Making Choices Is Part of Learning

During social studies students are in charge of their own learning. Armed with notebooks, construction paper, and glue sticks they were asked to create a flat map in a collaborative group. Students had to work together to determine important features that go on a map, using the web as a tool. They decided as a class of a list of items that had to be on their map such as the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs location. They discussed latitude, longitude, Primer Meridian, Equator, compass rose, seven continents, 5 oceans, and the tropic of Capricorn and Cancer. When one student asked me where these things were on a map my answer was simply, “Google It.” Each group has a group Googler. What I loved the most is that they are changing the directions and taking risks! Ask your child what he or she is working on. We talked about how students should not be afraid to share what they know as we can all learn from them! I am excited to see how their maps come out! We will be working on this for a few social studies periods.

Our math lesson was on modeling addition and subtraction of decimals. Addition and subtraction of decimals and whole numbers use the same approach. Decimals and whole numbers are broken apart using place value and properties of addition and subtraction. The commutative property of addition applies to decimals and whole numbers. The commutative property does not hold for subtraction of decimals and whole numbers. Students discovered how to add and subtract decimals in tenths and hundredth using models.  During math today we had a lesson on adding decimals. Research says that some students align digits on the right rather than aligning the decimal points when adding decimals. This practice reflects a lack of conceptual understanding. In this lesson, students will estimate before adding decimals, then use the estimate to check if the result is reasonable. Holding a lined piece of paper horizontally will help with understanding this concept visually.

During writing we are working on the Best Part of Us project! You are welcome to join us for a presentation on October 31 at 8:30! I love how each student is working on his or her slide on a group project in Google! This is the beauty of Google tools! We can all be on one document at the same time! Students are coming up with clever titles and learning to not put last names on slides, which is a digital citizenship skill. Several families joined us last night at our first Google training. I hope some others join me on October 24 at 7:30 in our classroom!

I let the students know I would be out a few times each week in October and the expectations for our classroom still stand! One of the weeks I will be out a few days for the annual fall MassCUE conference! I hope to bring some of our agents next fall, as we have been presenting something every year! To learn more about this conference visit:

Go Pats!

My Relationship with Google

I dove into the world of Google in education four years ago. Our school has N Computing (pods), which means there is one CPU and 5 monitors that think they are separate computers. Except when one student was working in Word and his or her monitor froze, so did the others. I would have tears over lost work and instilled in my 5^th graders the power of saving everything immediately. I sought to avoid this and decided to take a risk and have my parents sign their students up for a Google account. Google saved automatically, so if a pod froze students would not lose their work. Little did I know how much Google would become a part of how I teach and drive me to challenge myself and take risks from that one decision.

Google is not just about enhancing learning or being an effective tool. Yes it allows us to create things and be efficient in our work. It has opened doors to collaboration. The biggest piece of Google for me has been building relationships with students. I remember the first time I happened to be on a document the same time as a student. To him it was probably like a ghost typer as I began to send him a message. His mother said he screamed so loud she had to go flying upstairs to see what the commotion was. This started a live conversation with the family while we were each in our own homes.

The one conversation has led to countless others with students. Last year I took advantage of the comment tool, which empowered students to think deeply about their work. Students are more apt to revise and edit work with the comments. The student would then resolve the comment, thinking he or she was done. This year I am asking that no comment gets resolved, so we have a record of our conversation in the Google apps we are working on.

Our school finally is a GAFE school, and I am in year four of using Google tools. Glad I am not rogue anymore, as my eyes are fully open to the possibility GAFE brings to a classroom. I spent 30 minutes in our computer lab this week going over the basics of Google and already have many students using Google Docs for their spelling homework. I created some things ahead of time in Google classroom and students are having conversations not only with me but with each other on there. I have students emailing me, taking responsibility for their work and asking questions. I love the side comments in student work. It allows me to share stories with students or ask them questions or help them dig deeper.

We have been at school a little over a week, and I can already tell you something about each student. I have Google to partly thank for that. It allows me to reach all students synchronously and asynchronously. It helps us build a foundation for a better future. In teaching these students how to use various Google tools and as Alice Keeler says, that Google exists, they are learning more about their world on their own. I am just their guide. They are going to teach me way more about Google tools than I can figure out on my own. I am so glad I decided to try out the Google drive a few years ago. I know I have only scratched the surface of Google. Nonetheless, it has helped me be a learner with students and develop relationships that last long past the 180 days I have with each of them.

Welcome to the World of Google

Taking 22 agents to the computer lab today to introduce the world of Google was so much fun for me! Google tools are wonderful ways for us to be more efficient and effective in all that we do! I forget how much training goes into showing students how to use Google tools. I also am well aware we have very curious students who are ready to push buttons and see what happens.  Today I showed students how to log into their Google accounts. On the Google.com page there is a blue sign in button on the top right hand corner. Students can hit that and log in using their Mansfield schools address. I showed them there is an omni box at the top of the page. This is where they will write web addresses and run their searches, as Google does not need the search box to do that anymore. I also showed students the hot dog (three dots on the top right corner). This has a list of commands. Always click on the three dots! You never know what you will get! We explored Google classroom, set up our reading letter template, and created a folder for spelling homework in their drive. Students learned to make a copy of a document and how to rename it as well! We covered a lot of ground in 30 min!

If students want to do their spelling homework in Google, I encourage them to do the following:

1.     Sign into the Google account

2.     Click the 9 boxes icon where the apps are located

3.     Click on drive

4.     Click on the 5^th grade folder they created

5.     Click on spelling folder they created

6.     Click the New button

7.     Click Google docs (By going to the folder of the subject and creating the document there it automatically saves it in the right folder). Google saves automatically with every change to work being done in the drive.

8.     Name it whatever assignment it is in the title box (where it says untitled document)

a.     TIP: I highly suggest when naming documents in each folder start with 001 (followed by the name) as this keeps it organized in the drive.

b.    Ex. 001 abc order, 002 Three times a charm, 003 sentences, 004 abc order, 005 three times a charm, 006 sentences, etc.

c.     See Alice Keeler’s Blog post for more information!

9.     Once they are done make sure they share it with me by clicking the blu share button on the right

a.     Share to Rayna.freedman@mansfieldschools.com

Having an Ishful Day

We had a busy Monday! We kicked off our first full week learning about our spelling routine. During the fall I like to get the agents into a routine. They have the choice between regular spelling words or a word list with some challenge words that I created. Both lists of words fit a rule each week. Spelling homework goes home on Monday. There are 4 sheets: ABC order, Sentences, Three Times a Charm, and a practice sheet. Most of it they are welcome to type in Google Docs and share with me or do it in a word processing program and email it to me as an attachment. It can also be handwritten neatly. They should work no more than 20 min a night (unless your child chooses to work longer) on each sheet. One sheet is due per day. It is your child’s choice what sheet to do each night. However if they do some early less they have to do later in the week. This is the beauty of teaching time management skills. Students should craft thoughtful sentences where they show understanding of the word.

We spent some time organizing our writing for The Best Part of Me project. We reviewed similes, personification, and alliteration as writing techniques to make their paragraphs stronger and more interesting. Using a graphic organizer, students thought about different ways to describe the best part of them. Teaching students to use graphic organizers as a tool is vital to help them as they grow as your authors.

During read aloud we continued our Peter Reynold’s author study. Friday we read So Few Of Me and discussed lessons we learned. Ask your agent what he or she learned from the story!  Peter is a fantastic illustrator and author who believes in teaching kids creativity and following their dreams. International Dot Day, celebrated by millions worldwide is taking place September 15^th. Students are encouraged to wear dots that day to school! Today we read Ish, which teaches students about the power of being okay with something looking ishful!. Through this tale you learn to be yourself, and it is okay not to be perfect. Thinking ishfully allows us all to be okay with our own creativity. We might not draw a tiger perfectly but I bet it is tigerish. We could have a saddish day. Students had the opportunity to create something ishful! To learn more about Dot Day visit:

http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/

I wanted to share my latestblog post from my other blog as it relates to what we are doing in school! It is called Wait! You Do Not Want Us To Raise Our Hands?

As part of my student learning goal I want to teach students how to be more mindful when communicating with others. Therefore I am working with them on not raising their hands but speaking and waiting their turn just like a conversation at the dinner table. I am tracking data per subject until the number of hands raised reaches zero. I began to think about how in the real world no one raises their hand to speak in the office, at the dinner table, or out on the playground.

I introduced the concept the first day of school while going over classroom guidelines in a presentation. Students were pretty taken aback by this. I never realized how raising hands was such a conditioned behavior like Pavlov’s dogs until I started this. Over the course of the first three days of school I noticed it was very hard for students to not raise their hands. They actually waited for me to call on them until one figured out she could just speak, so she did. Then others followed. What is tricky is figuring out how to share the communication space, especially when so many students want to speak at once. What I am finding (even after three days) is that some of my more quiet students are expressing themselves to the class more with not feeling the pressure of having that hand raised. Others are trying to navigate when to speak. Some are not sure what to make of this. Hands are still being raised all day, but I am hoping we can eventually get there.

I am wondering if students will be more apt to speak in this manner. Will they embrace this change? How will they view this? Trying to unlearn such a conditioned behavior can be challenging, but I am hoping this builds our classroom community and teaches students not only about mindfulness but how to be in the world.

Using clicker counter I began collecting data on the number of times students raised their hands for each core subject until each subject was at 0 hands. I was curious to see which subject would be the first and which one would be the last for this experiment. 

#Iwishmyteacherknew and Questions I can Ask

The agenda book was more formerly introduced yesterday morning, which will be a powerful tool for students to keep their at home assignments organized. I sign it before the book is placed in the student’s mailbox so we know it matches the agenda book on the board. I color code the assignments so if your child is color blind kindly let me know, as they all told me they could see color. If the date is written in orange, any assignment due the following school day is also written in orange. However if assignments are due on different days then each one will have its own color and due date. If you are ever in the room check it out! Students are getting to know our morning routine, which involves writing in the agenda book, ordering lunch, and handwriting. On Friday’s students complete a Going for Goals sheet which will give you insight into their week at school. If they are done with all classwork for the week they transition to pentominoes, which is a logic puzzle using various shapes to make a perfect rectangle.

Students participated in an activity called “I wish my teacher knew.” This is a great way for me to truly understand the individual children in our classroom. I work very hard to reach the individuals in our room! Students shared they were athletes, readers, and writers. Several have interest in social studies. Some have fears of taking risks and being wrong. Others wish the world was a fair place. The idea for this activity was inspired by a story that made national news. Check it out here:

http://wqad.com/2015/04/16/teachers-assignment-brings-out-surprisingly-honest-notes-from-students/

You will hear me talking a lot about growth of the student. I did a lot of reading last summer on growth mindset and teaching kids grit in order to succeed in this world. Though this is something I have always done I wanted to share some information with you. One is an argument for mindset and the other a counter argument; however I find I am more in the middle of the two! The third is about grit.

http://www.salon.com/2015/08/16/the_education_fad_thats_hurting_our_kids_what_you_need_to_know_about_growth_mindset_theory_and_the_harmful_lessons_it_imparts/

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/the-s-word/397205/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/back-to-school/why-kids-need-to-fail-to-succeed-in-school/article4513436/?page=all

Students also learned about our question wall. This is a place for them to write down their questions that they might not be ready to ask in front of the class. I had read this article about a teacher who completed a math unit and asked the kids if they were ready for the assessment. They students responded with an enthusiastic yes but did not do well upon taking the assessment. She handed them all a piece of paper and asked them to write down the questions they never asked during the unit and the questions she received were fascinating! I hope to encourage students to take risks and feel comfortable asking anything, even if it means writing on a piece of paper.

Lastly, Catlin Tucker (one of our keynote speakers at the MassCUE Fall conference)  tweeted a great resource for parents.

https://medium.com/synapse/30-questions-to-ask-your-kid-instead-of-how-was-your-day-26be75072f13

There are fantastic questions to ask your child beyond how was your day. I hope you find these resources helpful.

Today we talked about the 5 Finger rule when choose just right books, Multiplication Madness, and our math drills today too!

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/selecting-books-your-child-finding-just-right-books

During our PBIS lesson we discussed appropriate behavior in the hallway. Student did some improve exercises to model various hallway behaviors that could occur and how to react to them. Students also discovered they have a detective log which will be used to reflect and write in throughout the year.  It will be used in conjunction with my state teacher and student learning goal on mindfulness. Today’s exercise asked students to think about things that distract them and to reflect on that. We also celebrated Stella’s birthday!

We kicked off our Peter Reynold’s author study during read aloud! His books have fabulous life lessons that inspire people to think and follow their own path. He encourages creativity and imagination in his stories.

I taught the agents how to play pico, fermi, bagels during our mini math lesson today. We have been spending time getting to know each other through play, which will come up again when we delve into our Red Rubber Ball project. Here is how to play the game in case you want to play at home:

 http://www.mathfairy.com/wp/kids/pico-fermi-bagels/

Monday we will have our first math lesson on place value. Research says that place value may be a difficult concept for fifth grade students when it involved place value notations beyond tens. A status study of children found that one third of fifth graders had difficulty with the place value concept involving relatively small numbers such as 25. In this lesson, as students use a chart to represent place value, they develop a foundation for understanding place value and representing large numbers. We discussed math vocabulary such as digits, value, standard form, expanded form, and word form. Students have a math assignment Monday evening based on the lesson that will be due Tuesday.

140 characters, The Best Part of Me and an RUP!

It was so wonderful hearing so many positive comments about our agents' first day of school! We are working hard to build a strong classroom community in A113! This morning students completed work from yesterday and then worked in their handwriting books. They work at their own pace. Students should be able to finish their book before the end of the year, as I believe learning cursive is important. Then we reviewed our classroom rules and expectations, and I discussed Mastery Club, the bothering box, smile-o-grams, and some other exciting things around our classroom. Some students may have come home with a mastery club scratch pad. This is an enrichment opportunity offered in our classroom.

Learn more about it here:

http://mansfieldjjes.ss8.sharpschool.com/cms/One.aspx?portalId=1016284&pageId=2292243

Students created bulletin boards today and yesterday. We made visual selfies of how we learn and created tweets to share goals for the year! Getting goals down to 140 characters with their agent # is challenging! They learned a lot about Twitter! We celebrated Marissa’s birthday too!

Students are coming home with their first two assignments. One is an All About Me poster, which they began in class. This is a great way to get to know our classmates and build our learning community. Students will bring them back to school no later than Thursday of next week as we will be presenting them next Friday to the class. Public speaking is a crucial skill to learn and agents become experts at that by the time June rolls around! We also began our “Best Part of Me” project. I am super excited about this project, which I learned about at the International Society of Technology in Education conference I attended in Atlanta a few years ago. To see what I saw click here as it will give you insight into what we are creating:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/sharing-best-part-me

This is the third time I am doing this project and I cannot wait to share it with you! A letter about it came home today and I will be emailing it as well. I need some photos our agents to complete this project. It is a wonderful project to get students thinking about themselves positively. Even as adults we find fault in how we look so instead of finding the faults we will look at what is the best part of us! Ask your student what he or she chose as the best part of him or her. Over the course of the next few weeks we will work on crafting a written piece that includes figurative language (similes and personification). We will also connect this project to curriculum night and have a presentation of our work on October 31 at 8:30 AM. You are all invited to come! 

Before lunch we read The Holes in Your Nose and talked about the holes in your nose. They are not for picking and if your nose is running please use tissues. Following read aloud we did a close reading activity on the school’s responsible use policy (RUP) for technology. Click here to see the school’s policy! We went through what students are responsible for when using technology in school and what the policy means in language our agents will understand. Your child is coming home with a copy of the K-7 explanation of the RUP. I strongly encourage you to go over this with your child at home. This policy is one that is used all over the world. When I am at the doctor’s office and gym I am asked to check off that I have read their RUP before being signed on to their WIFI. Students are allowed to use our technology responsibly. I am excited to be able to use so many tools with our students and look forward to teaching and learning with them! Understanding the consequences that come with irresponsible use is something we will be discussing as well. This is a learning process for our young agents! I did tell them they are allowed to email me at my school email address from their school provided GMAIL accounts. If they have questions, need to talk about something, or just want to say hello they should feel free to do so!

Our class does a lot online. I like to send this out as it is a great reference for how to teach your child about online safety:
http://www.safekids.com/kids-rules-for-online-safety/

Tomorrow we will take a tour of our math book. We will discuss the common core math practices. Click the link to learn more about the common core here:

http://www.corestandards.org/what-parents-should-know/

A Selfie of Day One!

Our first day of school was filled with laughter, curiosity, and excitement for the year ahead of us! Our young students came in ready to work. We talked about the exciting year ahead.

This morning they filled out a resume so I could get to know them better. I asked them to share what they are good at, their weaknesses, and what makes them unique. I was curious to know the favorite thing about their bedroom, things that make them happy or worry, as well as what they want to be when they grow up. I look forward to reading their thinking over the weekend! Then we had our agent in training ceremony in which the agent number chose the student. Every year, similar to Harry Potter and the sorting hat, students come up to the table and pick a stick out of the sorting mug. The agent number that comes out is his or her number for the year. Then I get to learn everyone's name and number! We discussed our creed and got to investigate several staff members who came to visit us.

After this activity we headed to the cafeteria to learn about procedures for lunch and recess. This year our school is continuing to use the PBIS model (http://www.pbis.org/) to help bring success and positive behavior to our school culture. With the PBIS model we do a lot of talking about caring about ourselves, others, and our school. Click here to see our classroom matrix.

We spent some time getting to know our classroom. We learned about Where Am I-which is a weekly guessing activity that challenges student's state knowledge. We discovered we have a lot of books in our classroom. Students saw we had a bothering box and a smile o gram box. The bothering box is a great place for students to put things in when they are being bothered or need help problem solving. Please encourage your agent to use it throughout the year! The smile o gram box is a place for students to write compliments to classmates when they catch each other doing a good deed. Students then moved to their tool section of the classroom and saw the lunch board/assignment bins. I pointed out the common core bulletin board, which focuses on everything we will be learning this year.

Students then noticed we had a white board table. We had a presentation on classroom guidelines and routines. Click here to see it! We completed our classroom tour and returned to our seats. You might have heard, but yes we have a microwave in which students can heat up lunch (no popcorn though).

Students then created shelf markers for our library. They are allowed to take out two books to leave in their book boxes and also have a classroom library card to take books home. Please make sure your child returns the book when he or she is finished. If you ever need book suggestions please do not hesitate to ask. Students received a whole lot of materials too!

Before lunch we had our read aloud. Today we read Everyone Poops and The Gas We Pass. We then had a serious conversation about bathroom etiquette and hand washing, as well as what to do when you have to pass gas in school. The words excuse me is great and the rest of us continue with whatever we are working on. There is no need to laugh or wonder where it came from.  Tomorrow students will hear The Holes in Your Nose. Students had PE with Mr. Dunlea and we celebrated Julia’s birthday.

We had to activities today to create our hallway bulletin boards. The first asked students to create a visible selfie. You might be wondering what that means. Click here to learn more! Tomorrow we will do some goal setting and discuss what it means to be successful in school. We will create tweets of our goals, learning about how many characters Twitter actually allows. Students certainly do reach for the stars in A113! I hope they all reach their goals by June! Thank you for sharing your most precious gift with me and welcoming me into your lives.