you are the driver of your own bus!
I think this can hold true in the classroom. If you think your class has had a bad week, your students may go home feeling negative and not being excited to come back the next day. While not everything can always turn out the way you had hoped, looking at it in a constructive manner can help it to improve for the next time.
My idea for the classroom is to end each day with three positive things that happened that day. I will use a class list to make sure that everyone gets a turn each round to share a "positive." I am hopeful that this will also help us to realize that we are all riding the same bus!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Energy Bus
Getting back into the "swing of things" after our Holiday Break seemed to be very difficult for me this year! I love my job, and I love my class, but for some reason, the first week back seemed long and drawn out, and things that don't normally bother me were really getting to me! I needed a pick-me-up. I am so glad that I started reading The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon.
The first thing that really struck me was the simple gesture that one person seemed to impact George's day. The first day he met the bus driver, she did not leave his mind until he had seen her again. While his attitude toward her was portrayed in a negative manner at first, it is obvious that she impacted him enough to wonder when he would see her again.
This made me think- what kind of impact do I want to have on people? Do I want people to remember me as the negative or positive person? Of course, the answer to that is simple. The actions behind it are the difficult part.
I read on to discover Rule #1: Be the driver of your own bus. Everyone has crisis situations. Everyone also has the chance to react to them in two ways- negatively or positively. How you choose to react will drastically affect the outcome.
This makes me think about the summer I spent all of my free time applying for teaching jobs. Everyone had told us it was a tough business, and the chances were good that we wouldn't succeed. I decided to be the driver of my own bus. Of course I was bummed each time I received a rejection letter, but support from my family and friends helped me by encouraging me that there was a reason for those rejections. When I finally got my dream job as a First Grade Teacher, I felt like I had accomplished so much!
It is not always easy to react positively. I get easily stressed when I feel unorganized. I am hopeful that as I continue reading this book, I will learn more strategies of coping with this!
Rule #2: Focus your energy. I loved how the book said that without focused energy, all it is is unorganized energy. This fits perfectly with my lifestyle. If you have energy, but aren't sure where it is going, it can be pointless energy! It's better to take your bus and steer it in a direction, even if it doesn't always turn out as expected, than to be driving around aimlessly with no direction!
I have found this book to be a great read so far. In my classroom, we have been talking about revisiting our hopes and dreams. This fits in perfectly. I am going to explain to students that, now that we know each other better, it may be easier to set goals. I want them to trust me as their bus driver, but I also want them to each be their own bus drivers. My plan (taken from an idea that Janet mentioned- thanks, Janet!) is to tape a bus on each of their desks as a reminder of our conversations. On that bus, I am going to have them write one goal for the remainder of the school year. I am excited to use this analogy. I think it will be one they can easily relate to!
The first thing that really struck me was the simple gesture that one person seemed to impact George's day. The first day he met the bus driver, she did not leave his mind until he had seen her again. While his attitude toward her was portrayed in a negative manner at first, it is obvious that she impacted him enough to wonder when he would see her again.
This made me think- what kind of impact do I want to have on people? Do I want people to remember me as the negative or positive person? Of course, the answer to that is simple. The actions behind it are the difficult part.
I read on to discover Rule #1: Be the driver of your own bus. Everyone has crisis situations. Everyone also has the chance to react to them in two ways- negatively or positively. How you choose to react will drastically affect the outcome.
This makes me think about the summer I spent all of my free time applying for teaching jobs. Everyone had told us it was a tough business, and the chances were good that we wouldn't succeed. I decided to be the driver of my own bus. Of course I was bummed each time I received a rejection letter, but support from my family and friends helped me by encouraging me that there was a reason for those rejections. When I finally got my dream job as a First Grade Teacher, I felt like I had accomplished so much!
It is not always easy to react positively. I get easily stressed when I feel unorganized. I am hopeful that as I continue reading this book, I will learn more strategies of coping with this!
Rule #2: Focus your energy. I loved how the book said that without focused energy, all it is is unorganized energy. This fits perfectly with my lifestyle. If you have energy, but aren't sure where it is going, it can be pointless energy! It's better to take your bus and steer it in a direction, even if it doesn't always turn out as expected, than to be driving around aimlessly with no direction!
I have found this book to be a great read so far. In my classroom, we have been talking about revisiting our hopes and dreams. This fits in perfectly. I am going to explain to students that, now that we know each other better, it may be easier to set goals. I want them to trust me as their bus driver, but I also want them to each be their own bus drivers. My plan (taken from an idea that Janet mentioned- thanks, Janet!) is to tape a bus on each of their desks as a reminder of our conversations. On that bus, I am going to have them write one goal for the remainder of the school year. I am excited to use this analogy. I think it will be one they can easily relate to!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Action Research
As I start to being the Literature Review process, I am filled with both excitement and a sense of being overwhelmed. I have begun to compile my resources and believe I know what I would like my focus to be. When trying to decide on my topic, I knew that I wanted it to be related to reading. In First Grade, reading is a critical and time-consuming component of our learning day, and no matter how much time is allotted to reading and writing, it never seems like enough!
Because of this, I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to maximize the time I have toward reaching each student's learning potential. While I believe strongly in phonemic awareness, I also believe that sight words can really help to boost a student's confidence in reading. Seeing a word and knowing it immediately has a powerful way of making a student feel good about reading.
Similar to most elementary school classrooms, I have a Word Wall. We learn the words and put them on the wall. However, after they are there, my activities using the wall are limited. My wonder is that if I increase the number of word wall activities, will reading fluency be improved among my students?
My next step is obviously to research. I also would like to find some effective fluency assessment tools.
Let the journey begin....!
Because of this, I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to maximize the time I have toward reaching each student's learning potential. While I believe strongly in phonemic awareness, I also believe that sight words can really help to boost a student's confidence in reading. Seeing a word and knowing it immediately has a powerful way of making a student feel good about reading.
Similar to most elementary school classrooms, I have a Word Wall. We learn the words and put them on the wall. However, after they are there, my activities using the wall are limited. My wonder is that if I increase the number of word wall activities, will reading fluency be improved among my students?
My next step is obviously to research. I also would like to find some effective fluency assessment tools.
Let the journey begin....!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Action Research Results
Last night, I compiled my results from my Mini Action Research project that focused on vocabulary instruction. I paired direct instruction with exploratory learning to engage students in the process of recognizing, understanding, and using vocabulary words correctly.
I was very happy with the results that I got! Although I will share more specifics at our conference this weekend, I was pleased that my vocabulary test given using the new strategies raised 25% from the test given using the old strategies.
I have noticed students being "word detectives" with these bigger words- picking out letter sounds or letter combinations that they know. They recognize the words out of my direct questioning and pick them out of any sentences that I say. It has been really fun!
This makes me motivated to do the large action research project. Although, now, I know I will have an even harder time choosing what I want to focus on! Ideas I have thought about are best practice strategies for struggling readers, examining gender differences, classroom management, etc. Ahh!!
I was very happy with the results that I got! Although I will share more specifics at our conference this weekend, I was pleased that my vocabulary test given using the new strategies raised 25% from the test given using the old strategies.
I have noticed students being "word detectives" with these bigger words- picking out letter sounds or letter combinations that they know. They recognize the words out of my direct questioning and pick them out of any sentences that I say. It has been really fun!
This makes me motivated to do the large action research project. Although, now, I know I will have an even harder time choosing what I want to focus on! Ideas I have thought about are best practice strategies for struggling readers, examining gender differences, classroom management, etc. Ahh!!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Meaningful Victory
My meaningful victory this year is focused on one particular student. I am sure that I am not alone in having that one student who you consider to be your "project," your one student that you are determined to help grow. Of course, I want all of my students to grow. But it is this one student who I am extremely concerned about and want to do everything I can to see her improve.
This student is new to our school this year. She has a significant speech and language disorder and was tested with articulation that is at a level of less than a two year old. She was tested in her old school for a learning disability, but her scores were not low enough to receive services. However, they were giving her 185 minutes of speech and language services per week, which included services that were surely not speech and language-related. Our special education department has done an excellent job of giving me all of the help that I can get, but she does not receive any support during our classroom math, reading, or social studies/science times. It is very difficult for me to give her the support she needs, when I have 18 other students who also need my help and attention.
I have a two page list of interventions I have already attempted. She is not motivated and overall, just not a very happy kid. :( I have a feeling that she has already internalized a "learned helplessness" because of continued frustration and failure. It breaks my heart every single day to see how frustrated she is with her academics. Not only this, but her ability to communicate with her peers and other adults is limited because of her struggle with articulation and expression.
My plan to achieve my meaningful victory is really just the next steps that I will take to help this student. I understand that with all trial is the possibility of error, but I am determined to find that one trick or combination of tricks that increases her motivation and helps her grow! I am hoping that my knowledge of speech and language disorders will also increase so that I can help students in the future, as well.
While these may seem like obvious interventions or strategies, I have a long list of others that I have already done. Each student is so unique and you never know what one thing or combination of things will be the most beneficial!
If anyone has any other suggestions, I would be eager to hear them!
This student is new to our school this year. She has a significant speech and language disorder and was tested with articulation that is at a level of less than a two year old. She was tested in her old school for a learning disability, but her scores were not low enough to receive services. However, they were giving her 185 minutes of speech and language services per week, which included services that were surely not speech and language-related. Our special education department has done an excellent job of giving me all of the help that I can get, but she does not receive any support during our classroom math, reading, or social studies/science times. It is very difficult for me to give her the support she needs, when I have 18 other students who also need my help and attention.
I have a two page list of interventions I have already attempted. She is not motivated and overall, just not a very happy kid. :( I have a feeling that she has already internalized a "learned helplessness" because of continued frustration and failure. It breaks my heart every single day to see how frustrated she is with her academics. Not only this, but her ability to communicate with her peers and other adults is limited because of her struggle with articulation and expression.
My plan to achieve my meaningful victory is really just the next steps that I will take to help this student. I understand that with all trial is the possibility of error, but I am determined to find that one trick or combination of tricks that increases her motivation and helps her grow! I am hoping that my knowledge of speech and language disorders will also increase so that I can help students in the future, as well.
Idea Number One: I will introduce a play group into my classroom that will take place on every “Day 3” in our six-day rotation. In order to increase her communication, I will have her be the leader of the play group, choosing 3 students at a time off of our class list, so she has the chance to interact with all students in the class.
Skills to be improved:
· Leadership skills among peers
· Friendship skills such as cooperation, sharing, participation, and helping others
· Communication skills in a small group setting, hopefully to be transferred into a large group setting once a higher level of comfort is obtained
· Ability to form new friendships
Idea Number Two: I will learn and teach simple sign language words, including help, stop, bathroom, feeling words, and also one to two sight words per week to help understand her oral reading.
Skills to be improved:
· With simple sign language words, it will be easier for this student to communicate her needs to myself and the various other teachers she works with. Most adults, even after several tries, can not understand what this student needs. By teaching a different type of communication, my hope is that we will know the general idea of the problem so that she can feel more comfortable at school.
· While she gets help in reading from several sources, it is very difficult to know whether or not she is reading the correct word. Not only will this help in communication, it may also help her to pair a symbol with a word to help in long-term memory of first grade sight words.
Idea Number Three: I am going to further increase differentiation for this student. It is obvious that she is frustrated with a lot of the work that we do, so I am going to build more on the skills she does know and slowly start to close the gap. For example, we do a Daily Math sheet that focuses on problems formatted similarly to those on standardized tests. In place of this, I would like this student to work on simple number sentences. Also, seat work that other students work on when they come to school, such as spelling sheets or word puzzles, are very difficult for this student. I will make her a folder of sheets that focus on handwriting and simple words.
Skills to be improved:
· My hope is that these very simplified skills will help this student to grow. At this point, she is not able to individually complete any of the first grade tasks successfully.
· If she starts to be more successful in these other activities, her effort and confidence may increase, as well as her overall feelings about school.
Idea Number Four: In our Daily Five work, I will allow this student to use a Leap Frog Reader for “Read to Self” one day out of the week. I think she will benefit from listening to reading and being interactive with the books. I do not want this to take the place of reading, but I think it will be a beneficial supplement.
Skills to be improved:
· Ability to track words
· Overall book sense
· The combination of seeing and hearing first grade words may put more words into her vocabulary bank.
While these may seem like obvious interventions or strategies, I have a long list of others that I have already done. Each student is so unique and you never know what one thing or combination of things will be the most beneficial!
If anyone has any other suggestions, I would be eager to hear them!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thanksgiving Break
Ahhh...Thanksgiving Break! As much as I enjoy my class this year, it is always nice to have a break. I am taking this break to ponder things I want to try and change before Christmas break.
With our new reading series, it has been difficult to set up the Daily Five routines in the way I would have liked. Our series, LEAD 21, had students rotating in guided reading groups the first week of the program! Students didn't feel comfortable with me, with each other, and they definitely didn't feel comfortable with routines in our room at that point. Now, at the end of November, I feel confident in my class's ability to work together and to really be working on their reading during small group time.
Up until now, I have been telling groups where to rotate and they have been rotating only with their same-level peers. On Monday, I am going to begin letting them actually participate in the Daily Five, where they make their own choices of: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Word Work, Listen to Reading, and Writing. I am excited to get this going, and I know they are too!
On another note...
I have begun to think back to last year and how chaotic our classroom was when we came back from Christmas break. I can not believe how quickly this year has flown by and how close we are to that already! I wonder if, besides model model model, there are any tips to decrease the craziness! The next few weeks will be full of concert practice, parties, and interrupted schedules. Remember to breathe. :) And to enjoy every moment!
With our new reading series, it has been difficult to set up the Daily Five routines in the way I would have liked. Our series, LEAD 21, had students rotating in guided reading groups the first week of the program! Students didn't feel comfortable with me, with each other, and they definitely didn't feel comfortable with routines in our room at that point. Now, at the end of November, I feel confident in my class's ability to work together and to really be working on their reading during small group time.
Up until now, I have been telling groups where to rotate and they have been rotating only with their same-level peers. On Monday, I am going to begin letting them actually participate in the Daily Five, where they make their own choices of: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Word Work, Listen to Reading, and Writing. I am excited to get this going, and I know they are too!
On another note...
I have begun to think back to last year and how chaotic our classroom was when we came back from Christmas break. I can not believe how quickly this year has flown by and how close we are to that already! I wonder if, besides model model model, there are any tips to decrease the craziness! The next few weeks will be full of concert practice, parties, and interrupted schedules. Remember to breathe. :) And to enjoy every moment!
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