The Set-Up: What My Classroom Says About Me...

To desk or not to desk?  No teacher desk. I haven't had one in years. I have some shelves with teacher books and curriculum documents, as well as unused science/social studies texts. I have a horseshoe guided reading table to work at (I keep my laptop on it) and a couple of cupboards and drawers behind it to store some of my stuff.  I don't need any more space than that. I felt that when I had a desk I just used it to dump things on and shove stuff in. It wasn't useful and I quickly got rid of it.

Tables or desks: I wish I had tables.  I have desks set up in groups. I rarely teach a lesson with the kiddos at their desks. It makes it seem like I am talking to more kids than there actually art. I like them on the carpet in front of me. I sometimes sit with them on the floor, or stand/sit in a chair. I feel much more confident when I am taller than my students. For most work, students have the opportunity to work wherever they want in the classroom. I have camping chairs, a plethora of stools and ottmen, a bunch of pillows and a couple of carpets. Students are usually at "their desk" for artwork and eating.

What's on your walls?  There isn't much....yet. We create anchor charts together as a class and put them up as we create them. Since I do have 13 of the same kids as last year, I've kept some of the anchor charts - since technically we did create them together so that they can continue to refer to until I "re-teach" it to the entire class. Some teachers still put up motivational quote posters, but I can't stand them. Even if I did like them, you can't find them in French anywhere.

Are you in the room?  Not really. There is a picture of me with silly glasses on the door with the rest of my class. I suppose it would be nice to have a picture of Rob & Eli somewhere, but I don't - just like the students don't have photos of their families on their desks. My writer's notebook has some photos of them plastered on the cover.  I have a class photo from each of the classes that I've taught along the top of my Religion board, and a couple of sculptures (past art projects), my rubber chicken and my stuffed Domo (class pet) on some high shelves.

Which way do your desks face?  I keep my desks in groups. It saves space, my kids are (quiet) hard workers and we do a lot of group work. If they turn their heads one way they see the SMARTboard, and if they look the other way, they see the white boards. But as I mentioned, most mini-lessons happen from the carpet or at the small group table.

Are there places for the students to work that doesn't include their desks?  They can work wherever they feel that they work best and stay on task. They choose.

Can they get what they need?  I keep containers of things (pencil crayons, markers, pencils, erasers, staplers, tape, pens, glue, paper clips, paper) all at the writing shelves. They can grab it if they need it. Unless it gets trashed or abused, they have access.

Where are those rules?  I don't have rules/consequences posted anywhere. The first week of school we practice routines over and over again. We also discuss and internalize our classroom rules (My most important two: Listen to instructions the first time and SPEAK IN FRENCH). We practice and practice. If at anytime throughout the year the expectations are not met, we'll stop and review again - but my kids are pretty great.

Where's the tech?  We have a SMARTboard and 4 classroom computers. We have a class iPad and a FLIP video camera. I often have my camera at school too. The kids become very comfortable with the gadgets quickly. This year we'll be blogging, tweeting, animating, playing math games, listening to audio books, creating photo and video projects and doing a lot of media literacy. I think we'll try skyping with Rob's class too!

guiding questions from: Pernilleripp

One month in

I am back to the land of hilarious grade 3 teeth and crazy eyeball glasses.

My kids are lovely, my classroom has been made over and I have received lots of love from my co-workers.

I’ve organized the science fair, gotten back into the arts scene, taught my kids the writing process and done some mad assessments in the past month (and snuck in a March Break.)

I’m baaaaaack!

I  love teaching. If you read my blog before Eli was born, you’d have noticed that I have a passion for it. My dream job really. My co-workers are awesome. We laugh and laugh and laugh together (and cry and commiserate together too).  I get dressed up and wear make-up and fancy shoes and not have to carry around a diaper bag. I feel really confident and happy. I get to be “Mme” and “Lindsay” for a few hours and let go of “Maman” (although students occasionally slip and call me mom). I’m not crawling around on the floor picking up dropped cheerios, making sure the toilet seat is down and plants are out of reach.  I also get a break from trying to change a dirty diaper in warp speed before Eli squirms away on me. Going back to work has also gotten me out of my lazy rut and I no longer feel like a cleaning lady. I love spending time with my baby, but I truly feel that I am a better mom to Eli when I am being fulfilled in other areas of my life. The best part of my day is coming home to my sweet baby. His face lightens up when he hears my voice and he crawls with all his might to me for a big hug and snuggle all night long. My priorities are different. I don’t spend my evenings planning for school, instead I spend time with my family.

There are some things I really miss about Maternity leave (besides being with my wee boy all day). Waking up before 9am is really hard. Especially with a baby all snuggled up next to you. I really miss my morning (and afternoon) nap. I also really miss my impromptu visits with my best friends and their baked goods.

The Next Chapter

This time last year I was apprehensive of being away from my passion for an entire year. I didn’t want to stop teaching. Teaching inspired me, motivated me, challenged me, excited me and brought out the best of me. It also fostered my creativity and shoved me completely out of my comfort zone. I loved the thrill of a zillion projects on the go and making lists and schedules and newsletters and mini-lessons. I also liked collaborating with teachers and modelling lessons and daily staffroom banter. I knew that I was going to miss it.

The other part of me was giddy to begin my new role as baby maman. I knew that I was going to have a year unlike any that I have had before. And I was right. It started off with a teensy little newborn in my arms and is ending with a baby zooming around the living room and talking up a storm. I couldn’t have imagined today back then. In those early wintery months, I spent days on end in pjs with Eli sleeping on my chest while I watch Saved By The Bell and the Golden Girls. He ate a lot (and we overcame some breastfeeding challenges together), napped infrequently (the bouncy chair was a saviour) and cried if he wasn’t near me.

I found a passion for cloth diapering, grew a collection of wraps/slings/carriers, found a deeper love and appreciation for my hubby, renewed self-esteem about my body (I was proud of my mama doughiness), met best friends through La Leche League and fell in love with sharing a bed with my entire family. We went on picnics, made scenes, went swimming, had playdates, took photos, rode the streetcar, traveled north and south, read lots of books and sang lots of songs, and most importantly formed a trusting relationship with each other.

Like teaching, mothering inspires me, motivates me, challenges me, excites me and brings out the best of me. It has fostered my creativity and shoved me completely out of my comfort zone.

But I think it is time for the next chapter. I feel similar feelings as I did a year ago. I will miss being home with my baby tremendously, but I am giddy to resume my role as Mme Wright. I might not put in as many hours planning for my class as I once did, and I’ll squeeze my extra-curriculars in during recesses instead of after school, but I will have a fresh new perspective in my profession. I think that is a good thing. xo.

“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” – Buddha (via a Being Erica episode)

New fave Subtraction Strategy

Thank you Marian Small. This is sooo much faster than the traditional carry-over algorithm for subtraction. I will be using this from now on, if I don’t have a calculator!

I also particularly love the “adding-on” strategy…

And did I mention I only have 4 more teaching days left? And then no classroom for a year. So unreal. woah.

Addition Strategies

Our addition strategies!

Some may argue that the traditional algorithm is the best and fastest addition strategy- but that is probably because it was the only one that you learned (and were drilled with!). We teach our kids many ways to solve the same question – we also encourage them to come up with their own ways of solving problems. That is what differentiating instruction in math is all about! I don’t care which strategy they end up using to answer their questions as long as they consistently get the right answer and can explain what they’ve done. The splitting strategy is actually very popular for many kids.

We spent this past week learning a different addition strategy and practicing each one. Next week we’ll do more problem solving and they can use whichever strategy they’d like.

The kids are proud that they know how to add in more ways than their parents can. They love playing with numbers in different way. They are like mini-teachers at home. They ask me if I teach them to Rob at home. So awesome.

Check out the six we learned! (yes, me too! I love learning new ways to do old things.)

Friendly Numbers

Base 10 blocks

Calculator

Number Line

Splitting

Traditional Algorithm (the "columns")

For more cool strategies for addition/subtraction/multiplication/division of more than 1-digit numbers, do a youtube search – there are some really rad multiplication strategies out there.

(yes. I love math. And I try to make as many of my kids love it as much as I do!)

NOTE: Please don’t judge me if I’ve made errors. Blame it on the preggo brain!!

Geometry Expectation 2.1

Solve problems requiring the greatest or least number of two-dimensional shapes (e.g., pattern blocks) needed to compose a larger shape in a variety of ways.

Here is a sample week in the life of my math classroom. (It is always changing. My weekly plan this week was quite different than a month ago and might be quite different a month from now.) – see my Math Planning Sheet – based on Mandy Gregory’s. If you’d like to see my (french!) SMARTboard minilessons for the week, please let me know (I can’t seem to upload them here…)

Mondays: Open-Ended Problem based on expectation of the week. This week I translated one of Marian Small‘s problems – Choose any pattern block. Use 20 of the same pattern block to create any shape. Now, choose a different pattern block. How many of this type of block do you need to cover the shape you created?As you can see, this question is extremely open so that all students can have an entry point.

We did an introduction to the manipulatives and reviewed the names of the shapes. Students then split off into teacher-selected partners* to respond to the question on chart paper with markers. After 25 minutes, we gathered together to share our learning. (Based on what I saw, I was able to form my groups for the week). *I choose partners for this activity to so that one person doesn’t do all of the work. I try to match them up with an “equal” partner the best I can.

Tuesdays/Wednesdays/Thursdays: We started with a SMARTboard minilesson to reinforce the curriculum expectation. After 5-7 minutes, we moved into our Guided Math groups. The expectation that I am working on will determine the centre activities the kids do. This week, one centre was working on the NLVM (virtual manipulatives) website creating different 2D shapes with pattern blocks (they have it in French – yahoo!), one was doing paper and pencil practice at their desks (I usually make up my own sheets as the math textbook is a bit too wordy/irrelevent – but sometimes the text) and the other was a tangram challenge with “real” manipulatives. Eventually I would like them to be able to choose which centre they would like to work on, but for now they are on a rotation. The kids do two activities during this block (20 minutes each). At the end, they come back as a whole class and different students volunteer to share their math thinking of the day.

One of the rotations is working with me on the carpet in a small group. For Guided math groups – just like in reading – I make sure I see my lowest group daily (this is usually based on what i see on Monday) – and then plug the rest of the groups in. When working with me, we either work together to build on the skill/concept of the week – this is done with a mini problem, question, activity – usually done orally with a small whiteboard and manipulatives.

Fridays: Independent assessment (taken from EQAO or a parrallel task or a quiz/test) – summative of the expectation of the week to see if they “got it”. This is done completely independently. This week I chose an old EQAO question for them to tackle. – Many of them did well! Yahoo!

The end.

(feel free to give me feedback – or ways to improve!!!)

French Poems

I am a self-proclaimed “obsessive self-PD’er”. I spend way to many hours learning new things about how to improve my teaching. This may at first seem like a marvellous thing – but in fact, I go a little bit crazy.

This weekend (besides writing progress reports, planning my math week – including creating my weekly SMARTnotebook lessons and open-ended tasks, marking writing and reader’s notebooks, gathering evidence for an IEP, help plan a parent literacy info night, ….) I have decided to research Poetry Workshops.

I have found a number of good blogs with poetry ideas (like this one and this one). I would like to teach them free verse/open prose because I think they’ll be successful, but myself as a student always loved the challenge of following the formula for different types of poems (ie. cinquain, haiku, acrostic, concrete).

My biggest challenge (as it is with all of my teaching) is that there are wonderful, wonderful mentor texts for poetry and tonnes of websites with great sample poems … in ENGLISH. I have a couple of French poetry books at school, and I have found some basic (and sometimes lame) French poetry sites and I  can copy some song lyrics from my CDs, but it doesn’t compare with the multitude of amazing resources en anglais. I sometimes wish I taught in English for the ridiculous amount of literature there is to use with kids. It would save me a lot of time. You can search for books based on your teaching goal for the day, you can get them from the book room or the school library or the public library and even from a real bookstore (Southern Ontario has a pitiful amount of French books in their bookstores – if any! I either have to order online or drive a few hours). If you wanted to teach a mini-lesson on visualizing or good sentence fluency or inferring, you can refer to a list or a website for a multitude of titles to choose from. In French, I have to read each book I have to see if it *might work for that lesson. <end rant> So…. to TRANSLATE SOME POEMS I MUST GO.