Day 7 - A New Week

I read an article last night about effective teachers.  There were many qualities of successful teachers that I would like to build upon.  1.  Set Big Goals - With only nineteen students right now, I am beginning interventions and testing students in reading.  I set goals of MAP Score growth I would like to see for my class in reading and math.  2.  Convince students that their personal investment does make a difference. - I am using Daily Five language about having a sense of urgency, that one moment can't be lost, and we should be giving our best during instruction and learning time.  3.  Continually Improve - This includes reflecting, and that the most effective teachers talk about their failures.  Unfortunately, I am having trouble putting work away at night.  It seems everything we are talking about in our master's class relates to our building and district goals.  Build a learning community and formative assessments are two of them.

Math homework continues to be a success.  Last Friday I reviewed their work, and this morning I challenged the students with the answers they gave me.  It was evident that some students saw connections that other students did not, and I was able to present this thinking to the entire class.  I used time effectively.  It seems that I must also stay in the mode of urgency.  This enabled me to think on my feet and squeeze in more learning.  Students were standing in line from the bathroom and I shot multiplication questions at them.  As they were standing in line for Spanish, I asked for examples of square numbers and prime numbers.  There were a few misconceptions that 5X5 was square, or 1 X 19 was prime.  It felt good to address these ideas and continue the learning outside of the math block.  I must keep my sense of urgency throughout the day.

Responsive Classroom - Last week I had students calling out of turn.  On Friday, I gave them both three sticky green squares of paper, and told them that if they lost them I would have to take recess time away, because Take a Break wasn't working.  Today, neither student lost even one sticky!  This was excellent improvement in student self control.  I will have to remind them tomorrow that I noticed the improvement!

I was able to put student pictures on my teacher webpage.  Two pictures are on my homepage, and the same two pictures I made into puzzles.  I also added two wordsearches: Subjects and Math.  The students investigated these today in the computer lab.  I was surprised by the number of students who had never visited our reading series epractice online.  It's a great place to listen to the stories, watch the virtual fieldtrip, and practice new vocabulary words each week.

I forgot to use my chimes today.  We did take body breaks, though, and the students liked the games and came back to group more energized.  The year is off to a great start!