The Together Teacher Giveaway and Book Study Announcement

When people meet me and find out that not only am I a teacher, but I am a mom of 6 boys, a city council member, a blogger, a Teachers Pay Teachers product creator, and a drama teacher, they always ask me the same question.  Where do you find the time?

The ugly truth is that I didn't always "find the time" and more often than I would like to admit, I dropped a ball or two as I tried to juggle this crazy thing we call life!  

Luckily, I found this amazing book, The Together Teacher that really helped me to get my life in order (and feel like I still have one despite my hectic schedule).  And although I have read the book several times (my book is embarrassing to look at!), I am going to go through it again this summer.  As I do, I want to host an informal, yet structured Together Teacher Book Club on the blog, and I would love for you to join me!

Interested, if so, here is my proposal:

Using the book, we will focus together on organizing the following areas of our teacher lives:

o Weekly Worksheets
o Email Management
o Paper Management
o Daily and Weekly Routines
o Meeting Notes

There will be some suggested pre-reading questions to think about as you read. We will focus on one chapter per week and will have several giveaways of products to help you get and stay organized!  If you have a blog, you can post on each chapter and link up, or you can just read and learn.  You can learn more about the author and the book here.

I’m also looking for co-hosts for the duration of the book study.  Being a co-host is simple… you sign up to host a chapter, post your thoughts, provide a linky for the giveaway and for others to add their posts. You don’t have to donate a prize, but you are more than welcome to if you would like.

The book study starts on July 23rd.. so you've got plenty of time to grab a copy of the book and get reading!  Even better, you can win a copy of the book by entering the Rafflecoptor below.  I'm also offereing a choice of any product from my TpT store to the winner as well.

“The Together Teacher” Series 

Make you you are following me on Bloglovin' to follow all the updates!  This series will help you get organized (enough) to be a more effective teacher.  You will find clear advice, and step-by-step actions for building habits, finding tools that work for you, and creating space to become a "Together Teacher". We will explore the key routines of Together Teachers - how they plan ahead, organize both work and their classrooms, and how they spend their free time.  We'll explore real teacher to-do lists, calendars, classroom photos, and more!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

100 Minutes Book Study - Chapter 9 - Building In New Literacies

This is the last chapter for our book study on 100 Minutes by Lisa Donohue.  Even though it is the last chapter, I will definitely be going back and re-reading it as I make my plans for next year.  This is also one of those books that you will find yourself going back through each year.

 If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8

Today I am linking up with Tina from Croft's Classroom for Chapter 9.



My thoughts on Chapter 9:

This last chapter is all about integrating digital technology and media literacy.  Lisa Donohue opens the chapter with the statement that "technology in the classroom should not be considered an add-on."  Instead, she says, it should "support and expand students' learning and directly connect to the content and skills that are being taught during other instructional times." (p.139).

As I read this chapter I have reflected on my own use of technology in the classroom.  Although I am the only teacher in my grade level without individual ipads or laptops, I have managed to add some technology to many of my lessons.

 
  We have used our Smart Board to brainstorm.

We have made predictions using our Smart Board.

We have used our Smart Board for writing prompts

But one thing that my colleagues and I have not always agreed upon (at both my current and former school) is the fact that I allow my students to use their own ipods or cellphones in class (if it is related to the task).

My students are usually very responsible about using them wisely, and if they don't they lose them until the end of the day.  I was glad to see that Lisa talked about the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) movement, because for many of us, we do not have the luxury of 1:1 devices in our own classroom, and this helps even the playing field.  I also agree with her points about teaching students to use digital tools responsibly.

She also talked about "Working With What You've Got".  Since we don't all live in a dream world where 30 devices per classroom is the norm, we have to make do with the few devices we may have.  I have two student computers along with my own computer in the classroom.  I also have two ipods and my own personal ipad that I share with my students.  Lisa talks about setting aside a tech block during your independent time so that students can have a meaningful amount of time to accomplish a task while using the technology.  

She reminds us that regardless of how technology is integrated within your classroom, it should always be intentionally connected to the learning that is happening in other areas, not as a means of busy-work or student entertainment.

• I would like to be more thoughtful in the time that I have students using the computers.  I have usually used them for research or typing papers, but I would love to develop some projects that center around our curriculum units.
• I will definitely continue to use students' own devices in order to increase our resources available.
• I am thinking about having boards that are similar to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram so we can talk about how those resources can be used and how they can be used safely.

I want to think more about how tech time will fit into my literacy block.

How do you use technology in your classroom?

Two For Tuesday Week 4

Tuesdays are fast becoming my favorite day of the week this summer with Two for Tuesday with The Teaching Tribune. I have gotten some great deals and added a few things to my wish list each week!  The two products that I have chosen to mark down to 50% off are my Kicking It Math Subtraction and Kicking It Math Division Products.  

You can read the full post about how I implement this in my class here.

Happy students wearing the "belts" they have won!

Yes, belts, as in karate belts.  The program involves a karate theme and the students pass levels to earn different belts.  They LOVE this!

We start by practicing our math facts orally.  Each student has their own key ring with "belts" that have the math facts on them - problems only on one side and problems and answers on the other.  One student says all of the problems and answers while the other student coaches, then they switch.  This takes about 2-3 minutes.



Here is a close-up of the cards.

Then we complete a 1 minute timed test.  The students have folders with their current level in a sheet protector.  They answer using a dry erase marker.  I only make copies at the beginning of the year!  Yeah!

If they finish before the time is up, they raise their folder above their head, I collect them, grade them, and change the sheet out if they are all correct.

Their name is also changed on our level board.

  

Monday Made It

This past week has been kind of blah for me for some reason.  I AM enjoying my summer vacation, but I have not been motivated to do much of anything.  Today I am feeling a bit better (even made it to Body Pump this morning) so hopefully it was just a short thing that has passed.  Anyway, enough of that and on with the things I did manage to accomplish! I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It.

This year I have decided to match my classroom to my blog.  I know, I know, maybe a little bit overboard, but I like it, so don't judge! LOL!  Anyway, I've gotten started with an alphabet display and numbers for my clock.

I wanted to hang them up, but they weren't finished cleaning up my classroom yet.  It looked like this when I went in.

I am thinking I will hang the alphabet on this wall, but I'm not 100% sure since my word wall is going on the opposite wall.  Decisions, decisions.

The other thing I made this week were my business cards for the upcoming Teachers Pay Teachers conference.  I am so excited and can't wait to meet all of my teaching blog besties in real life!

They came out pretty cute if I do say so myself... I ordered them from Zazzle and I am very impressed with the quality and the ship time was AMAZING!  I wasn't expecting to get them until at least July and they came in less than a week!

What are you making this week? Link up and share!

100 Minutes Book Study Chapter 8 - Small Group Learning

One of the books that I am reading this summer for a book study is 100 Minutes by Lisa Donohue. If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Today I am linking up with Emily from Emmy Mac's Class for Chapter 8.  She is also hosting a giveaway for a $10 TpT gift card and a $20 shopping spree in her store, so make sure you head over there to enter!

  

My thoughts on Chapter 8:

I always notice the most growth in students during small group instruction, so I was excited to read Lisa Donohue's take on it as well.  She states that small group instruction is the vehicle for teachers to be able to monitor individual students and to provide them with differentiated instruction based on their needs.  She also says that it can be a time for students to set and monitor their goals.  I have previously only done this in individual conferences, but I think that using small group time to do this will not only be more efficient, but will also give students the opportunity to observe their peers setting goals as well.  I could see having a small group comprised of two strong goal setters with two weaker goal setters just for that purpose.

Grouping Students

Lisa also gives a variety of ways in which to group students including:

1. Personal interest (non-fiction interests such as snakes, fiction interest in a certain author or series).
2. Student's current areas of strength and need.  (fluency, comprehension, decoding, etc.)
3. Instructional levels

The most important thing about grouping students is that they should not be "forever" groups.  She states that groups should change on average, once a month.

Small Group Reading Lessons

A typical small group lesson should last 15-20 minutes. Donohue says, "Ensure that students are spending the majority of the time reading the text."  That is so easy to forget as we want to get in there and teach.  She says the teacher should:

1. Set the stage for reading
2. Engage students in discussion during reading
3. Allowing students to reflect after reading

Writing Conferences

I have had individual writing conferences with students, and I have had students work in groups to discuss their writing, I have even had whole group writing conferences, but I have never had actual small group writing conferences.  Last year my students were really successful when they worked together in small groups to review their writing.  I had blogged about these sessions in previous posts:

                    Roll and Retell

                    Increasing the Level of Student's Writing


However, I often felt like I didn't get enough opportunity to coach them when there were issues (a student not participating in the group, or when they all couldn't think of anything more to share or add to the conversation) or to assess who needed more help as I flitted from group to group.  I LOVE the idea of having small group writing conferences together and then giving them the opportunity to work on peer editing themselves later.  I can't thank Lisa Donohue enough for giving me this format to grow my practice.  I love this gradual release of responsibility model and I can't wait to try it out this year.  I really see how it will add to my students' learning.

Feedback  

Donohue says that feedback is most helpful when it is "descriptive and skill-based".  She says feedback that is evaluative in nature, such as , "This is level 3 work" can give students an indication as to what they are successful at and what they need to work on.  We use Marzano's scales, so this could be easily incorporated.

She also says that the teacher might refer to mentor texts as well as the success criteria to model ways that the criteria is used for the student.

Donohue cautions that a writing conference is not a time when students hand over their work to the teacher in order to have it corrected (I am so guilty of that!). She says it is not the teacher's job to fix the mistakes, but instead is to draw the writer's attention to areas of confusion and areas that need improvement by posing questions in a way that cause the author to revise and rework the piece.

I love this because I know that often times I become frustrated when the same student makes the same mistakes over and over again. Donohue states that the reason for this is because the student is not an active part of the process when the corrections are being made.  They must be involved in order to actively learn and transfer that understanding to a new situation.

• I would like to create or find an interest sheet that I could use to group students into small reading groups throughout the year.  I really like this idea and it would make natural book clubs rather than just by ability alone.

• This chapter has really had me evaluating my small group instruction.  I am thinking about changing what I have been doing (which is mostly leveled readers and text book work) to have articles or short stories the students can read. When they initially come to group, I will have them read the assigned reading silently while I make sure the rest of the class has begun their work independently.  I will then introduce the skill we are working on and then have them choral read to certain sections. During the reading I will pose questions based on the specific skill we are working on.  After reading the students will reflect and respond. (I know that sounds like a jumbled mess right now, but as I develop it into actual lessons I will share!).

I want to think more about how to make feedback more visible to the student.  What do they specifically need to do to move their work from a level 2 to a level 3?

Next up- Chapter 9: Building In New Literacies

Be sure to visit our co-host Tina from Croft's Classroom on June 25th to continue this learning journey with us. 

100 Minutes Book Study Chapter 7 - The Foundation of Independence

Time to continue with our  book study of 100 Minutes by Lisa Donohue. If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

Today I am linking up with Brenda from Primary Inspired for Chapter 7.

 This chapter is another one where I have written and highlighted all over the pages!

My thoughts on Chapter 7:

Donohue states, "The key to successful small-group instruction is independence and it begins in the first few days of school." In order for you to work with a small group of students, the other students need to be doing something productive.  In this system that is called AWARD time.  The thing that separates this from others systems such as the ones used in Daily 5 is "the intentionality with which students' independent work is connected to the learning that is happening during other times during the literacy block."  I love this because I often felt that the accountability piece was missing in Daily 5.  I have had many students who can look quietly engaged in reading or writing, yet never do a lick of work.

In this system, students go from a guided reading situation, to working on a written reading response.  The next day they work on independently reading and then independently practicing the skill from the day before. Likewise, in writing, they would go from independent writing to a conference on one day to independent writing and then a peer sharing the next.

The thing I am most excited to try this upcoming school year is to add this intentional piece.  Having students be more accountable will be a key part of this.  I love the gradual release of responsibility that is shown.  I also really like having the peer mentor piece of writing added to it.  I  used peer mentors this year and it worked really well. I like the idea of students meeting with myself or their mentor each day.

I want to think more about what my students will be responsible for in the way of both reading responses and writing.

Next up- Chapter 8: Small Group Learning

Be sure to visit our co-host Emily from Emmy Mac's Class on June 21st to continue this learning journey with us.