April 16, 2011
Computer Troubles. Our desktop comes back tomorrow. Four people with two laptops and one internet connection has been frustrating! But, I have found a new place to work. Sam is gone to college for three more weeks, and I have a heater in the basement by her desk. I am toasty, and away from distractions. With the snow on the ground, it’s a good day to work.
April 16, 2011
Fourth Grade Slump: I read an article from the April Educational Leadership that talked about how many students won’t ask for help. I learned that this was so true! Some of the students who couldn’t show me physical representations for fractions greater than 1 had not asked for help. I thought they had it! This reminded me about the need to be checking in so I know exactly who has the skills needed to move on. I corrected their fraction tests. I also found that those who really knew how to find a fraction of a number were solid, even if we hadn’t talked about it in awhile. But those who never really were solid, didn’t get it in the quick review we did before the test. I feel I blew this for them, and will need to go back and find another way to get it to sink deep.
Homework: The other pondering I’ve been doing with this research is what to do with homework. I used to collect, grade, and put in my grade book, but is the work an accurate measure of the child’s knowledge? Some got help on it from a parent. Some didn’t have it done. I am thinking now about focusing on one assignment a week, an important assessment piece that could become part of a unit portfolio to show student knowledge and growth. I’m not sure how to organize this. I also think that the multitude of worksheets then could be used as at-home practice, review the next day, and wouldn’t need to bog me down correcting it every night.
April 15, 2011
Smart Goal Community Circle : Today we circled at the end of the day/week. Students had been sharing on Fridays about the activities they enjoyed. They have had positive feelings about things such as Phy Ed, art projects, poetry book writing, Taste Wisconsin program, no homework, or an extra recess. This week I asked students to think of someone who helped by doing something for them. A few were very sweet. Students shared on others helping/support them when they needed help learning something or with emotional support. Two others, boys who have struggled with behavior and enjoyment with reading, thanked the twins in my room for sharing their Bone books. I’ve never seen them read so much! One of my gifted reading girls caught my eye, and her expression said, “They are finally seeing what’s so great about reading books!” I am contemplating an end of the week game, or trying to incorporate more community building activities within our week. With the weather turning warm, except for this weekend, I wonder if we couldn’t spare 10-15 minutes to energize, and gain that back in work time. At the same time, it might help us feel more positive about school, so we end with good feelings about our year.
April 12, 2011
Smart Goal Technology: I have enjoyed gathering data on the students’ learning in the computer lab. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to assess their knowledge on Power Point before we began. I thought I had an evaluation, but couldn’t find it, and off we went to the lab. Some students are working on their book report Power Point at home with a jump drive. They have brought back new tips for classmates, and we had one of the best lab times last week. They were on task, helping, and the feel of the room was great. One thing I learned was never to assume anything. I thought they all felt comfortable with saving and retrieving from their personal file at school. (They should have. It was a goal when we worked with Microsoft Word Documents.) In fact, many had to start over on our second day, as they couldn’t find their file! Sometimes we learn through mistakes.
March 31, 2011
Unit 6 Reading
March 29, 2011
Mini Action Research: I am to journal my observations, collect one assignment each week, and read student math journals and exit slips to improve instruction and learning. I am so surprised at the insight journaling can give me! One of the concepts that gave students the most trouble was learning to visualize a fraction. Their journals showed good understanding of fractions equal to ½, less than ½, equal to 1, but many struggled on fractions greater than 1. Students definitely needed more time to investigate improper fractions.
March 28, 2011
Mini action research not off the ground. I found it hard to take the time to journal during my prep or after school. I took my journal home, and never got it going. I decided that to begin something new, one needs not only a plan of how to but also a plan of when to.
Beginning of March, 2011
Not a good “busy” person. I can only tackle so much at once. With all of the promethean making, new curriculum, math coaching, and other demands at work, along with family demands at home, my only way of survival was to continue with what was most important at the time.
1. Energy to my family. I needed to regain some eye contact and positive conversations with my kids at home. Sam, at college, really only had time for a few emails (mostly with my husband) and a phone call or Skype with me on the weekend. The two left at home know how to push each other’s buttons, and there’s stress in feeling like I have to fix it.
2. Classroom – I focused on being prepared with my small reading groups. I organized six parent volunteers to assist my students in the classroom three days a week from 1:00 – 2:10, the time that I am leading small reading groups. I loved how this freed me up to focus on my readers, instead of monitoring student behavior or assisting with difficult workbook pages.
February/March, 2011
News in Madison Illinois in defense of the proposed Walker
