From Spelling Bee Failure to Published Writer!

Writing has been a slow path of progress for me. As a child I excelled in reading and math and was in gifted classes since the 2nd grade. Spelling and writing on the other hand were my WORST areas. I am sure you see the gaps in my blog often. I will never forget being in my 6th grade homeroom class and being forced to try out for the spelling bee. The teacher lined everyone up and when it got to me I was asked to spell Musician. Full of attitude and 6th grade smugness I immediately said, "I don't know" and sat down. In the 6th grade world it is much better to look like you don't care than to try and fail right? The teacher paused and I am pretty sure it was like a cartoon scene as her line of vision followed me to my seat, face turning red, and steam beginning to pour out of her ears she said in her low but sharp teacher voice, "Christine, music - ian....it is not that hard." Oh I was mortified. It was all I could do to not burst in to tears right there on the spot. 

This was a turning point for me. I began to see my struggles with grammar and spelling as a fixed weakness in me. I accepted it and in that same smug 6th grade attitude used it as crutch instead of something to improve upon. It became more than a struggle but an area I saw as weak and began to avoid. I joked about it as a way to protect myself. It wasn't until high school that I gained some confidence in my writing with a strategy called the Schaffer Method. I can't help reciting the formula (TS, CD, CM, CS) when beginning any scholarly paper and I have taught it to my 4th graders when they struggled to expand their ideas. Many educators and writing enthusiasts are so against formulaic writing but for me it allowed my ideas to finally have a flow. It took the block away. 

I still struggle with spelling and grammar but I have learned to embrace it as my area of growth. I still get teased by others who are far superior in this area and I am okay with it. I think it is the teasing that has reminded me to be an example of growth mindset to my students and my own children. Writing has never been easy for me but it now brings me a lot of joy. Through writing I discovered a passion to share ideas, support, and learn from educators across the globe. I love these online connections because I know that these are people in the thick of it with me. The best professional development comes from genuine teacher conversation and open sharing.

So this Summer I tried something. I sent an article in to Defined STEM. A company who my school has a partnership with for STEM curriculum. I sent the article not really knowing if it was any good. ll I threw it out in to the world anyways and guess what....they published it!! AH! So amazing! I wanted to share it here as well to document this awesome journey and accomplishment. I can now say I am a published writer! I hope my Article on STEM can bring you some insight as well. 

Enjoy! 

Learn how an AZ school used the engineering design process to successfully establish a schoolwide STEM focus. https://t.co/ehxf3vw0xR #STEM #STEMed #Suptchat #edchat pic.twitter.com/VyXmuCm8m2

— Defined STEM (@DefinedSTEM) July 9, 2019

Funny Things Kids Say 2015-2016

I have really been dreading this week. Going back to work after this long glorious Summer with my babies is going to be much harder that I thought. Luckily two of them go with me and that does make it easier but my baby boy will be missed oh too much! 

Yesterday I was asked to come in and help with Kindergarten Assessments. It was only for part of the day and I was happy to help but again sad that my time home is over. It has been a while since I have hung out with the littles and but there innocent honesty and openness turned my day around. I love what I do and being around kids is why I do it. I want to start tracking all the funny things I hear and see at school. The moments that remind me why I am a teacher. A little online Smile File for everyone to read!

August 2015

At kindergarten assessments I was getting cuteness overload. So many nervous but excited little 5 year olds. One came to sit with me for assessments. We turned to the sight word portion of the assessment....

Student -  "I don't know any of those words." 

Me - "Well maybe you might" and I started pointing at different sight words. 

Student - Looking down, "Well I do know one word.... P - O - O - P." 

Me - "Oh really what does that spell?

Student - Paused a second. Looked me right in the eye again and said, "I think you know!" 

Engage NY Homework Calendar and GIVEAWAY!!

My first big Teachers Pay Teachers project is FINALLY finished! I worked really hard to get all of the calendars for 2015/2016 updated and ready for purchase. The students really loved my calendars last year and they were one of the most frequently mentioned items in my end of the year student survey. If you want to know more about why I use these homework calendars instead of the regular engage homework please see my earlier blog post that talks ALL about it HERE. 

My completed calendar bundle includes....

• 10 editable homework calendars for the 2015/2016 school year along with extras and answers keys.
 
• 1 show your work page that can be printed front to back and kept in the classroom for students to use as needed. 

• Parent Introduction Letter

• Student/Parent Expectations Letter and Online resources page. 

If you would like to check out my completely editable calendars for yourself visit my TPT store. 


The first 10 people who follow my blog and leave a comment with an email address will get the August calendar pack for FREE.

Engage NY Stations - S Station: Self Study

Objectives/Resources Used: The focus at S stations is for students to practice skills they personally need to work on. Last year this was my H station focus but I wanted something more because too many students were finishing. I am not sure if I am going to make this a daily rotation or more of a what to do when you're through option. I do not use Engage NY as much for this station because I have found that while the curriculum does go back to other standards it does not spiral through everything as much as I would like. To combat this I purchased a CCSS Spiral called Math Moves on TPT that allows students to practice all the standards each week.

You can grab a copy HERE. Students do 4 problems each day Monday through Thursday as a part of their morning work in their homeroom classes. Then on Friday's (and I do not do it every Friday), students take a quiz over the same types of problems they worked on all week. 

I have students write down what area or domain they feel confident in based on this assessment and I have them select an area they need to practice. Then during S station they select an activity based on that domain. I purchased this  math station pack and created folders for students to easily select. I set these up in the beginning of the year and did not have to do much upkeep. They have the answer keys inside and work pages along with a little example or short explanation of the skill. I also put fun games and other things I find in this area for students to pick from. 

Online Options: I would also like to have more online work happening in class each week so I am going to allow students to do Skoolbo, Xtramath, and/or Tenmarks.com during this station. 

Classroom Set Up: 

On my Station Board under S I write Self Study. I also have a carpet area where I keep all of my self study options grouped by CCSS Domain. This year I am going to add some online option packets that have the directions to get to all of the online places along with all the login information. Last year I posted it on the wall and students have the login info in their binders as well but they still seem to waste a lot of time getting logged in. 

Examples:

• Here is an example of the self study folders students can pick from. They have card pieces and worksheets to go with them. The students like these and do really well checking and grading themselves honestly.

Accountability/Assessment: Students can turn in their station worksheet and I can easily see if they did real math work or just wrote down answers. All of the online work allows me to see reports of what they did, how much time was spent etc. I tell the students though that this station is for their personal progress. They will see gains on their weekly math moves assessment and that will tell me if they studied or not. 

Engage NY Stations - H Station: Hands-On

Objectives/Resources Used: The focus at H Station is for students to do something more real world and more fun. This is my center like station but it is not just fluff. I use the Engage NY modules to help plan activities for this station. When I pretest students I assess not only the content that we will be learning but the content they should already have mastered from previous grades in order to be successful. In the beginning of each Module they list Focus standards and foundational standards. 

For the Focus Standards I wanted to have more all encompassing activities for students to apply their new learning. I found some awesome project ideas on K-5 and am going to use these to start of the year.

You can check out the awesome projects options they have HERE. My plan is to have 1 or 2 options a month for projects that align to the standards we are working on. Students at H can work on this throughout that time. 

I really want the students to focus on revising and editing their work and also getting feedback from their peers. I want to work on teaching them to critique each others work and build a community of positive communication and hard work. I got this idea from the book study we did over Summer break and it is one of my goals for this year. You can read more about my goals and what I did this Summer HERE.

Classroom Set Up: 

On my Station Board under H I write whatever they are working on today. "Multiplication Game, Fraction Pizza's, Million Dollar's Project" etc.. I have table in my room where I also store games and activities that I use all year. I also have a bin where I put the activity or options for the week.  

Examples:

Module 1: Place Value/Rounding/Addition and Subtraction

• Projects:
• August: Subtraction is an area I know without assessment that the students will struggle. (In my opinion subtraction is the hardest concept to master!!) For the first month of school I am going to have students do a "Spend a Million Dollars" Project. There are many variations of this available all over TPT. I found a few free ones that I am going to base my project off of. I like the simplicity of this one HERE. I may break down and buy a really cute one but I am trying to avoid it!! Students will have all of August to complete it. 
• September: How will you use math when you grow up (Future jobs project).
• Along with the ongoing project I will always put out some other short fun activities for students to do. They really like math mazes and crafts. I always do a place value block party craft. I like this one I purchased on TPT a few years ago.
  
  You can grab a copy HERE. 

Module 2: Metric Measurement

• Projects
• October: Research, Graph, and Convert Measurements of tall buildings around the world.

Module 3: Multiplication and Division

• Projects
• November: Thanksgiving Dinner Project
• December: Gingerbread Dream House Project

Module 4: Geometry

• Projects
• January:

Module 5: Fractions

• Projects
• February:
• March:

Module 6: Decimals

• Projects
• April:

Module 7: Customary Measurement

• Projects
• May:

Accountability/Assessment: This is not a daily must finish station. Students should only be spending a little time here each day and can dedicated more time when they have finished their other work. I do strategically place my hard workers at this Station first because I know they will get everything done.

I am thinking about creating a board where students can just mark progress they are making on the projects. Students love this station and like to show off the work they complete here. I do check to make sure they are completing it correctly and help them learn to work with each other on this as well. 

Engage NY Stations - T Station: Toolbox Builder

Objectives/Resources Used: The focus at T station is for students to build their "Toolbox". I call their math notebooks their toolbox because it holds all the strategies, vocabulary, and examples they need to successfully tackle the math work. If there is not a notebook page for that day I assign a math journal or vocabulary page. 

Classroom Set Up: 

On my Station Board under T I write notebook page, vocabulary, or math journal. I have a "Toolbox" Table where I have an example notebook already finished showing the students how they should lay out their notebook page. I also have vocabulary wall at this station and post math journals here as well. There are scissors, glue, and a trash can at this station. Students are not allowed to decorate their pages with colored pencils unless all of the other station work is complete. 

Examples:

• I found some amazing interactive math notebooks aligned to the engage lessons on TPT that you can get HERE. Students are always a day ahead in their notebooks so that they have pages prepared and ready for the small group lesson. I started doing this because I love the interactive notebooks but I hated waiting for students to cut out the pages and get them in their notebooks. Some would always be done right away while others took forever. It wasted to much time.
• For math Journals I have used many different resources. This year I would like to try the k-5 journals for 4th grade. I used them when I taught Kinder so we will see how it goes. You can check out K-5 (they have a lot of awesome stuff) HERE.

Accountability/Assessment: Each day when we meet in small group I can see if the students completed their notebook the day before. If they did not complete it they do not get a chance to add that page and must instead write all of the items on their paper instead. 

Engage NY Stations - A Station: Assessment

Objectives/Resources Used: The focus at A station is to assess previous learned content and allow students to use math talk to build strategies and reinforce skills learned. At this station I use the Engage NY Exit Ticket from the previous day's lesson. Depending on the skill I may have them work alone or with their groups using math talk. If they are working alone they can discuss the answers together after. 

Classroom Set Up: 

On my Station Board under A I write the page number of the Exit Ticket they need to complete and I write Alone or With Groups. For this station students use their own materials and must sit at a seat to work away from other stations. I do have a table area just for this station so when they are working in their groups they know where to go. 

Examples:

• For Engage NY Lesson 1 the Exit Ticket is 1.A.12 so students will complete the exit ticket and then discuss their answers with their group. 

Accountability/Assessment: One quick check I have in place is level checks. We use level check a lot in small group by holding up fingers to show what level they feel they are on. Level 3 means that they feel they have mastered the skill and are ready to move forward no problem. Level 2 means they feel they understand the skill but need a little more practice with it before moving on. Level 1 means they are stuck and don't know how to move forward on their own. 

For A station students turn in their Exit Ticket in to the basket level they think they are. Level 3 is a green basket, 2 is yellow, and 1 is red. I can try to quickly check the work when stations are over and students are doing their problem set.