Class Promises 2018-2019

Last week, during the first week of school, 5C worked together to write class promises. We started by identify characteristics of positive team experiences and negative team experiences. The kids shared a lot of quality ideas.

Then we came together to write our class promise. It's kind of fun to look at the many versions of our class promises document as we discussed and changed our minds.

1st Version

After Some Edits

I asked that each student participate by sharing an idea for a promise or commenting on an idea that someone else shared. As always, I was blown away with their maturity and honesty as they shared about what is important to them.

We ended up with a document with 11 promise statements.

Once we had written our class promises, we decided to take it a step farther and create a video to share the promises that we wrote. Students partnered up to read one promise statement each. I am really proud of how it turned out! 

Click here to see our video! 

Dot Day 2017

This year for Dot Day, I used a lesson that I designed last year. It was fun to do it a second time with a brand new group of kids. I am always so impressed with the ideas that the kids share when they think about how they can make a difference in the world.

We started by reading The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. Most of the kids had read the book before, but we still enjoyed reading it and trying to identify the theme of the story.

Once we had read and discussed the book, I introduced the kids to TodaysMeet, which is one of my all time favorite teaching tools! TodaysMeet is an online backchannel forum (also called a chat room). When I login with my account, I am able to create a room with a unique URL. I am also able to save the transcript so that I can come back to it after the discussion.

Once we were in the room on TodaysMeet, I asked the kids to think about the first question I wanted them to discuss. They had some great ideas about how they might make a mark on TCE.

At the beginning of the lesson, I had asked them to envision a small dot on a plain white sheet of paper. Then I asked them to envision a small dot on a big poster. We talked about how the dot might seem more insignificant on a bigger piece of paper, but that it would still make a difference. Connecting to that idea of making a mark on a bigger scale, I asked them the second question. Again, I was proud of the ideas they came up with. 

The learners were ready for my third question; in fact, they pretty much guessed what it would be. We talked briefly about what it would mean to affect people outside of our country. Who could we be talking about? What kinds of problems have they heard about that exist outside of our country? 

By the time I got ready to share my fourth question with them, I think they thought I was going to ask them about the universe. Instead, I decided to change gears a bit. Instead, I asked them to think about how someone else in our class might make a positive mark on the world. We talked about how different people within our class have different talents. For the second year now, this is my favorite part of the lesson. I love when a kiddo recognizes something special in another kiddo! 

I snapped a few pictures of the learners chatting on TodaysMeet. I am very proud of them for trying something new, having the courage to share their ideas, and following directions! 

While the polka dots and Dot Day song are cute and fun, I think the real beauty of Dot Day is that it reminds us to set aside time for the learners to think about how each of them can make a positive mark. I think sometimes we forget that they may not really inherently believe that they have the power to make a lasting and important difference. We have to set aside time to have conversations that will encourage and motivate them to make decisions and take actions that will leave a positive difference on the world! 

5C Class Code

One of the really fantastic things about looping is that the first week of school during our 5th grade year together doesn't even really feel like the first week of school. Most of the learners all know each other, and our new classmates always seem to fall right into step with the others. It's like we pick up right where we left off!

I think that it's because it's our second year together (for most of us anyway) that our Class Code activity went so well. One of my teammates found this great resource to help the learners decide what rules or expectations they might want to include in a class code, and I loved the way it helped them think critically about how they wanted our class to run this year. Their first step was to independently brainstorm five rules they wanted our classmates to follow in order to create a safe and comfortable classroom environment. Then, I randomly paired them, and they worked with their partner to agree on four rules. Finally, each partner group paired up with another partner group, and as a group, they had to agree on the three rules that they felt were most important.

I enjoyed listening to the discussion that happened at the second and third steps. Some of them were very quick to agree on their rules, while others felt passionately about their ideas and had a hard time really listening to each other. I found myself thinking that I wished we already had a class code to reference while we were making our class code.

Once the learners had their three rules on their paper, we came together in our family meeting space and the learners shared their ideas.

This was our initial list after our first sharing session:

Ideas from Top Three List:

• Don’t laugh at others.
• Don’t be negative.
• Don’t use physical or verbal aggression.
• Treat supplies provided with care.
• Don’t be disruptive.
• Don’t throw a fit.
• The Golden Rule
• Don’t stack beanbags or “flexible seating” furniture.
• Help one another.
• Respect adults and other peers’ thoughts and ideas.
• Don’t lie.
• Don’t argue with adult or peers. 
• Don’t gossip.
• Listen when others are talking and always include everyone.

Once we got to this point, it was time for a break in our schedule, which I felt was a good thing. I wanted the kids to have some time to think about our list so far and process.

The next morning we gathered in our family meeting space again and reread our list. From here, I asked the learners if there were any rules that they felt like were implied and didn't need to explicitly written out, and if there were any that could be combined or omitted. Since we were still in our family meeting, the learners used our passing object and took turns talking to each other. They used a hand sign to signal when they agreed with another classmate's idea and they raised their hand if they wanted someone to pass the talking object to them. I just edited our list (which was projected on the screen using Google Docs) and interjected to ask clarifying questions or to repeat what a learner said if I thought maybe everyone did hear.

I was so impressed with how maturely my learners behaved during this activity. They listened attentively and were focused on our task. They were polite and respectful when they shared whether they agreed or disagreed with another person's ideas, and they spoke clearly and effectively when they shared their own ideas. Plus, they had really outstanding ideas. It seems to me that they are learning to think empathetically and compassionately, and that they understand the importance of an environment that supports learning. My teacher heart was full for sure!

We decided on a final 5C Code during that class meeting. I love the way it turned out because it really speaks to how this group of learners thinks and works. You'll notice that it's organized into sub categories with "The Golden Rule" being the most emphasized rule.

I copied our class code onto bright neon paper so the learners could have a copy in their folders/agendas. (I got that idea from the same awesome teammate. How smart to have it readily available for the learners at all times.) I also printed a blank copy for our classroom, and each learner signed their name as a promise to follow our class code.

I've already referenced the things that they decided on a handful of times while they've been working in groups or during family meeting time. ("Don't create unnecessary noise pollution" may or may not have been repeated the most.) I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I hope it means a lot to the kids that they got to be a part of writing it.

Share Your Summer with Us!

I have a crazy idea.

I started thinking about how much we share with each other about our weekends every Monday morning, and it occurred to me that I'm really going to miss hearing about the kids' adventures and experiences. I'd like to think that they'll miss hearing about each other's adventures, too.

So, why not continue to share with each other over the summer?

I made this presentation to share with my leaners tomorrow. I really hope some of my kids and their families will participate!

Mind Mission with a New Twist

My kids love Mind Missions. They always have. There's a lot to love. They get to work in groups, design and build. and share their creations. There's really no "wrong answer" when they're designing and creating, and the options are in some ways endless. I would love them too I think.

Lately we've been learning about the Spanish Missions in Texas, so the Safe Spaniards Mind Mission fit right into our Understanding by Design unit. In this mission, the learners were challenged to build a "tall, tall tower" that is strong enough to withstand the wait of one "lookout," represented by a pencil.

I decided to add a few changes this time. Throughout the Mind Mission curriculum, the learners use many of the same supplies each time: labels, paper plates, paper clips, straws, pipe cleaners, etc. One of the things our school has worked to establish, as part of our STEM initiative, is a Innovation Station. In this room, we collect a variety of supplies that are donated by learners and families. I did a little "shopping" in our Innovation Station, and I found some toilet paper rolls and large paper cups. Perfect! The kids were excited to have some new supplies to work with.

Another change we made this time was the way in which we would ask the learners to reflect on their Mind Mission experience. Instead of having the learners write the answers to our reflection questions, we invited them to participate in a closed chatroom discussion. In doing this, the learners were able to share their reflections with each other. As an added bonus, both Miss Peccarelli's class and my class were chatting at the same time, so our learners were able to communicate with the learners in the classroom down the hall. It was really fun to watch the kids communicate in this way. The response was totally positive. In fact, one of my kids said, "This is so cool. It's just like texting."

I made a quick video while the learners were working. Within this video, you'll see both 4C and 4D learners building and creating. Feel free to take a few minutes to check it out. 

The Gift of Words

I'd like to share about a new tradition I'm hoping to start in my class. This year, both of my language arts classes will be participating in our first ever Gift of Words. We discussed this as a class this today, and the learners received a paper copy of the instructions. (Hopefully some of you have seen them in Take Home Folders already!)

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this will turn out, and I will write another blog post about how it goes.

Speaking of gifts, I was treated to quite the Early Birthday Celebration this afternoon. As many of you know, the kids gave me thoughtful and homemade cards, complete with sweet messages. I also received a generous gift from the class - a gift card to J. Macklin's Grill. Best of all, I was surrounded by a large group hug from my precious 4C Students. I am beyond grateful.

I hope that you and your family have an enjoyable last week before the Holiday Break!

Cabeza's Cue's

We just did a Mind Mission named Cabeza's Cues. In this mission we had to come up with 8 different words or phrases & try to find a gesture or movement to explain what we're trying to say. So I am going to tell you about how my group did this!

Brainstorming:
We had 2 brainstorming things we had to do. I'm going to go in order. So the first brainstorming activity that we did was in general ways to greet people. So we got 5 minutes to brainstorm as many ways as we can with our group. After that we looked at our mission & then started working. We had to brainstorm 8 different words or phrases.

Acting:
After we brainstormed we started coming up with movements to explain what we were saying, so people who speak a different language can figure out what we're trying to say. After we came up with them, we practiced and gave everyone roles in each one. We also wrote down the words that go with the movement.

Experience:
I had a very fun experience & I thought this was a very unique and cool mission. I also wonder how well the other groups did, & how they got along. I had a very good time!


This guest blog post was originally written on December 3, 2015 by Nael R., a student in Miss Natherson's class. Nael is 10 years old, and this is his 2nd year at Town Center. In his spare time, Nael enjoys reading.