Last week I wrote about our new arrangement in class. I am diligently watching the students to determine if my theory regarding student engagement holds true. I hope so. We have a much happier environment with flexible seating. We have had many visitors stop by our room and observe. I have been so pleased that the kiddos have been actively working and behaving appropriately each time a visitor has popped in.
This nine weeks, as most of you know, we are working in small groups and in independent work stations. These work stations require just that...WORK. Students are expected to complete assignments independently. All assignments are activities that do not require teacher instruction (they are review or repetitive). Students will be held accountable for the work they do in these work stations. One of the things that is an adjustment is independent time management. Students are learning how to manage the time that they have in class to complete tasks. Some are realizing that wasting time will result in homework. I am proud of the students who have chosen to take their work home without prompting. This shows great responsibility on their part.
I am proud of how far these students have come in terms of work ethic, behavior and attitude. I feel confident that this group of students is going to be successful. I look forward to seeing how they work on our double-entry journal at the end of the nine weeks. This is always the most challenging of our projects. I am hopeful that the changes and the small group instruction will help them to meet the challenge.
Again, I really appreciate all the support you give to me and my class.
Last week, I blogged about flexible seating. I stated that it "WAS HAPPENING!" I was blessed with a donation from a parent to purchase a few things. That purchase gave me the boost I needed to take the plunge. We are now a flexible seating class. Students can choose to sit at desks, on rugs, on the couch...well, you get the picture. Today was the first day of full implementation. I thought it went well. The kiddos understand that their behavior will determine whether or not I can continue this arrangement. They are aware that they must complete their assignments and contribute to discussions in order for us to continue to be "flexible". I am placing a few pictures of OUR class on the website (faces are blurred) so that you can see just how well it worked today. This first set of pictures shows the room before the kids entered this morning.
Here is how our day went:
Panoramic view of the classroom
workstation time
workstations
I truly believe that it was a good day. The students were engaged and seemed excited about the new arrangement. I am going to continue to monitor how the students interact. Thank you for your support. I really appreciate how much you trust me with your children!
For years, I have thought, "Why can't I just make my classroom more like a living room?" "I hate all these desks!" I've always been that way. Even as a student - way back in the 80's and 90's - I hated sitting in the traditional desk especially in straight rows! (That is why in 18 years of teaching, I have NEVER had straight rows of desks!!!) I always try to make my room look as homey as possible. I like cozy and comfortable. And then I began thinking - "When I read, I don't sit at my desk at home; I sit in my big comfy chair or I lounge on the couch." This has been stewing in my head since I was hired to teach 5th grade 5 years ago. What would it be like if kids could choose where they sat - at a desk, on the couch, in the floor...you get the drift. As an avid Pinterest pinner, I came across an article about a teacher who changed her room after a day in Starbucks (really, a coffeehouse was her inspiration-this was fate!). She created a classroom with alternative seating. Here is a link to the article if you are interested in reading it.Why the 21st Century Classroom May Remind You of Starbucks In this article she addresses how she went about changing the seating in her class. This is a second grade teacher, mind you. If second graders can do it, SO CAN MY 5th GRADERS!!! As I went back and forth with how to make this transition (well, really I was and still am trying to figure out how to purchase all the beanbags, pillows, bathmats, etc.) I saw that a high school acquaintance had also changed her room to an alternative seating environment. She also teaches 5th grade. I am adding some pictures of her classroom to give you an idea of what it looks like. As you can see from the pictures below, students are engaged. They are working! And according to my friend, they love coming to class.
Needless to say...THIS IS HAPPENING!!! I already have a coffeehouse themed classroom, now I just need to create the atmosphere. "How can I help?" you ask. I am so glad that you did...Well, if you have any beanbags, throw pillows, or furniture that you want to get rid of, instead of taking them to Goodwill - BRING THEM TO ME!!!! You can donate any of that stuff to my classroom and I will gladly begin this transition. If you know of any grants or funds that I might apply for in order to purchase furniture for this transition, please let me know. Again, this is happening. How long it takes me to transition depends on how long it takes me to furnish the room, but I plan to start right away. My classroom will be even more inviting and allow for a more engaged set of learners. I am SOOOO excited I can hardly stand it!!! Okay....enough of my excitement over the change in my set up...now to the nitty gritty. We have begun book clubs. Let me explain how these book clubs will work. Each club will meet with me one day a week (the exception is Wednesday because we go to library). On a student's book club day, they will meet in a small group for 30 minutes with me. We will work on skills specific to that group's needs, learn new vocabulary, and discuss the book we are reading. On the days that students are not in small group, they will be working in literacy work stations. Some of the activities in work stations will be independent review and practice. Some activities will require collaboration with their peers. Each book club has been set up heterogeneously by ability and reading level. I have high readers and low readers in the same group. This is for two reasons: 1.) No one is able to say, "OH, we are the bad readers." or "We are all the good readers." 2.) Stronger students are able to tutor or help weaker students while I work with the group. Research has shown that collaboration among peers helps students strengthen their skills. It is good for everyone involved. Since students have a week to read their book club text and complete any assignments for that text, I will have HIGH expectations that they will come to class prepared. I won't be very tolerant of excuses. I have told the kids as much. None of this should create much (if any) extra work at home. Students should be using their work station time wisely to get their assignments completed. As always, thank you for the support that you have shown. If you have any questions about the change in our class, please email me. christy.tipton@viloniaschools.org Happy Reading- Mrs. Tipton
Can you believe that half of the year is already over? It has moved quickly. We are finished with one semester and beginning the second. With that said, this is always the most challenging nine weeks (for teachers and students). I don't know if it is because it is a long time before we have another break, or if it is the cold weather, but for the last 18 years that I have been in the classroom this is the most challenging of all the quarters. It is a struggle to keep everyone motivated and focused on school. Grades are typically lower in this nine weeks than in others. I am saying this in an attempt to head off any issues we might have regarding this...maybe this will be the year of change! (FINGERS CROSSED)
Enough of that...this nine weeks, we will once again focus on our fictional elements in literacy. We will explore theme, figurative language, plot, and character development. We will be reading a class novel as well as reading individual novels in our book clubs. It will be very important for students to keep up with their reading assignments so they do not fall behind.
This unit will focus on "Coming of Age" novels. Each novel we read, whether it is our class novel or our book club novels, will deal with the concept of growing up. I have picked both old and new classics to read. I am excited about this unit. Our class novel is Tuck Everlasting. If you purchased a copy of this book for your child, I have it stored in my closet at school and will pass it out when we begin reading. I re-read it over the break and was immediately reminded of why I love this book so much! I encourage you to read it with your child if you have the opportunity. Other books that will be in our book clubs are Al Capone Does my Shirts, Bridge to Terabithia, Because of Winn Dixie, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I love all of these stories!
Before I sign off, I wanted to inform you about a certification that I am in the process of renewing. I am a Nation Board certified teacher in literacy. I am in the process of renewing my certification this year. Part of this process is video recording my lessons. These videos are NOT posted to the Internet or shown to anyone other than the certification assessors. However, I do need your permission to video tape your child. I will be sending a release form home to you soon. Please complete it and return it as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to contact me.
I am excited about what I have planned for this semester!! I hope the kids are ready to rock and roll, too!
Your child may have come home last week to tell you about how my flying monkey went missing. They probably told you about the threat of EVERYONE receiving a consequence if it wasn't found by the end of the day. They probably told you how it showed up out of the blue in Mrs. Kinley's book basket at the 11th hour and let everyone off the hook. Well, as crazy as that sounds...its mostly true. My monkey did go missing. He was recovered in Mrs. Kinley's room at the very end of the day. What the students don't know (or didn't until just before this post was published) is that I orchestrated the entire scenario. I even went so far as to involve Mr. Ashley, Mrs. Kinley and the admins. It is part of a social experiment that I do every year about this time. The experiment is designed to cause suspicion as well as a little panic among the students. I let them off the hook before the school day is over because I don't want them to lose sleep over this, but I do want them to have a slightly uncomfortable experience at school.
We will begin reading The Salem Witch Trials - an unsolved mystery from history by Jane Yolen this week.
The purpose of the experiment is to let the students experience just a small taste of what it felt like in colonial Massachusetts in 1692. It is always interesting to see what happens throughout the day. As I suspected, students were very nervous throughout the day. Many came to me with accusations and suspicions. Some were even over heard saying that they were going to confess so everyone wouldn't get in trouble. These are some of the very same reactions that occurred in 17th century New England.
During this nine weeks we will be reading a lot of non fiction texts. The focus will be on finding evidence in the text to answer questions. This sounds easy enough, but believe it or not, the students really struggle with this.
Students will also complete a tic-tac-toe project this nine weeks. It is worth 100 points. Students have already completed 40 points of the project in class through our Puritan research. All students who researched, wrote notes and sufficiently shared their information with their team received full credit. The rest of the project is independent. There are 8 more choice the students can make to equal 100 points.
We will put things in high gear when we return from Thanksgiving break. We only have a few days left to get things done before our Christmas break comes. I wish you all a very safe and happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your week. Just to make you smile, here is a fun video to watch.
I remember when I was a kid, there was an old Disney cartoon about Aesop's the grasshopper and the ants. The ant spent all summer gathering food and storing it away for the winter while the grasshopper just sat around and played music. The song he played was, "Oh, the world owes me a living...(insert violin music here)." The video was part of Disney's Silly Symphonies shorts. We had just gotten cable TV (yes, I'm a child of the 80's) and Disney channel was new, so I watched it every afternoon. I have included a YouTube link of the video (just for nostalgia's sake).
The grasshopper spent his entire spring/summer playing and singing with no thought about how he would prepare for winter. He felt entitled to have his summers free from work. He couldn't be bothered by work. It was "foolishness" to him. However, when winter came, he found himself in dire straits. He was cold and hungry. As he drug himself to the ants' colony, he peeked inside to see the ants all feasting and enjoying the fruits of their labor. Grasshopper weakly knocked on the door and was carried inside and nursed back to health by the kind and generous ants that he had earlier mocked and ridiculed. When the queen ant saw the grasshopper among her colony, she said to him, "With ants, only those who work can stay. So take your fiddle....and play." The queen was quick to remind the grasshopper that he was still responsible to earn his keep in some way. He had to somehow contribute to the feast. The grasshopper's talents were then enlisted to liven up the festivities. We never find out if the grasshopper really learned his lesson and went on to work through the next summer, but I think that Aesop and Disney would want us to infer that moral.
Entitlement is an issue that we hear a lot about these days. Entitlement encompasses two attitudes: (1) I am exempt from responsibility, and (2) I am owed special treatment. In other words, I don't have to do my part, and I should get special treatment.
Many of us have "grasshoppers" in our lives. Perhaps it is a co-worker, family member or friend who wants you to wave a hand over their situation and fix their problems. Maybe your child, despite your best parental efforts, has chosen a path of laziness. They feel they deserve special treatment with no responsibility. I am not exempt from "grasshoppers" myself. I have a sibling who is a perpetual "grasshopper". I also fight this battle at home with my own children. We all want our children to do well and maybe have things or do things we didn't have the opportunity to do. It is a struggle as a parent to find the balance. The difficulty comes in trying to teach them that what they have comes from work or effort of some kind. It is not "owed" to them just because they were born into this world. My husband and I want our children to understand that and we hope that we are teaching them correctly.
As an educator, I see many, many grasshoppers. I see it in all ages and all socio-economic areas. There is an epidemic among young people of entitlement. I feel as an educator it is part of my job to show students that their grades, behavior, etc. are all related to their choices. I say time and time again, "I don't give grades-you earn them." "I don't give marks, your choices determine your behavior marks." Don't get me wrong...many students will own their choices-both good and bad. However, there are always a few that want to throw me under the bus, so to speak. Their failure on the test or project, their inability to attend the behavior reward party is all due to some fault of someone else. They plead this case to their parents and even to me or my colleagues in an attempt to get a different result.
Our job as parents is to be our child's advocate. If we don't speak up for them and defend them, then who will? RIGHT? Absolutely! I have been guilty myself of jumping to the wrong conclusion about a situation. I have emailed teachers to ask questions and receive clarification. I have called assistant principals to ask about a recess or lunchroom issue. But I ALWAYS look for my child's responsibility in the situation. Believe me, as good as my kids are, they are NOT perfect. They do things that embarrass me and make me question my parenting sometimes. I am not immune. I learned the hard way how tough crow is to swallow. So, (keeping with my growth mindset) I learned from my mistakes and I approach issues in a different manner...so as not to make a fool of myself.
I was reading just the other day and came across a post about entitlement by Dr. John Townsend. He has written a book called The Entitlement Cure. In this post, he discusses the Biblical story of Naaman and Elisha. In this story he describes how Naaman, a powerful man, was offended by Elisha's instructions to come wash in the river to cure his leprosy. Naaman expected Elisha to come to him, say a few "magic" words and he would be cured. He felt entitled.
Dr. Townsend goes on to say that the way to cure entitlement starts with compassion. In the post I read, he gave three tips on how to help entitled people (of any age). I have listed them below.
Be truly "for" them. Entitled people need support. Even when they are driving you crazy, frustrating you, and making you feel helpless, they still need elements of grace. We all have failed and need second and third chances. This will help you have mercy and identify with the person, keeping you away from being judgmental or giving up too soon.
Be clear about your expectations. Entitlement often causes people to not listen well to requirements and to others' needs and expectations. Because those things don't support their view of themselves as special and above the rules, they tend to dismiss them. Do all you can to defeat this dismissive attitude by being unmistakable in what you want from them. Whether it is specifically defining a payment plan or writing out a goal for their future career path, err on the side of being over-clear. Clarity requires that you don't assume anything in your relationship with your entitled person. (Just a quick aside-THIS IS WHAT I TRY TO DO IN THE CLASSROOM!!!! I TRY TO MAKE ALL ASSIGNMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS CLEAR SO THAT STUDENTS ABSOLUTELY KNOW WHAT I WANT FROM THEM!)
Find health. Look for friends, churches, counselors and coaches who are full of grace and truth and who could be a resource for your entitled person. Finding your entitled friend, co-worker, child this kind of help isn't being codependent or enabling. It is supporting them. It is doing something for them that they can't do well for themselves.
-Dr. John Townsend, The Entitlement Cure
Entitlement is not an incurable epidemic. It won't be fixed by a wave of a hand. It will take patience, consistency, and compassion to help those who feel entitled become who they were meant to be. We don't want the people we love to get stuck on the escalator. Watch this humorous video to understand.
I look forward to seeing you at parent/teacher conferences this week. As I said in our last post, we ARE all in this together. We are a TEAM united to give our students the best education and provide the best possible future for them.
Can you believe we've already been in school for a whole nine weeks? Friday marks the last day of the quarter. It has gone by like a whirlwind!! I guess time flies when you are having fun.
It has certainly been a busy nine weeks. We have read 2 novels, completed a project, increased our vocabulary, and learned to identify eight different types of figurative language.
I was pleased to see that, so far, the majority of the projects have been very well done. I have had more A's and B's on these than I have in the past. I hope that continues to be the trend. I'm glad that most of the students took this assignment seriously, listened to my instruction in class and applied it to their work.
We will be jumping into a non-fiction unit next month. I hope to be able to do some really interesting things in class that will engage the students and get them excited about our study.
If you have not purchased a copy of Tuck Everlasting and would like to do so, you have until October 26. I will send off the book orders then. It would be very beneficial for your child to have a copy of the book. The project that goes with that nine weeks will be a lot easier for them if they can highlight or mark pages and specific evidence in their book. Of course, this is NOT a requirement. It is just a suggestion to help make things a little easier on the kids. This month I can purchase the text for $1.
And some FANTASTIC news to report....ACCELERATED READER IS NOW WORKING AT FMIS!!!!! Students have taken their STAR test in my class. I will add this assessment to the others that I have done so that I have a better understanding of where students are in their reading abilities. Students are now REQUIRED to take AR tests over books that they read and finish. By Friday, students must take a quiz over Holes and their fantasy novels. We will take an AR quiz over The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe after we discuss and review next week.
Again, thanks for all the support you give me. It won't be long...this year will be over in the blink of an eye.
This nine weeks, as most of you know, we are working in small groups and in independent work stations. These work stations require just that...WORK. Students are expected to complete assignments independently. All assignments are activities that do not require teacher instruction (they are review or repetitive). Students will be held accountable for the work they do in these work stations. One of the things that is an adjustment is independent time management. Students are learning how to manage the time that they have in class to complete tasks. Some are realizing that wasting time will result in homework. I am proud of the students who have chosen to take their work home without prompting. This shows great responsibility on their part. 
