Classroom Goals

One of my professional development goals this year is to increase my classroom management skills. I am studying a book called CHAMPs to help me with that. One of the exercises it asks for is to identify major goals that summarize why being in my classroom will be a worthwhile experience for my students. So far, I have come up with four:

1. Develop independence. Around grade 3 children are starting to learn to look after some of their own responsibilities. I want to help them develop the skills they need to allow for independence. Learning to ensure you have all the things you need for a day at school or all the supplies you need for your homework is something children this age are learning to handle. I also want to help them develop the skills they need to problem solve when they run into issues, problems with friends. I also want them to learn to make a plan for a project and follow the intermediate steps they have established so they can complete a project on time.

2. Love learning. I try to be a role model in this area. I want to demonstrate an attitude that learning is fun and exciting.  I do this by continually evaluating the activities and lessons we focus on as well as ensure that I am always learning myself. We also focus in learning to use technology and social media to make learning efficient and interesting as well as to connect with the outside world. 

3. Foster positive relationships. Our class is a group of people that I plan to have a long term relationship with and I conduct myself in a way that will encourage that. I teach my students how to develop strong relationships.

4. Develop a love of reading. We focus on structures to support reading that they can continue long after grade three. During grade three I will challenge my students to take on the task of reading 40 chapter books (approximately one chapter book a week) and keep track of what they have read in their reading notebook.

5. Know how to be successful in school. We have guidelines for success we follow that help students succeed. We learn to prioritize and to accomplish tasks. If we do what is most important first we will have time to do the fun and frivolous too. 

Our guidelines for success are:                                   Our classroom rules are:

 

1. Always try.                                                              1. Arrive on time with all your materials.
2. Do your best                                                            2. Keep hands, feet and objects to yourself.
3. Be responsible                                                         3. Follow all directions immediately.
4. Treat everyone with respect.                                   4. Work during work times.
5. Cooperate with others

I would love to discuss this with other teachers. What are your goals for your class?

Connections to Reading

The power of story!! I love it when kids make connections to stories we have read.

This week we have been reflecting on our experiences with Rachel's Challenge. One of my students wrote about how Rachel's Challenge is similar to the book that we read called The Ant and the Elephant. I was surprised to read his entry because we read the book a long time ago and really haven't talked about it since.

I also love that he underlined the title. This week I mentioned to them that when you write the title of a book in a sentence, we usually underline it.
 

KWL Discussions and Landmines

We started a new unit in science this week. One of the goals in the science curriculum is to help students to see things from another view point. Today we got to work on that a bit. It was an interesting discussion.

We were making a chart of all the things we know about animals, as well as writing down questions we have about animals. Later in the unit we will finish the chart by writing down what we learned in this unit.

We had a lot of great facts to share today. The children in my class know a lot about animals. One boy brought up the idea that chickens were actually once dinosaurs. His comment was met with roars of laughter. He plead for a chance to explain. As he started to explain, I realized that what he was talking about was evolution. I offered a bit of a summary about his comment: scientists have a theory that animals EVOLVE over time (great science word!).....and I explained the idea quite simply. It was interesting to see the reactions. Some students were ok with the idea. Others were really really adamant that this could not be so. It was interesting to see how intense their responses were. It made me wonder if they had heard of these ideas from their parents (the evolution versus creation arguments) or if their religious upbringing naturally brought them to the idea that this was not something they could accept.

I don't know. I usually drop those kind of controversial things quite quickly. I left them with, "It's just one theory. It is interesting to look at many different theories."

Life in the classroom is never dull! 

It reminded me of a discussion the other day when we were writing. Our story was about a kid whose family was going to a wedding. The kid didn't want to go and ended up getting forgotten at home (our own version of Home Alone). We talked about weddings and how horribly boring they can be. One boy piped up that his mom is getting married to his dad and he wouldn't want to miss that wedding. Some of the kids were surprised that his mom is getting married. He confirmed that this was in fact true. Then someone said, "Wait a minute! That isn't how it works! FIRST you get married THEN you have kids!"

We dropped that hot potatoe too. My response was, "That is often how it happens...but not always!" 

....anyway, back to our story!! So...what did our character do when he was home alone??

LOL Teaching: AKA how to dodge the landmines!!

Book Club: Mr. Popper's Penguins

Today was bookclub. Usually when we meet, we first eat lunch and have a discussion with the person sitting beside us about the book. After that, we talk as a large group about what we liked about the book, what we didn't like, what we saw that was similar to other books that we have read, etc. This month we are also reading The One and Only Ivan and so many of the children make connections to that book. We had a fabulous discussion.

I found a cute penguin pic (coincidently on a Gr. 3 teacher's blog) and we used her idea to make a display of what we liked about Mr. Popper's Penguins:

- I like the part where he went to the north pole. (Amber)

- I like how Mr. Popper named the Penguin Captain Cook. I love the penguins because they're cute and Miss B likes penguins and she's a teacher. (Victoria)

- I like the part where the French man on a tight rope got distracted by the penguins and fell, then he  swore them in French. (Brady)

- I like when Mr. Popper got out of jail. It was sad when he got in jail. I like Mr. Popper because he like Antarctica a lot. I loved when the Penguins arrived at his house. (Erin)

- Mr. Popper's Penguins was marvelous. My favorite part was when Capt. Cook and Greta made eight cute babies another good part was when Poppers Performing Penguins made plays. (Olivia)

EdCamp YYC

Today I had the fabulous opportunity to attend EdCampYYC.

What is Ed Camp? I first learned about this idea on the Nerdy Book Club blog

http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/10-reasons-why-you-should-come-to-nerd-camp/

(Watch the video)

Then people started blogging about what a great experience it was:

http://litcoachlady.com/2014/01/21/nerdcampnne/

This link is especially good. She has a link to notes from all the sessions:

http://readwriteandreflect.blogspot.ca/2013/07/nerdcamp-round-up.html

So, when it came up in Calgary I decided I had to check it out.

Here are some bog posts about the camp last year:

http://gregmillerprincipal.com/2013/04/21/i-went-to-calgary-and-an-edcamp-broke-out/

http://www.educationrethink.com/2013/02/why-professional-development-should-be.html

This is the website for the Calgary Ed camp that happened today:

https://sites.google.com/site/edcampcalgary/home

I attended four workshops: 

1. Blogging in the classroom.

2. Genius hour

3. Building Literacy

4. Motivating at risk students

Blogging in the classroom was run by someone who has done a little bit of blogging, but wouldn't really call herself an expert. And that was okay! It was good to hear of someone's experience that wasn't taking the blogging world by storm - because I am a far cry from taking the blogging world by storm too! Everyone in the room participated in the group discussion. We asked questions. Some had answers for our questions. And some questions just brought up more questions. 

My take away: I am not sure I am going to move away from the Edmodo platform anytime soon. It is a safe environment and it allows for students to get the experience of communicating more publicly, but on a smaller scale. One person said his greatest success "blogging" on the Edmodo platform came when there were posts about things that were coming up, rather than things that had already happened. He posts messages about special guests or field trips and invites students to watch videos and read about upcoming learning activities. Hey can also have time to come up with good questions. This is something I will definitely try to do more of!

Genius Hour was very inspiring. It is an idea of the company Google. They allow their employees to use  a certain percentage of their time working on projects of personal interest. I can't remember if it is 10 or 20%. The idea fascinated me! Some schools do this with their teachers. Every other early dismissal has some time allocated to Genius Hour. The lady who facilitated the group does it with her students every Friday. It seems like a very authentic way to learn. The interesting thing is it isn't graded. At the end the students do a TED.com style video to explain their project, what they learned, hurdles they had, and how they overcame them. Fabulous!!

Building Literacy was also good. The interesting thing was I learned the most from the other FFCA teacher in the workshop. She shared that she does a program called Something Five (can't remember now!) I need to read up on that. Seems very interesting.

The last hour I hoped to go to an ipad workshop. However, no one showed up to facilitate it. There were about six of us sitting in there. After about 10 minutes we decided we ought to find something different. I guess that is one of the hazards when you have a structure like EdCamp. 

I went and found something different. The workshop I went into wasn't what I thought it was - but I felt weird leaving. So I just stayed. There were a number of teachers all from the same school in Calgary. It is a real high needs area and so their issues are very unique, and quite difficult. It isn't the world I live in at all. Maybe my take away could just be that I sure am lucky to work where I work!

They had divided the participants into two groups. In the other group I noticed someone who looked a lot like Trina Hurdman, a trustee for CBE.  Later, on Twitter, I found out it was her! I really hadn't given another thought except that, "gee, sure looks like Trina Hurdman". I have connected with her on a Facebook and twitter over different issues. I would say she is a bit of an online friend. Too bad I didn't clue in that that really was her! It would have been great to talk with her.

Habits of Learners: A Little Experience With Metacognition

One of my students got sent to se the principal...but that was a good thing!

Every day we learn four new words. We talk about the sounds, we learn why words are spelled the way they are. And we do a spelling test. One of my students struggles with this. Every day he has more corrections than I hoped he would. All year I have watched him and tried to figure out why this is so challenging, I am slowly figuring a few things out and encouraging him to do a few things that seem to be helping. Recently he had tests where three days in a row he got 100%. I was so thrilled! I told him how proud I was of him. I told him how the things he had been doing are paying off. And, last of all, I said, "We have to tell the principal about this!"

We photocopied his tests and he wrote up a little blurb about his great news. He wrote that he was being recognized because ge got 100%. I clarified with him that this accomplishment was because he had done something special to make this happen. He went back to his desk and added that this was caused by being picked as the star student.

Apparently, he thought being picked as the star student that week was the difference! It brought him good luck. That wasn't what I wanted him to gather from this accomplishment. What happens when he isn't Star Student next week?

I dove into explaining that this wasn't luck. He accomplished this because he is becoming great at spelling!! 

...so he added another bit: ...and Mrs. Ackroyd knew I could do it.

*sigh* 

Next step: get this kid to really internalize that he is great!! It's not luck. It's not me. He is great!! He just doesn't quite know it yet. I guess until then I will keep letting him know I believe in him.

What Really Matters

In our school we spend a lot of time learning to use time well. We have speedy transitions. Kids have been taught to follow instructions quickly. When I visit other schools I am amazed at how speedy we get things moving in comparison.

And then, sometimes it all comes to a screeching halt. Today one of my students came to school late. Clearly, he hadn't had a good morning. He slammed his books down. He threw his backpack into his locker and he sat down with a thud. We had gym first thing, so we got lined up and off we went. At the gym doors he stopped me. 

With big tears in his eyes he said, "Mrs. Ackroyd, this is the worst day of my life."

"Why?!" I asked.

"My grandpa died last night."

He lives with his grandpa. He was in his 80s. He hadn't been really sick. He said he just stopped breathing.

It broke my heart! His parents probably sent him to school because there was a lot going on at home and maybe it was just easier to have him be at school. I believe it is really important for kids to be involved in the grieving process. Suddenly all our efficiencies went out the window. A couple girls in the class made him a card. We all sat at the carpet and talked about dying.

It was humbling.

I love these kids. My heart beaks when their heart breaks.

Spreading Sunshine

The Sunshine Award or the Sunshine Elevens or one of several other versions of inspiration and encouragement for bloggers has been rapidly circulating the blogosphere. Thank you to the great Pam Hunnisett for tweeting this assignment to me. I have come to know Pam through our school library commons committee and know that if we worked in the same building I would seek her out daily and great discussions about books and literacy would be never ending.
Here’s how this chain letter of inspiration works:

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

 Eleven Random Facts About Me

1. I am a born and raised Calgarian.  Well, I took a couple hiatuses here and there to live in Kelowna and California, but I always come back to Calgary.
2. I play the piano and am learning to play the organ. Those pedals might kill me.
3. I am a little obsessive about reading. Ok, a lot obsessive.
4. I am a swimming parent - which means all my money goes to swimming (...and I thought you buy a swim suit and a towel and you're done. Cheap sport? Ha!) It also means a lot of waiting around pools - which translates into great reading time.
5. I think I have always worked. Well, actually I have just worked since I was 12. The jobs I have had are great and varied: chambermaid, hotel laundry, hotel front desk clerk, travel agent, airline agent, secretary, receptionist, assistant to the assistant to the head of the public relations department at a utility company, mystery shopping scheduler, software instructor, photocopier, insurance lisencing instructor, concession worker, garbage sweeper, and now, a teacher. I have a secret ambition to be a writer one day (there...the secret is out)
6. I was a missionary for my church in California for 18 months. It was one of the great pivotal experiences of my life. 
7. I chose to become a teacher because I loved children and was pretty sure I would never marry and have children of my own. I did, however, marry and have children. I stopped teaching when our oldest was born. I have two children now. I went back to teaching after having a stillborn baby girl and a couple of miscarriages. The experiences touched my heart and brought me back to spend more time with children.
8. I love to watch sports, but don't do a lot of it these days. I love hockey, basketball, football, swimming, lacrosse. I even watch UFC with my husband (but that is mostly to reflect on society as a whole and give a running commentary to my husband about how crazy that sport is). I love the Olympics. I really don't like wrestling or soccer though. Blech. I see no redeeming qualities in those two sports. 
9. I enjoy cooking and caking and am quite good at it, if I do say so myself! I especially enjoy breaks from school where I have more time to cook and bake. 
10. I really enjoy people, but am also an introvert who needs time alone to reflect, refuel and breathe. I am an incessant list maker and as a result think I can handle more than I actually can sometimes. I have a great variety on interests and tend to get involved in too many things.
11. I am generally a happy and positive person and love to be around people who are also happy and positive. I feel richly blessed to be surrounded by these types of people as well in my work, with my husbands work friends, and many other friends. 

Pam's Questions:

1.  What do you do for escape or for relaxation? Usually it is reading. The public library is one of my favourite places. I have a screen saver on my computer with pictures of beautiful libraries. Just looking at those kinds of places fills me. Oh to have a place like that of my own!
2. What film or play has captured your heart? I am not much of a movie person. I do love to attend the theatre though. I particularly love what Storybook Theatre has been doing lately. Their recent production of New Canadian Kid gave me a new perspective on trying to fit in and understand Canadian culture. It reminded me of times where I have had difficulties fitting in or struggled with relationships and made me want to be more sensitive to people struggling with those same things.
3. What books would you recommend? That is tricky. There are so many great books that have touched and changed me. But if I must answer:   Adult fiction: Unbroken, The Book of Negroes, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Children's fiction: Wonder, The One and Only Ivan, and anything by Kate DiCamillo
4. What has been the best vacation you have ever had – specify where, when, and why? I love any vacation where my family and I get to go together. I love the enthusiasm my kids have for new places. Last summer, we went to Las Vegas and had a great time together. We drove and everything about it was wonderful!
5. What’s one of your guilty pleasures? Steamed milk with a shit of hazelnut syrup from Starbucks 
6. If you could travel to any ONE place in the world, where would you go? Paris, France I would love to take a family vacation there.
7. What is your life mantra, or quote, or credo? KAIZEN (small improvements every day in every way, never ceasing, never ending)
8. What is your favourite season? Why? Summer. I love to easiness of it, the time for walks, books, talks with friends good meals and easy living. Fall is a close second with all the excitement of a new beginning and all the beautiful colours. 
9. What is your favourite musician/band or artist (or all)? That is hard. ABBA? Brian Adams? The Piano Guys? The guy on the organ at the Flames games? I love them all!
10. Who or what inspires your writing? Every author I read leaves an impact. I am so glad to have discovered author's blogs where I can read about their thoughts and struggles with writing. 
11. What metaphor/simile describes your writing process? I am a little like a pot of water....I simmer and bubble for quite a while.....then the feverish boiling/writing begins. 

• Eleven Questions for Bloggers

1. Are you doing what you always thought you would do one day that you haven't yet done?

2. What is the best thing about your job?

3. What new thing have you learned lately?

4. What do most people not realize about you?

5. What is the last book you read?

6. What was your favourite thing about this past Christmas?

7. Tell me about your family.

8. Summer or Winter Olympics? Which is your favourite?

9. What famous person would you like to have lunch with?

10. What was the worst job you ever had?

11. What do you do to boost your battery?

11 bloggers: 

1. Erin Petley
2. Patti Nielson
3. Sue Anne
4. Kim Hawryluk
5. Becky Ackroyd
6. Travis Jonker
7. Donalyn Miller
8. Colby Sharp
9. Mr. Schu
10. Paige Brimacombe
11. Kirby Larson

Happy blogging in 2014! Thank you for your inspirational words and efforts.