This week, we explored the different types of colleges. We identified colleges by their athletic conferences (BIG12, BIG10, SEC, ACC, PAC12) and we also spent time talking about Ivy League schools.
So far, we've received mail from the following schools: *Clemson *Purdue *Michigan State University *University of Alabama *University of Nebraska *Columbia University *University of Kentucky *Rutgers University *Penn State The kids are keeping a list of postage on the packages that were sent by USPS and later we will add up how much money has been spent on postage. Tomorrow, the students will receive a US map and we will shade in the states we have represented so far. The kids are also going to learn how to address an envelope & where/why to write the return address. We are thanking each university as we go by using our Twitter and Instagram accounts. We are also sending each university a thank you note through the mail. The kids are feeling pretty special to have colleges "recruiting" them. ;) We've taken several field trips on our Expeditions app- Did you know that Penn State has their own creamery on campus? The kids are really excited about that one! Who doesn't love ice cream?! The kids were also very excited to see that Barack Obama attended school at Columbia University! We were amazed to see that long ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech to students at Penn State. We were quite interested in the research of the endangered bumblebee that was listed on one university website (we just read an article about that!). One campus talked about their broadcasting program, and I saw a little spark in one child's eye. Who would have known she had that interest? The kids are making connections all over the place, and the energy is rising! One of my little girls shook her head, stared at me, and said, "How will I ever decide?" That's right, girl- you've got CHOICES! I love being able to see the transformation that occurs- kids are talking. Kids are interested. Kids are planning. Kids are thinking ahead. Kids are regarding themselves as future college students. Kids are looking at themselves differently. They have goals, they are focused, they are learning, they are ready. <3 Love my job!!
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This week was another great week for us in working with our Café Classroom! At last week's staff meeting, I shared a little bit of information about the GEF grant with other teachers. There was a lot of positive feedback and some great questions from my colleagues. I invited them in to stop by and check it out!
This week is our final week of half-day implementation. Next week we will begin full day choices. Depending on how well we do, or the challenges we face, we may decide to go back to the half day model. This week's successes so far: I've noticed that several students have been making the same choices for their mornings, and the same choices for their afternoons. When I asked about this, they all reflected in similar ways: "I do math best at the low tables because I can stretch my legs, but when I read, I need to bounce" or "When it's time to write I like to do that with a wobble stool because I can think of better ideas while I'm moving" or even "I'm more tired in the morning and I have more energy after recess." I found it so awesome that the kids are being so reflective and are really tuned in to what their bodies are feeling and needing. They're able to make choices based on their need- how's that for empowerment? I'm also still loving the fact that the kids are naturally grouped for activities and I have more time for collaborative conversations. For today's math lesson, we did need to move our desks to the back and our "coffee shop" to the front so that we could all sit together in a big circle on the floor. I was surprised at how much easier this was without desks and clunky chairs. It made for a quicker and smoother transition to a fun math activity, which allowed us more time to be engaged in the activity. (*Today's lesson was one of my favorites- it reminds me of what Dave Burgess refers to in his book called Teach Like A Pirate. Our UCSMP materials do not cover teaching fractions on a number line. I laid out strips of washi tape on the floor, passed out popsicles sticks and a pompom, and we created our own number lines and identified fractions. Check it out on our Instagram @MrsSpinasClass- every year I have great success with this method! When kids can physically manipulate these materials themselves, it's so much more engaging! Who doesn't like math on the floor?*) Our writing has also been going really well. One thing I've noticed is that some times we have to relocate to a different spot to see the board to reference an anchor chart. One student asked if he could take a picture of the anchor chart using his iPad so he could bring it back to his work space. I thought to myself- Duh! Why didn't I think of that? Problem solved. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but we were able to successfully take our NWEA exams and our ACCESS tests using our flexible seating model without issue! Last week, I had a substitute when I stayed home with my daughter due to a no-school day. I left a copy of the GEF grant and the research articles in my sub folder, and I referenced it in the sub plans. Later on, I saw that same sub in the building and she said she had a lot of questions about this new model. I'll be sure I lay out more information in my sub plans next time around. Hopefully that will help! It is a complete shift in what educators are used to, so I can understand that that may be a challenge when different adults are in the classroom! Overall, I'm still absolutely LOVING this model. The kids are excited, empowered, engaged, and in control! Their conversations can last longer, our lessons/activities can last longer, they're already grouped based on their physical need, and are far less distracted. It truly makes the day more fluid! Today was a great day in Room 9! We received our final shipments of our new Flexible Seating model for our Café Classroom, thanks to the generosity of the Glenview Education Foundation (GEF). Our three Wobble Stools have arrived as well as our five disc seats. The kids were excited to see two huge boxes after they came in from recess. We unpacked the boxes and tested them out. Then we had a quick class meeting to discuss examples and non-examples of each seating choice. Then we threw them into the rotation! The kids were THRILLED to have these new additions to our Classroom Café. Tomorrow will bring more reflection, but so far- We are ALL absolutely loving having the freedom to move, wiggle, bounce, and get our energy out. As a teacher, I've noticed my students are more engaged and more focused in their work- especially in reading, writing, and math. For writing, we have been working all year on building our writing stamina (especially in English, our L2). Since coming back from break and having more seating options that allow us to move, our writing block has been so much quieter and I have seen a huge improvement in the overall quantity and quality of written expression. Math has been awesome because the students have had more natural opportunities to practice their oracy while working. My hope is that this increase in oral practice while have an impact on their mathematical written expression, which is a huge component of the PARCC assessment.
We also received COLLEGE MAIL today! We received a package from Purdue University that contained a big pennant that we immediately hung from the ceiling. We Tweeted Purdue to thank them for their package and for inspiring us to go to college one day! :) We also received a package from Michigan State University that contained a pennant, Trojan cutouts, College Planning Guides, and informational brochures. The kids were so excited to dive through those. We Tweeted MSU right away to thank them. We also posted on our Instagram. We were SO EXCITED when Purdue and MSU liked our tweets! We felt famous and important! As a side-note from me, I just want to say THANK YOU to both of these wonderful universities for helping to support the dream of higher education. Both of our new pennants are hanging from our ceiling! This week we've added a few new elements to our flexible seating implementation. We added the addition of lap desks and we were able to remove 6 other student desks. Our classroom really has transformed into a Classroom Cafe! We have one row of desks in the front, where students can opt to choose a stool or a stability ball. We have two desks in the center of the room with stools. We have a small table with crate seats or scoop rockers, and we have our low table with scoop rockers or ottomans. We also have a small work space in the back of the room with a bench and stools and a small yellow table. The kids are truly blowing me away with their excitement, enthusiasm, and engagement!
Once we added in our lap desks, we again came together in a "family meeting" to discuss examples and non-examples of how to properly use and care for our new lap desks. The kids are really excited about them. I actually found them for a cheaper price at Hobby Lobby than Amazon. They are located in the same aisle as children's art supplies/project kits. When you use the 40% off coupon on your phone, you can save that much more money! Woohoo! Yesterday, I talked with the kids about making a choice for a half day. The kids enter the classroom in the morning and select their learning spot from 8-11. Then after recess the kids have the chance to switch their learning spot from 12-2:25. This builds up stamina for the students to maintain their seating choice for longer stretches of time. We will maintain this half day schedule for this week and possibly next week. Later this month, we will move to full day implementation. I'm hoping to order the disc seats (or cushions) later this week as well as the new wobble stools, which I am really excited about. Maintaining the half day schedule will allow all students the opportunity to try each seating arrangement. Yesterday during math, we had a review day for our Unit 4 test. While kids were already placed in their learning spots for the afternoon, I told the students that we'd be collaborating with peers to complete the review packets. We talked about how to have successful collaborative conversations and did some role-playing, and then I turned them lose. Do you know what was so awesome? The kids were already placed by NEED! The kids who needed to move more were already placed with other kids who needed to move more (stability balls). The kids who needed to stretch their legs out were already grouped together (lap desks). The kids who wanted to use stools or the floor were already grouped together. This was so neat for me as their teacher to see. These weren't groups that I would have naturally formed. The kids were not grouped according to who they wanted to work with, or who I wanted them to work with. They were simply the closest in proximity and it turns out, they all shared similar needs. This made their work so much more productive! I walked around and took some notes about their successes. The students were really holding each other accountable for participating and sharing. I had zero need for corrections for any child for improper use of the seating choices. I noted that kids were working through the problems slower and with more thoughtful conversations, which produced higher quality work. I was really impressed with their conversations, their high quality work, and their written expression in math. After we corrected our work as a class, I asked the students what they thought made for such a special day. One kid excitedly called out that he and his group "put their heads together" (since when did he master THAT English idiom???) and made their answers great. Another kid said that he moved more so he could think better. AWESOME! The only struggles we have so far are for transitions. The kids are still getting used to tucking in their stability balls and stools when leaving (much the same way they had to get used to pushing in their chairs). Also sometimes the kids forget to move their scoop rockers and lap desks out of the middle of the floor when they leave the room for PE or Art. Our final struggle is to remember to pick up lap desks and scoop rockers at the end of the day so they're off the floor. I think I may suggest to the class at our next class meeting that we put that work on the Cleanliness Captain. Today was our math test and while I was nervous about testing with a flexible seating model, I didn't really see any issues when we played it out in real life. This was just a curricular unit test and soon we will be taking some standardized tests, so that may look slightly different. I'm loving our results. Don't forget to tune into our Instagram and Twitter accounts @MrsSpinasClass to see pictures and videos of our flexible seating in action!! Today was a GREAT DAY in our classroom!!! This afternoon, we heard a knock on the door. The kids all looked up, wondering who it could be. The door opened and in walked two friends in our community. One was the fabulous Mrs. Jill Brickman. Many of us know Mrs. Brickman from different events in the community. She serves Glenview in a myriad of ways, including being the Director of the Northfield Township Food Pantry. She is also a frequent volunteer to bilingual classrooms in our primary school, Henking. Most of the kids in my class know her very well. The second person was a mutual friend of ours, Mr. Ray Wisbrock. Mr. Wisbrock is a true community man, and is a friend to people (and animals) everywhere. Both are also fellow volunteers for Wagging Hearts Animal Rescue. :)
Teaching third graders about college is a huge passion of mine. So many times in our society, the first time kids hear about college is when they're in high school. If your family comes from a culture of attending college, that's probably fine. However, if we are waiting to introduce our students to the concept of college until they are in high school, it is too late.
I believe that all kiddos need to have a seed planted while they are young that college is FOR THEM. It's not just for monolingual students, rich students, or for students whose parents attended college. College is for EVERYONE. That being said, I believe that ANY college is good. My aim is to promote higher education- whether that be a community college, a four-year university, a technical school, a trade school, or truly any other type of continued education beyond high school. I need for my students to enter the workforce with the highest level of education possible, with necessary skills and training for them to be successful. In previous school years, I have "planted the seed" by introducing the students to the concept of college. We would visit college websites, e-mail college students that I know, interview college professors, and write letters to colleges. Writing letters to colleges is very important because not only does it teach students how our postal service works, but it also helps us develop our English writing skills in an engaging way. Not to mention how our geography skills develop throughout the unit- we are able to locate all 50 states on a map and have a meaningful connection to each one! We talk about Ivy League schools, Big Ten Schools, four year universities, community colleges, and more. We share questions that we have. We review the application processes. We explore majors and minors. We examine financial aid programs. We learn about the various activities, sports, and clubs that colleges offer. We learn about staying and living on campus in dorms or on-campus houses and apartments. And the best part? We get MAIL! In the past, different universities have been very generous in sending my class information about their schools. We've received pamphlets, bumper stickers, pennants, pencils, keychains, magnets- The University of Alabama even sent a t-shirt for every child in my class one year. It was such a special day when a huge box arrived and students opened it knowing that a big, real college BELIEVED in them and wanted to encourage them to attend their school one day! Those students wore their t-shirts proudly and knew that there was an entire force in their corner, cheering them on and wanting them to succeed. On Monday of this week, we started our Unit. On Tuesday, we "visited" Clemson by using our Expeditions App on our iPads. I led the students on a guided tour and pointed out various buildings on their beautiful campus. They were beyond excited to feel like real college students- many expressed their interest in attending college at Clemson in the future. The Expeditions App is something I'm really excited about- and a huge plus is that there are so many colleges and careers that are expeditions! I'm thinking we may need to visit a college or two each week during these next few weeks/months. I'm really looking forward to this. There's a lot of positive energy floating in our classroom this week. Crossing fingers for a big response this year! Today was our first day back from Winter Break. Typically, this day usually consists of re-teaching routines and re-establishing habits and norms. However, my awesome learners came in ready to go and ready to begin our Flexible Seating roll-out! How excited we all were today!
I brought in four stability balls ($5 each from Five Below) and 12 stools that I purchased via a garage sale website from a children's hair salon. There were two different types- a completely plastic fold-up type in bright blue and lime green, and a plastic fold-up with a fuzzy, glitter-covered top. I recovered the fuzzy, glittery part with some fabric from Hobby Lobby (my guilty pleasure) and they were ready to go. We had our Family Meeting as a class and we discussed Examples and Non-Examples of the stability balls and the stools. Then I had students share one idea from our discussion on our Schoology account so they could publish their idea, read others' ideas, and comment//validate each other. Schoology is another personal goal of mine, and I was able to use it a lot to facilitate discussions today! Woot! Anyway, we rotated our seating choices every 30-60 minutes (depending on our lesson/activity) and I had to give ZERO reminders/redirects on students using their seating options! AMAZING. I am a realistic educator, though, so I realize that the novelty and the excitement is also contributing to an increased motivation right now. I do have to say overall though, that this class is very highly motivated and eager to learn- they really rise to any challenge I present! I was also able to remove four student desks from the room, which is amazing. I'm hoping to remove more! Students can store their things in plastic storage drawers that I purchased from Target during their New Years' organization sale. Tomorrow we'll do some morning reflections on how/if/why our choices helped us to focus on our learning. I believe our Scoop Rockers will also arrive! EEK! Cannot wait! Mrs. Spina here. I'm looking forward to using this blog as a share for me to reflect on my own teaching practice. I'm new to blogging but I know this is a great way to be more reflective in my teaching and further developing my pedagogy as an educator.
Some things I'm looking forward to in 2017: Implementing a flexible seating model, continuing to use social media in our classroom, and helping my students develop stronger ownership of their learning. Thank you to the generosity of the Glenview Education Foundation (GEF), I am able to implement a flexible seating model in our classroom. I'm looking forward to purchasing our stability balls, wobble stools, lap desks, and chair cushions for our room. I've also scored a few new stools from a kids' hair salon for a cheap price on a garage sale site, and I've been spending some time updating them to fit our classroom decor. The kids are really excited about a change in our classroom where we are not confined to desks but rather have the freedom to move and be more comfortable. I believe that our students will be successful in this endeavor, but I know that I really need to set the stage properly by introducing seating choices slowly, giving students examples and non-examples of how to use the seat carefully and safely, and helping students use their own voice to empower themselves by selecting their choice. I cannot wait to get into the classroom before Winter Break is over so I can really start moving things around. We will be continuing to update our Instagram and Twitter with our current photos and progress. If you're not following us yet, please follow us @MrsSpinasClass on both social media platforms. In early December, I had the opportunity to speak with my colleagues at the State Bilingual Conference. I was so excited because we were able to speak about how to empower bilingual students- which is truly one of my passions. In my portion of our presentation, I spoke about empowering students within three spaces: the classroom, the school, and the local/global community. Within the local/global community topic, I spoke about my excitement in using social media as a tool to empower. When my students know that it's their turn to Tweet or post an Instagram picture, they are able to use their words, their images, and their thoughts to share with the global community. While at this time, we only have 48 Instagram followers and 39 Twitter followers, my students know that the world is watching their learning and cheering them on. Their voices matter, their thoughts matter, and their ideas are important. At times, I will post things on their behalf to save time, to provide quicker transitions, or to share something from my perspective, it really is worth the time to have them post without my voice influencing their words. This approach helps them to develop their English written skills, their digital literacy, and their ability to connect with the world using hashtags or messages. Implementing a classroom data wall is new for me this year, but I'm hoping that having our classroom data (posted not by student but by proficiency score) visible all year will help all of us to stay focused on our goals. Right now, our Data Wall just shows one thing: our math multiplication fact mastery. I've learned to start small so that I can be more reflective of my process and slowly add over time. The third grade teachers have designed a rubric for obtaining mastery of math facts 1-10. On the first Friday of each month, all third grade students take a 4-minute timed test of various multiplication problems representing 1-10s. Teaches grade and record our data reflecting correct answers and accuracy. My class was a little hesitant to use a Data Wall because they didn't want anyone to know where individual students were. After trying a few different models, the entire class agreed on the model we have up. The kids and I were all really excited about how much we've grown in this goal area. I'll be honest- I'm a bit nervous about our scores for after we come back from Winter Break. I'll keep you posted! |
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