Free Friday

On Fridays I give my class 15 minutes of free time. It is funny. They think it is sooooo great to have free time. It is amazing the leverage you can get with 15 minutes! They have to be caught up on their work and they have to have their agenda signed each day. If they have things to catch up on they have to do that first. Works like a charm.

Usually they play games, write on the whiteboard, play with electronics of one sort or another, or make origami.

Today there were two who chose to read. Others were playing a racaus DS game (and believe me, they were noisy!) Others played on iPads.

But two chose to read!! These are two kids who wouldn't have chosen to read at the beginning of the year. I am so happy to see that reading is something they are choosing!

Stop and Change For The Better

Is this how people sometimes view technology?

I can't tell you how often people seem to look at technology that is introduced, only to respond and say, "But how can see add that on top of what we're doing?"

That's the thing. It shouldn't be just added to the pile. It should make our jobs simpler, but sometimes we need to stop and figure out how to implement it.

My guess is, if we'll take the time to do that, we'll be glad we did.

Yea Canada!

We took a little time to watch the end of the hockey game today. 

Canada - 1 

USA - 0

We are going for the gold!

It was interesting to see how some of the kids don't know much about hockey. I had to do some serious teaching today! My work is never done. :)

Teacher Jokes

This morning when I got to school my classroom was backwards!!

Revenge is waiting!!

Homework

At our school we believe in homework. The right homework can be a great thing. 

Apparently not all my students agree.

Review

I have taken a few Kagan workshops and always have to shake my head at myself when I am amazed again at how well it works. Kagan is about keeping kids engaged. Numbered Heads Together is a great way to do that. We used it today to review the concepts we have learned about in our last science unit.

I created a list of questions. The program has all sorts of bells and whistles with music and sounds. You can do it without the program, but it sure makes it more fun to use it. I tell the kids it is a game show.

First, a question is posed.

Everyone gets think time to write down their own answer on a white board. This student is responding to the question: What does a beam bridge look like?

After think time everyone in the group compares their answer. If someone has a different answer they discuss and teach each other what it should be. Anyone can change their answer.

Then one person from each group shares their answer. 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's day! We have shared love. We have shared cards. We have shared sugar.

I'm exhausted!

Potential

I have a friend who told an interesting story on Facebook this week. He works as a caretaker at a hospital. This is his story:

It made me think about how our attitude changes the value of something.  There is beauty in what some people consider junk. Never give up!

I think it is the same in the classroom. Some children are complicated learners. Sometimes it takes adding a new frame before others start to see the potential they have. Luckily, there are a lot of people with a good eye, just like my friend that works at the hospital. 

Academic Vocabulary

We did a science test this week. I decided, mid stream, to use it as formative assessment rather than summative.

Translation: I realized I hadn't taught all I needed to!  Argh!  Oh ya....quality first time teaching! *slaps hand on forehead*

I had asked my students to memorize a list of words that are part of a science experiment. "Spelling counts!" I said. As a surprise, I threw in a line where they had to write what each word meant. After doing approximately a dozen experiments and using those words every time it should be a breeze, right? That would be the easy part.

Boy, was I wrong! Some kids got some of the words, but way too many couldn't really explain what the words meant. They had diligently memorized a list of words that meant nothing to them.

Screeeeech! The words of Hetti Roessingh rang in my ears. Clearly, I just can't assume kids understand the academic vocabulary we use, even if we use it again and again and again. Time to put on the brakes and talk about these words.

We started this AISI project a year ago (or was it two years?) I was very excited about it. I love words! Being able to focus on the small building blocks of language is beautiful! Words are beautiful.

Then the province took away the funding for everyone's AISI projects. I promised myself I would continue. But alas, it has fallen by the wayside.

This week, more important than the list of 10 words all the Gr. 3 teachers got together and so wisely chose that I have barely covered, it was important for me to focus on those seven science words.

We talked, we repeated, we re-explained, we found similar words, we practiced. And then when we did the test again, the results were much more comforting to my teacher heart. Now they got it. Many of them even got 100%.

....Except for one. 

One student could only pull out four of those words. And even more concerning, only one definition was attempted. This one had me scratching my head. Why??! Back to the drawing board. New plan: we will draw pictures, play games, practise some more. And rather than write them, what if this student picks out the 7 words from a pile of 10-15 science words? And then what if we match the words from a pile of cards with definitions?

At first, I thought this might not be fair. After all, with practice everyone else got it! Then again, for someone who didn't learn English from his parents, who do doesn't speak English at home, and for whom these words really may just be jibberish, perhaps having to write them all down isn't fair either. 

It made me think of a play I went to earlier this year with my son. It was called The New Canadian Kid. To help the audience understand what it is like to be the new kid everyone in the play spoke jibberish, except for the people new to Canada. They spoke English. It was a fascinating experience. I could really see how frustrating it was for the main character not to understand what was being asked of him, because I couldn't understand it either - even when the other characters said the words slower and louder! (Duh!) It really helped me realize what it must be like to sit and listen to someone like me who loves words and loves books and reading when you struggle to understand the simplest of words. It brings a whole new twist to things to consider before teaching. I am grateful for the reminder.

What I Loved About Last Week

It has been a great week.

• I loved that my new found professional learning network (aka Twitter!) helped me find a link to listen to the ALA awards live Monday morning while I was making lunches. When they announced that the Newbery award would go to Kate Dicamillo's Flora and Ulysses I got some serious goosebumps. I was right in the middle of reading it and was thoroughly enjoying it. Then, reading people's blog posts throughout the week got me thinking about fun things I could do next year with the Caldecott's. Kids would get a little excited about the Caldecott's if they had read a few of the nominees and debated which should win. Imagine how fun that would be?! I especially loved Travis Jonker's post about things he loved about being involved with the awards.  It reminded me of how excited I was to go to the Kaleidoscope conference last year. 
• I loved watching my kids get excited about writing. When I taught in my BK years (before kids), the school I worked at had the kids write every morning as their morning warm up. It was a beautiful thing. We used the stories they wrote for spelling lists and tests and for the jumping off point for language arts lessons. I won't do all that at this point, but I was thrilled to see how natural it was for my kids to just write and write. We will definitely continue.
• I loved having Learning Conferences. These ones were student led and it is so interesting to stand back and see how children explain the learning we do in class. I really had a great group of kids. I love them all and always get a chuckle out of their antics.
• I loved having Friday to get a little caught up on life. It will make for a better week next week!

Gratitude

There's a story in the Bible that tells a story of Jesus who is traveling and comes across some lepers. He takes the time to stop and he heals them. They're all excited to be healed that  run off to celebrate. This is quite an understandable reaction. One leper turns back to thank Jesus for healing him.

That's kind of what happens in life. I don't think anyone would fault the other nine for running off and being so excited. It probably was heartwarming to see them celebrate their new health. However, having someone turn back to say thanks seems to say a lot about that one person's character. Gratitude is a great gift.

One of the things I love doing most is going out and buying all the book club books for kids who want one. They all bring in their money, I drive across town and get the books, and then at school I get to hand them out. It makes me feel like Santa! Or maybe Oprah:

You get a book!
And you get a book!
And you get a book!

This week when I handed out books I had one student turn back and say thanks:

It is interesting to note that this is the same student who said thanks for letting him sit in my desk for the afternoon.

He is a great example to me. I am resolved to say thank you more often.