Failing to Plan is Planning To Fail - Creating Your Long Term Plans for the School Year

 

 

You have probably heard this adage a time or two, but have you ever followed it?  This will be the second year in a row that I am switching grades (last year I switched from 7th grade math to 3rd grade and this year I am moving up to 4th), and I don't want to feel like I don't know where I'm going.  So, I used the curriculum map we have from our school district, and added the things that aren't there (science, social studies, grammar, and writing) to create a set of Long-Term plans for the year.  Even if I don't stick to it 100%, I feel better having a plan to cover everything I need to during the year.

 

 

It didn't print out 100% perfectly, but since I' m the one who is using it, I'm ok with that.  If any of you know how to fix it, I'm all ears :)

 

I have put the plans in the back of my lesson planning notebook for future reference as I start working on individual units.  The front of my lesson plan book is for my weekly plans and monthly calendars where I will list out everything including special events, assemblies, etc.

 

I will be sharing my complete book in a little bit - I bought the Staples Circa I had my eye on and am working on customizing it to fit for me. 

 

I have uploaded the Excel version of this document so that you can edit it and use it if you would like - setting it up took forever, so I thought I would save you some time. It is a freebie, and all you have to do to get it is to like my Facebook page here.  It is in the Facebook Fan Freebie tab.

 

Do you make long term plans?



What's Your Math Problem!?! Book Study Chapter 7

I am linking up with
                                                     Jennifer Smith-Sloane from 4mulaFun
                                                     Meg Anderson  from Fourth Grade Studio
                                                    Jamie Riggs from MissMathDork
                                                    and Jennifer Findley from Teaching to Inspire 5th Grade

for this book study on What's Your Math Problem!?!



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

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

Assessing Problem Solving

As we all know, we need to use assessment to drive our instruction, but how do you assess problem solving?  The author suggests throwing away any preconceived notions of using assessment for grading purposes, but instead as a way to analyze the student's thinking.  How does the student organize their work?  What strategies did they use?

Gojak suggests having the students involved in the assessment process by teaching them to ask the following questions:

• Am I making progress with the strategy I am using or should I try a different one?
• Does my work make sense? (I always have my students ask themselves, Does my answer make sense?)
• Can I explain my work and justify it to someone else? (This really ties into the Common Core)

The book also contains rubrics which can be used by both teachers and students.

Saturday Snapshots

I am linking up with Saturday Snapshots from Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera!

This past week was extremely busy for us!  We had my high school reunion on Saturday and Sunday, we went to the Homerun Derby (Minor league) on Monday, hubby's birthday was Tuesday, then hubby and Tyler went to the All Stars game on Wednesday.  Yesterday I went into school to start working on my new room! Glad for the weekend to relax a little!

 

A group photo from the reunion - I am almost smack dab in the middle.

 

 

A smaller group shot - I am the one in black.

 

After the reunion on Saturday night, we had a family get together Sunday afternoon.  Hubby and Luke fell asleep together on the beach, and I was able to snap this adorable shot.

 

 

 

While my husband and Tyler were at the baseball game, the youngest two boys recruited the dog and I to sleep on the trampoline with them.  It was not the most restful sleep I have ever had, but it was nice spending time with them.

 

 

Since I am rolling up with my class to 4th grade, I had to switch classrooms.  Here is a shot of what it looked like when I walked in.  One thing I really love is that there are bookshelves all the way across that wall. I had virtually no storage space in my old room, so I am excited about it!

 

 

 

I'm trying to decide what to do about these bulletin boards - I currently have black fabric on the boards in my old room, but I am switching to a Snoopy theme, and I am almost thinking the bright yellow might look good with some black chevron type borders - sort of Charlie Brown?  What do you think?

 

Speaking of gearing up for the classroom, you might want to enter Farley's awesome $100 gift card giveaway!

 

Last but not least, here is a photo of my proudest moment this week.

 

The reason why I am proud of it is because I have been really consistent about working out each morning for an hour for the past two weeks.  Yesterday, when I woke up I felt a little blah and I did not want to work out at all! But... I had read this article about the Seinfeld strategy the day before and it really resonated with me.  The article talked about how Seinfeld would write a joke EVERY single day.  His goal was to not break the chain of doing it every day. I had also read another article (that I can't find the link to) about consistency and that it was better to keep part of the habit than to not do it at all.  In my case, it would be better to hop on the treadmill for 20 minutes than not to do it at all.  So, I decided I was just going to workout for 20 minutes - you can do anything for just 20 minutes right?  Well, I ended up staying on for the whole hour!  Now, I didn't go as far as I usually do, but... I stayed consistent!  Woo hoo!

 

I am really trying to develop better habits right now, and this is one of them.  I read another article that talked about creating habits by doing small rituals rather than the big goal.  So instead of saying, I want to lose weight, you would say I am the type of person who never misses a workout.  If you never miss a workout, you will eventually lose weight, but it is easier to control never missing a workout than losing weight.

 

As I was on the treadmill, I started thinking about how this applied to school habits too.  A few habits I would like to develop this school year are:

 

• I am the type of teacher who makes copies a week in advance so that I don't have any last minute morning panics.
• I am the type of teacher who makes a plan for her prep period (instead of chit chatting with other teachers) so that I can spend more time with my boys in the afternoon.

Do you have any habits you are working on?

 

 

 

 

Flip-Flop Product Swap

 

I was lucky enough to be able to swap products with Teresa at Confessions of a Teaching Junkie!  When she asked me which item from her Teachers Pay Teachers store I wanted to try, I knew it would have to be her Ramona Quimby, Age 8 Literature Study. 

 

 

 

Ramona was one of my favorite book characters when I was in third and fourth grade, and I can't wait to incorporate more literature studies with my fourth graders next year. 

 

The packet contains tons of activities that are ready to use - simply print out and give to your students.  Included in the packet are comprehension skills, grammar skills, and vocabulary.

 

The questions fit well with the Common Core Standards and would be appropriate for either 3rd or 4th grade.  I can't wait to use it in a small group this upcoming year!

 

What's Your Math Problem!?! Book Study Chapter 6

I am linking up with
                                                     Jennifer Smith-Sloane from 4mulaFun
                                                     Meg Anderson  from Fourth Grade Studio
                                                    Jamie Riggs from MissMathDork
                                                    and Jennifer Findley from Teaching to Inspire 5th Grade

for this book study on What's Your Math Problem!?!



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

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 6 - Advanced Thinking Strategies

This chapter focuses on four new thinking strategies:

Solve a Simpler Problem - This is one of my favorite strategies that I have used in my classroom for years.  I tell my students to plug in smaller numbers to see if they can figure out how to solve a problem.  The author also addresses a second form of this strategy by beginning with a simpler case of the problem.  The example they give is:

Find the sum of the first 50 odd numbers.

The author suggests first finding the sum of the first 2 odd numbers, and then moving on to the sum of the first 3 odd numbers and so on.  You would keep track and see if a pattern appears.

Account for All Possibilities- In real world situations and problems, we often find that there may be more than one possible solution.  The key part of this strategy is systematically accounting for all possibilities. 

Work Backwards -In this type of a strategy, the student starts with the answer and works their way backwards.  This might be a strategy to teach using multiple choice questions.  If you worked backwards, would that particular answer work?

Change Your Point of View- This is one of the more complicated strategies to use, because it involves stepping away from the problem and trying to solve it a different way.  I think in the classroom it might be helpful to teach students how to use this strategy by seeing examples of how other students solved a problem differently.  You could ask, could anyone else use so and so's strategy in another way?

To Do (Before The First Day of School) Linky

Sometimes I think I have a bit of adult ADHD - I have a million ideas swirling in my head, then I start on one project and another idea pops in my head.  But... I also love crossing things off to do lists, so, I decided to link up with Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies to keep on track and accountable.  I also find things on other people's list that I forgot which helps a ton!

Classroom Décor:
1. Pack up and move rooms (I am looping to 4th grade with my class)
2. Clean and rearrange furniture in new room
3. Finish New Daily 5 Signs and I-Charts to match new theme
4. Print out and laminate New Daily 5 Signs and I-Charts
5.  Print out and laminate Whole Brain Teaching Signs
6. Create, print out and laminate Scoreboard with new theme
7. Decorate

Lesson Planning/Paperwork:
1. Type up new procedures to teach
2. Labels for Interactive Notebooks
3. Re-do Intro Letter, behavior letter, and Star Homework form
4. Copy morning work for first month
5. Print out library labels
6. Library basket
7. First week lesson plans
8. Finish unit plans for math and ELA
9. Finish unit plans for science and social studies
10. Get Large Paper bags for student supplies
11. Make copies of student supply lists (2 per student - 1 to send home, 1 to keep track)
12. Print, copy, and prep student planners
13. Create, print out, and laminate learning scales for 4th grade
14. Sharpen pencils

Friday Freebies for Teachers

Teachers Pay Teachers has a ton of great freebies - more and more are added each day.  Here are just a few that I've run into lately:

 

Independent Reading Logs from Mallory over at A Teacher's Highlight Reel. She is a newer blogger and seller at TpT - but I think we can expect some great things from her if these freebies are any indication!

 

 

Since I am moving up to 4th grade next year, I have been on the hunt for 4th grade specific items, and these task cards are perfect.

 

I am also loving these adorable Writing Process Posters.

 

 

Speaking of freebies - the clip art above comes from MyCuteGraphics which has tons of free clip art for those clip art addicts (like me) out there.

 

Have you found any great freebies recently?

 

Also.. I am linking up with Christina at Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for:

 

 

In this linky, we find awesome feedback given from a buyer of one of our TpT products that we found really meaningful or that made us smile. 

 

My awesome feedback that I found was on My Can We Get a Class Pet Unit.

 

Here is what she had to say:

 

 

As part of the linky, she gets a free item of her choice from my store!