Five for Friday (January 10, 2014 edition)

Helloooooo Friday night! So glad to be seeing you again!!

I wish I could say that I have a lazy weekend planned, but I do not. I wish I could say that I will have as much time as I want to get prepared for next week, but I do not. 

But what I do have I will be joyful with and thankful for.

Time to blab about some randomness.

Hop on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and  read what randomness my friends are sharing. After you read mine, of course.

1. Today was "send report cards home" day. I wasn't stressed, because I worked really hard in December and had them all assessed, recorded, and entered. They got printed on Monday and stuffed then. All I had to do today was make sure the correct child got the correct envelope. 

The morning message was a silly extension of it. But it was a learning opportunity in every case.

2. I surprised my kids with a game of Mind Soccer. It is a Whole Brain Teaching game. Boys Versus Girls. (Notice the appropriate use of the word versus.) They were tied at 2 each. I may have asked some questions that were not exactly easy to answer, like "What is Mr. Bartel's favorite color?" It was fun to watch them squirm, but it was all in good fun, and they were so sad when we had to stop for lunch.

One of the best parts was they had to answer the question with a complete sentence, if not, they were incorrect and the other team got to steal.

Know what? These first graders, every, single, one, can answer a question with a complete sentence. :)

3. We (the staff) got cake for lunch. A wonderful lady is leaving our school, after many years of assisting teachers and students. We (the staff) celebrated her by eating cake. The students were a BIT sad to not have cake as well.

4. In math we are learning about measuring. Today we began to measure with centimeter cubes. I love how this math leads the kids to the next thing gradually, but surely, and they are "getting" it. Like having to line up the endpoints!!!!!

5. My son had basketball practice this evening. He wanted me to stay and watch. The gym was cold. There were no chairs. I was tired. But I did it. I watched him be a leader.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you get to have a lazy weekend!

Book Club for Me

I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it!

This afternoon 4 teachers and I sat around a table and discussed a book. We shared thoughts and insights.

What book has caused teachers to read in the evening, meet after school, and watch videos?

Whole Brain Teaching, find your copy for $12.50 on Amazon.

Today was our first meeting. We will meet every Monday until we finish the book (in mid-February, unless we can't help ourselves and go through it faster!!). Our goal is to read a chapter and have thought about some guiding questions every week.

Since this was our first meeting, we read chapters 1 and 2. The lovely thing about the chapters, is that they are short and manageable.

Some notes I took today:

1. In a Whole Brain classroom, the class works together as a team.

2. It is for all ages, from kindergarten all the way through high school (and beyond).

3. Focus a few moments on instruction, then the kids get a chance to reteach.

But the best was this comment: "I have more hope for my class now than I did 3 weeks ago."

I'm already excited about what next week will bring.

If you want more information, you could check out the WBT website or Mrs. Shipley's blog (she is a first grade teacher who has been using WB techniques for a long time, and this year has started a 1:1 iPad initiative in her classroom).

Wow

Wow #1: Looky here what I got!!

My husband bought it for me (he got one for him also) on Saturday. Now to discover all it can do for me.

Wow #2: Next year my school district is going to a Four Blocks model for our ELA time. I am so excited about it!

I am dabbling with it now.

On Tuesday I lead the class with a "guided reading" lesson using a National Geographic Young Explorer. I gave the purpose for reading (discover how mother animals and their babies are alike), then got the kids with their "whole brain partners" and they read the article.

Seeing them read and help each other, if necessary, was amazing!

Finally the kids helped me fill out a chart with the animal name and the baby name.

Today I lead another "guided reading" lesson with NGYE. The purpose...to find out how plant parts help a plant. I had 5 kids sit with me to read, everyone else read to their self. It was ERT style. Everyone read to find out how the roots (stem, leaves, flower) help a plant grow. As each question was unearthed, the kids were clamoring to tell me the answer! So much reading and comprehending.

Wow #3: No picture from today of guided reading. But check this out...

Some kids were not working on their ag fair project. They did not ask what they could do. They found some friends and got busy reading!

Love it!

The end of last week I pulled out some very old basal anthologies. Handed them to the kids and they love them. They read and reread as often as possible. I will need to look in my cupboard for more anthologies next week.

I love my first grade readers.

15 days until they become second graders.

Wow #4: Just over a year ago I started this blog, because I wanted so badly to participate in blog giveaways, but you had to have a blog to participate. I won the very first time I tried. Read about it here, and see what I won (a Teacher Tipster DVD--sorry, I spilled the beans, I couldn't wait).

Now, 190 blog posts and 100 followers later I am starting to think of myself as a writer. YIPPEE!

Thanks for reading. Thanks for following. Thanks for commenting.

The sad part for you is I have no TpT store, no giveaway planned, and nothing to send you except good thoughts for ending this school year strong.

Back to School Fun

Yesterday was a work day for my school district. That means--work on your report cards. Or chat with your friends. Or clean out your file cabinets. Or rearrange your room.

I did all of that. Except the report card part. Looks like my weekend will have it's own agenda. Oh well.

Today I got to see my sweet firsties again. I do think one got taller!

To ease us back into the swing of things, I found TONS of free snow/winter math and ELA review activities on blogs (thanks friends).

One of the best freebies that I found was a Whole Brain Teaching lesson plan. Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts posted the lesson plan, and then explained how to use it. During my first days of break I filled it out for "what is addition." It is very scripted, I felt like I was in college again, but so worth it. Stephanie has  described everything so perfectly and completely. Go to this post to read about the lesson.

Today I taught this addition lesson. The kids were not sure about the gesturing part, but eventually came around to do it the way that was rewarded. Over break I created partners for the kids. Their "Whole Brain Partners". The kids sat on the floor near the front (next to their Whole Brain Partner) and we went through it. 

Whenever I try something new it almost always goes twice as long as I think (and not nearly very smooth). Today was no different. But one thing I've learned over the years is this: if I know something is good (WBT or Conscious Discipline) keep at it. The lesson may be going long, but it is probably not the lesson's problem, it is in the deliverer (me). I must SMILE and pretend this is exactly how I expected it. And give it a go again and again and again, until I do it with grace and ease (will that ever happen?).

So, we completed the lesson and then I sent them off to play a dice game. Roll 2 dice, and record on the sheet. They played in partners. Different partners. Math partners. 

It was a day for learning new strategies, room arrangements, and who is my partner.

Some partner groups finished faster than others. So they could read to self or read to someone. I put out some books we created early in the year. This pair decided to not just look at it, but to read it as well! That is huge, because these kids are becoming READERS! Can I get an "Oh Yeah"?