The Happy Learning Den: August 2015

Sunday, August 30, 2015

The Start of Something Great

Well it is finished! The first week of school that is. As I reflect on this past week and compare it to last year I believe it has been calmer. It most likely has something to do with having some type of expectation of what would happen since I am not only in my 18th year of teaching, but I had several of the students who are on my rosters now 2 years ago.

The first 2 days I thoroughly went over policies and procedures. Since I am teaching 5th grade again and many of my students have been attending our school for multiple years, it was like riding a bicycle for them. Most students knew what I expected when it came to lining up, staying in line order, cafeteria procedures... I was really surprised during transitions too. They weren't crazy and loud, but instead seemed ready and willing to get the year started. I believe this has to do with the way administration did the schedule planning.

This year I am departmentalized... this means that I teach 2 subjects- Math and Science, and I am partnered with another teacher who teaches English Language Arts and Social Studies. (We both integrate writing instruction into our lessons.) The students are with us for an equal amount of time during the school day. I take my first group to special class (Music, Science, PE, Spanish) first thing in the morning (Their special time is my planning period.) and recess around 9:30. I take my second group to lunch.

For a better idea, this is my schedule with my students:

7:30 If students arrive early, and wish to come in they may. As long as they behaved the day before, have eaten breakfast, and allow me quiet to do my work. Of course, if I have a conference during that time they aren't allowed in the room.

7:50 Bell rings and students enter room.

8:10 Students are in Special class.

8:45-9:30 Math

9:35-9:55 Snack & Recess

10-10:15 Finish math

10:15-11:05 Science

11:05 Pack

11:10 Switch Groups

11:10-11:20 Next group has this time to unpack, copy their homework, and begin working on the number of the day (math activity I created).

11:20-12:20 2nd math block

12:25 Walk to Lunch

12:30-1 Lunch

1-1:50 Science

It's doable and it's amazing! And I think I am going to really enjoy teaching like this. I can become an expert in math & science ... and really give my all to my students.

One new teaching/ learning strategy that I learned about last year was a new and improved version of the KWL chart... the R.A.N. chart. I wanted to use it last year, but I just wasn't able to use it with my students. I had plenty of wall space, but I never had the time to implement it. This year I do.

Since I am only teaching the 2 subjects, I feel that I have a better handle on delving into teaching this new strategy. (If I go back to being self-contained next year, I will still be able to use this strategy. I will just work out all the "kinks" this year.)

I realize that most of my readers don't know what a R.A.N. chart is or does. For those of you who do, please bear with me... Students begin by brainstorming what they think they know on a topic. These ideas are written on individual post-it notes and placed in the first column of the table. Students then read a text, or watch a video, or research the topic, etc. When they find out if their original though was correct or wrong, they move their post-it note to either the confirmation or the misconception column of the table. During the course of the week or longer if it is a unit, students add to the column "New Learning" as they learn new information. They also have a column to add what they are still wondering about- what they still want to learn.

For the first week of school, in between the teaching of the rules and procedures, and all the pre-assessments my students had a GREAT time interacting with the R.A.N. Chart. The topic? Me!

Monday each child had an opportunity to write down anything they thought they knew ... It was great! Students were writing things like: my age is either 37 or 97, my favorite color is orange, my favorite animal is a dolphin, that I love teaching math, that I love teaching, that I am respectful, that my pet peeve is when backpacks fall off their chairs... They were really paying attention!

Tuesday I went through each post-it note with them. I placed each post-it in either the confirmation or misconception column for them, and explained why they were correct or wrong. They really loved it! There was a lot of laughter when they found out my favorite animal is a cow, and my first word as a baby was "moo." (I grew up across the street from a farm.) Thursday students once again had the opportunity to enter information onto the chart. They wrote on Post-it notes what they learned about me during the week. Friday they wrote down anything they are still wondering about me...

One student commented that when I answer the wonderings it would be a Q&A! I explained that I would answer the questions, but I have the right to not answer a question. Next week I will make sure to take a few minutes at the end of each period to answer one or two questions.

The most important thing is that they enjoyed going up and putting their thoughts onto the RAN chart/ bulletin board. Without student buy in, it would be challenging to make this strategy work. I plan on using it when I introduce many math and science lessons.

I will keep you posted as I use this wonderful new teaching tool. I am sure that this year will be filled with wonderful memories and opportunities for digging deep into learning.

This is my RAN Chart. The top half is for my morning class, and the bottom half is for my afternoon class.

I put their post-it notes on the pink line separating

Confirmations and Misconceptions if students wrote

more than one "thing they thought they knew." I

did this because one thing was true and another was false.

This is what I mean by "working out the kinks" this year.

Next year I know to stress that they can only put one

thing they think they know about a topic. If they think

they know more, they need more than one post-it.

Up close picture.

Another up close shot.

This is my best friend's/ next door teacher/ most creative teacher I know...
This is her R.A.N. chart!

The cuteness is killing me!

I love the clip art and the captions!

I don't think it can get much cuter!

I was wrong! So cute!

Students are so lucky to be in her class.
Miss D is super creative and someone
I admire.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
I hope you enjoyed it! The best is yet to come...
Happy Learning! Happy Teaching!

Monday, August 24, 2015

You Only Get One

You probably know the saying, "you only have once chance to make a good impression." Well you also only get once "first day of school." And boy oh boy today was AMAZING! Now I realize that this week is the "honeymoon" phase, but I can't express how completely sweet and endearing I found both classes.

However, I am utterly and completely exhausted! So please forgive the brevity of this post.

The best is yet to come...

Happy Teaching!

Happy Learning!

~Sandy @The Happy Learning Den

Sunday, August 16, 2015

New Year, New Grade, & New Adventures!

Hi Everyone,
I cannot believe summer is over and I have already begun the process of setting up my classroom. I am going to miss my weeks of relaxation, pajamas, and no alarm clocks. Next you will tell me Target has their Halloween decorations on display.

However, I am ready for my new adventure! This year I will be departmentalizing. I will be teaching Math and Science all day, and another teacher will be teaching English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies. We will share our students, and the students will be switching between our 2 classes each day. I'm nervous and excited at the same time!

New Year. New Grade. New Students. New Challenges. New Adventures.

For the past 8 years I taught 3rd grade in an enormous classroom. Of course, I didn't realize it was enormous until I tried setting up my new classroom last week. It is significantly smaller- at least half the size of my old class, and the students in my class this year are bigger! Even though I will only be teaching math and science, I still need to have a library. So instead of having 3 bookshelves with baskets galore of books, I have 2 bookcases. One shelf is dedicated to nonfiction math and nonfiction science books, but I still have baskets of novels for students to enjoy. Every few months I switch out the books that are in the baskets and trade them with other books that are hidden in a closet. Here is a photo of my classroom library that I setup last week.

The taller bookcase has the book baskets. The other bookcase has the ScienceSaurus's and the class set of dictionaries that students will use throughout the year. The area shown next to the sink will contain science centers that students will be able to take to their seats or to another area in the room. Next week I will figure out which centers will be placed there, but first I needed to focus on the physical layout of the room.

I have limited wall space and limited bulletin boards in my new classroom, but of course I am bursting with BIG IDEAS! One of the biggest ideas so far came from an epiphany I had during a science professional development workshop over the summer. Stay with me here... The instructor had asked the teachers in the room who used a KWL (what you know, what you want to know, and what you learned) organizer with their students throughout our years of teaching. Of course all of us raised our hands... We discussed the pitfalls of using the KWL chart, and then he demonstrated a revolutionary idea- so maybe it's not revolutionary because it's been around for a while, but I did get my epiphany from it. He had all of us teachers write on a Post-It note what we "know" about pencils. Then we all put our post-its into the "What I Think I Know" column. Next he had us watch a video about how pencils are made. We revisited the RAN chart and discussed each item written on the Post-It notes. The ones with true facts about pencils were placed in the "confirmed" column and the ones that were not true were placed in the "misconceptions" column. So much better than a KWL chart because so often students think they know it, but in reality they haven't a clue, right? :-)
This is thrilling to me, and with the help of one of my colleagues I made a huge RAN chart in my classroom. We will be using this chart all year, starting with the first day of school. Before we get into any procedures and my getting to know you activities, students will each write one thing that they think they know about me and place it in the "What I think I know" column. Once all students have posted their thoughts, I will read through them and place them in either the "misconceptions" column or in the "confirmed" column. During the day, students will have a chance to write what they are still wondering about me on Post-Its and place them on the RAN Chart as well. Here is a photo of the RAN chart:

Here are some more photos of my classroom so far. The best is yet to come!

Until next time,
Sandra @ The Happy Learning Den

Monday, August 3, 2015

Today is the BIG SALE!

I am SO excited! Today is the big Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sale and I just bought the 3 items that were in my "Wish List." You should know right away that I don't personally know any of these sellers. I just love what I bought so much that I have to share with all of you!

The first thing I put into my cart is the Early Finishers Task Card Bundle from Teaching with a Mountain View. She has over 300 items in her store and I could honestly put most of her items on my wish list for future purchases. I love, love, love her store!

I also bought the Reading Interactive Notebook Flaps from Foreman Teaches. There are 90 interactive notebook pages! Do you know what that means to me? That's 90 times my students are cutting and gluing, interacting with the text, making meaningful connections.... and having fun too! Plus... I can use many of these pages in other academic areas. My lesson plans are being developed in my head as I type.

For the past 8 years I taught 3rd grade... and loved it! It was my FAVORITE grade to teach. My principal decided to place me back into 5th grade for the upcoming school year so of course I need the current standards to post. (I taught 5th grade so long ago that many of the standards have changed.) I thought I was going to be spending much of my summer and prep week typing the standards. Luckily for me Amy Menzi has a store at TPT and she made cute posters with the standards for ELA, MAFS, Science, and Social Studies! SOLD! (She does have them individually, and I am only supposed to be teaching Math and Science this year.... HOWEVER, you never from year to year what you will be teaching. So I would rather have all the Florida Standards.)

Remember if you shop today or tomorrow... be sure to enter the promotion code BTS15 at checkout for added savings!
(P.S. My store is also part of the sale if you are interested. Click here to see my store.)

Happy Learning!
Happy Teaching!
-Sandra @ The Happy Learning Den

The Happy Learning Den

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