7 Things I Learned in September

I ran into this blog post from Emily Freeman where she shared the things she had learned, and I decided it might be fun to create a monthly post of the things I learned in the past month. At the end of the post you're invited to link up your own list of things you learned this month.

September is always a crazy month for teachers, and this one was no exception for me! Here are the 7 things I learned in September in no particular order:

1. Tomato Horn worms grow really fast!

A few years ago, one of my students brought in a tomato horn worm and my class was obsessed! The same student asked if I would like another one for my classroom, and I agreed to take it.  The students have loved watching him eat and grow!  They definitely do damage to a tomato plant!

2. The Record of Reading App makes running records so much easier!

I recently downloaded the Record of Running App after seeing a post on Facebook and it is so much easier to take a running record now!  The best part? The app is free!  It only is available for iPads though.

3. My students are pretty good at self-assessing!

I often have my students self-assess themselves as they finish tasks.  One way I do this is by having a group of folders numbered 1- 4.  

1 - I can't do this even with help.
2 - I can do this with help.
3 - I can do this on my own.
4 - I can do this so well, I could teach someone else.

The students file their work in the appropriate file.  It helps me to form small groups for re-teach or enrichment, and the students are usually pretty honest about where they fall.

4. My boys and I LOVE photography!

Cody, Luke, and I took a photography class at the Apple store and we have all fallen in love with photography!  I will be posting a blog post on Wednesday about how to use what we learned in your classroom!

5. My students LOVE 4th grade so far!

I love when I get notes and letters from my students like this one!

6. My students have lots of strengths in Reading and Writing!

I love to use these surveys for Reading and Writing from Jennifer Serravallo to help my students set reading and writing goals for themselves.

What Can I Work on as a Reader?

What Can I Work on as a Writer?

7. You can use Tangrams to help your students develop a growth mindset.

We had a Professional Development session on Growth Mindset this past week.  The trainer had us try to put together Tangram puzzles.  She said it would be a great task to give your students to help introduce the idea of having a growth mindset.

Possible Questions to ask students:

1. What did you try first?
2. Did you wish you had additional information?
3. Did you collaborate with others?
4. Did you peek at someone else's work?
5. What did you learn from this activity that you could apply to other challenges you face?

Now it's your turn! What did YOU learn in September? 

Link up below, and comment on at least 2 other posts.

An InLinkz Link-up

How I Assess My Students at the Beginning of the Year - Math Reasoning Inventory

Do you ever do something in your classroom that works REALLY well, and then somehow forget about it completely?  Well, that is something that happened to me with the Math Reasoning Inventory.  I used it with my 7th grade math students and was highly successful, but never thought about using it with my elementary students until last year.  

This year I will be starting the year with the assessments right away, and I think you should too!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.   

What is the Math Reasoning Inventory?

The Math Reasoning Inventory is a free on-line assessment tool that helps you learn about your students' numerical reasoning. It was developed by math expert Marilyn Burns. The site says that it is appropriate for grades 5 and up, but I have used it with my 4th graders, and I think you could successfully use the whole numbers inventory in 3rd grade.  

Unfortunately, the inventory was removed from the website.  But, if you email me, I will send you a pdf version.

If you teach a lower grade, I would still give it a look, because I think you could implement a similar process that would be so powerful for understanding what your students are thinking in math.

There are three assessments: whole numbers, fractions, and decimals.  Each section contains a 4 question written test and an individual face to face interview where students are asked to explain how they came up with the answer.

I printed each of these from the website on card stock and laminated them for durability.  I used colored card stock to print out the covers so I can find them easily. I placed the cards on a binder ring for storage and ease of use.

I have the students take the written assessment as a whole group assignment.  I break down the interview process similarly to reading assessments with about 4 students per day.

Most of the questions are asked as mental math problems, but one or two have the students use pen and pencil (or in my case dry erase markers) to solve.

The program has a section to keep track of what types of errors students make and a place to make notes about what you observe.

Once you have assessed your students, reports are generated for both individuals and whole group.

Aside from the data provided from the computer, I was able to observe things about my students' thinking that I might not have otherwise observed. 

 I saw some great results this Spring after using for just a few short months, I can't wait to see the results next Spring after using the assessments (and lessons developed from the results) from the beginning of the year.

If you decide to try out the math inventory, I would love to hear how it goes!  Leave a comment below or tag me on Twitter or Instagram!

And while you're here, enter to win one of our fabulous giveaways!

I will also be sharing some other assessments I use in my classroom in the next few weeks, so make sure to check them out!

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How to Determine Student's Prior Knowledge

I found this info-graphic and I just had to share!  I love all of these ideas!  I already have used a few of these, but there are definitely a few new to me ideas that I am going to try out!


Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

Assess Deeper With Multiple Choice Questions

 I recently got a new professional book that I am totally obsessed with!

The book, Beyond the Bubble, is about using multiple-choice tests to improve math instruction, but I have been taking it so much further, and I am glad that I have been.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love. 

  Recently I had my students read a passage about the Pony Express from Edhelper.  Then they answered multiple choice questions.  I sat down with each one and asked them to explain WHY they chose their answers.  The book focuses on the why of their answers.  I am so glad that I started doing this because of one particular student's work so far.  Normally, if a student answers questions correctly, I tend to move on thinking that the student "gets it".  But in the case with this student it couldn't have been farther from the truth.

I'm not sure if you can see the text clearly in the picture, if you can't click on it and it should make it bigger.  Anyway, the question she answered correctly was "How many years did the Pony Express run?"  Her answer was C. 18 months. The place in the passage that answers the question is circled in red and states that the Pony Express ran for a year and a half.  When I asked the student where she found the answer she pointed to the two years that were listed (circled in blue), 1840's and 1860.  She said because there were 18s in the years, she thought that meant 18 months.  She lucked into the correct answer without any understanding of what the question really was asking, or how to find it.  If I hadn't asked her directly, I never would have known.

How many times have you used formative assessment in your class only to find that the students who "got it" bomb the state tests?  I know for me it has happened way more often than I would like.  I feel like going deeper into the multiple choice is a great way to really see what they are thinking.  I have also started to give less questions, but asked them to explain in writing why they made their choice.  It has really helped me tease out their misconceptions.

Have you ever asked your students to explain their thinking when taking a multiple choice quiz?

Marzano Proficiency Scales

Our district has adopted the use of Marzano Proficiency or learning scales.  I was inspired by this Pinterest pin my own learning scales for my class. Although the original pin was related to behavior modification - it fit what I needed.  Here is what I came up with.  The left side is for our language arts goal and the right side is for our math arts goal.  My principal really wanted to be able to see our scale and be able to ask the students about it when he made his walkthroughs.  I on the other hand felt that although we might be focusing on one particular learning goal during a lesson, we really visit and re-visit several goals and I want the kiddos to understand where they are on the scales for all of them.  So this was a great compromise.  The scale is front and center and easy for both the principal and the kiddos to see at all times with our current goal.  I will take a picture and make copies for the students' binders to refer to throughout the year.



You can find Marzano scales for most of the Common Core Standards at their Proficiency Scale Bank here.

Formative Assessment Task Cards Freebie

My students and I both get bored with the same old think,pair,share or exit tickets for formative assessment, so I was excited to find this set of formative assessment task cards with a ton of ideas.There are over 80 different strategies and ideas to try!

Formative Assessment Task Cards