I feel as though I have gone through almost everything possible one could go through within the second week of school. The week went by rather quickly with activities, practicing reading stamina, staff meetings, team meetings, and much more. I now find myself, like my old professor used to talk to us about, thinking of ways to better help my students learn day and night. It is not an easy task to differentiate instruction.
This week in math we focused on telling time. So many of my third graders cannot read the clock still, so my cooperating teacher and I divided them into two groups based on their skills. She took one and I took the other. We used laminated clock pages, I gave them a time, and they had to draw the minute and hour hands to display the correct time. By the end of the activity, I am proud to say that my group completely understood time. Not to say they will consistently in the days to come, but it felt good to see the smiles on their faces as they understood what they were doing.
Writing and reading are struggles for elementary students these days. I have students that say, "Ms. Tori, this is too hard. My hand is hurting." Of course it is hurting! If students aren't writing regularly, then their hands don't build those muscles. My cooperating teacher and I have tried to find ways to get them to write more. However, sometimes that means that we had company for lunch. Our two students who refuse to follow directions and are constantly acting out would not write when it was time two. We tried everything we could-gave them options of where they could sit to complete the writing and other things-but they would not comply. We had no choice- after days of begging, persuading, and getting supporting help- to take away recess. But, lo and behold, they completed their writing and did it the following day as well. I suppose for some students, that is what they need.
For reading, my school uses Action 100. How grateful I am that I was trained in it during my schooling! It has definitely come in handy. It is a good program and does a nice job of leveling students. However, I do think that maybe with the total push on reading, that is why the writing has slipped. Also, I like the idea that 30 minutes of reading builds stamina, but 30 solid minutes of not looking up from the book is hard for some students, and is even hard for me. I know that when I read, I have to look up every now and then to process what I am reading. Those are just a couple of my current thoughts on Action 100. There are pros and cons to every program.
One of my favorite parts of this week was my staff development meeting. Our administrative staff is a lot of fun, but aside from the fun, we learned some really good information concerning trust. Trust, as the man presenting described it, is like a small stool with three legs: sincerity, competence, and reliability. He said, "In the presence of trust, risk goes down and results go up." We talked about building trust with our students as well as with each other. I completely agree that trust is very important, and if it lacks, our relationships will crumble. I can't count the number of times I have heard gossip from teachers already. It is astounding, and has gotten to the point where I quietly walk away so as not to take part in it. It was great to hear such a wonderful discussion on trust.
I am excited for the next week as I get to take over a science lesson on Monday, morning meeting and math every day, and get deeper into student data. This past week concerning data, I was able to journal every day for my struggling student. I have realized how important it is to process the day's events and various blurt outs. It helps you better decide what you want to work on for the following day.
Well, that about wraps up this week! Until next time!
This week in math we focused on telling time. So many of my third graders cannot read the clock still, so my cooperating teacher and I divided them into two groups based on their skills. She took one and I took the other. We used laminated clock pages, I gave them a time, and they had to draw the minute and hour hands to display the correct time. By the end of the activity, I am proud to say that my group completely understood time. Not to say they will consistently in the days to come, but it felt good to see the smiles on their faces as they understood what they were doing.
Writing and reading are struggles for elementary students these days. I have students that say, "Ms. Tori, this is too hard. My hand is hurting." Of course it is hurting! If students aren't writing regularly, then their hands don't build those muscles. My cooperating teacher and I have tried to find ways to get them to write more. However, sometimes that means that we had company for lunch. Our two students who refuse to follow directions and are constantly acting out would not write when it was time two. We tried everything we could-gave them options of where they could sit to complete the writing and other things-but they would not comply. We had no choice- after days of begging, persuading, and getting supporting help- to take away recess. But, lo and behold, they completed their writing and did it the following day as well. I suppose for some students, that is what they need.
For reading, my school uses Action 100. How grateful I am that I was trained in it during my schooling! It has definitely come in handy. It is a good program and does a nice job of leveling students. However, I do think that maybe with the total push on reading, that is why the writing has slipped. Also, I like the idea that 30 minutes of reading builds stamina, but 30 solid minutes of not looking up from the book is hard for some students, and is even hard for me. I know that when I read, I have to look up every now and then to process what I am reading. Those are just a couple of my current thoughts on Action 100. There are pros and cons to every program.
One of my favorite parts of this week was my staff development meeting. Our administrative staff is a lot of fun, but aside from the fun, we learned some really good information concerning trust. Trust, as the man presenting described it, is like a small stool with three legs: sincerity, competence, and reliability. He said, "In the presence of trust, risk goes down and results go up." We talked about building trust with our students as well as with each other. I completely agree that trust is very important, and if it lacks, our relationships will crumble. I can't count the number of times I have heard gossip from teachers already. It is astounding, and has gotten to the point where I quietly walk away so as not to take part in it. It was great to hear such a wonderful discussion on trust.
I am excited for the next week as I get to take over a science lesson on Monday, morning meeting and math every day, and get deeper into student data. This past week concerning data, I was able to journal every day for my struggling student. I have realized how important it is to process the day's events and various blurt outs. It helps you better decide what you want to work on for the following day.
Well, that about wraps up this week! Until next time!