November 18

Mr. Curtis conducted a student survey today in order to start some of the change he sees is necessary for the success of his classroom. The students enjoyed anonymously answering the questions....I could tell they liked the feel of giving some input into their education.

Mr. Curtis asked:

1. What do I like the most about school?
2. What do I dislike most about school?
3. How stressful is your school life? On a scale of 1-5
4. If I could change one thing how Mr. Curtis's teaches, it would be....
5. What is the thing I like most about Mr. Curtis's classroom....

November 17

PLC -- Generally speaking, our 4th grade is doing well. Language arts is flat-lining and we need to to work on it. Mr. Curtis thinks we are pushing maybe too hard (I agree, because we are always the first class finished with each math topic....leading by several days). We discussed ways, such as games, to make learning more fun and motivational....and testing more authentic. Some of our students freeze during the tests -- even some of the students that KNOW the content. Some change could be helpful. I feel that we don't spend enough time on some of the harder subjects because Mr. Curtis wants to always be the leader...but is this the best thing for the students?

Focus

Mr. Curtis recommended a book for me to read called Focus. I have really enjoyed reading it and agree with it's ideas. The author thinks we need to simplify education by going back to the basics of reading, thinking, writing, debating and discussing. Conversation is the best way for students to cement new content inside their mind. He also thinks we need to greatly simplify our standards in order to focus on the most important ones. He also discusses the importance of modeling, thinking aloud, pair-sharing and lots of guided practice. Too many teachers have abandoned these fundamental procedures in teahing. He thinks these reasons have led to the deterioration of the education in our nation today.

The amazing fact though is that I understood most of what he was discussing and even better...I know how to teach using the fundamental principles he listed!

Day #17

This week has been very productive! I introduced the concept of double digit multiplication using windows and partial products. The students grasped the idea quite easily. After much guided and independent practice, I showed them how to multiply double digits using the traditional algorithm. Because they understood the place value of each number and how to multiply it, this lesson went much better than it might have. Still, I allowed two days of independent practice of the algorithm. The second day's practice was in the form of a game which renewed the students' motivation in the subject. Mr. Curtis has been wonderful in teaching me these crucial steps of teaching.

One student in my class is blind. Today I met with the blind specialist in the district to learn some strategies for helping the student learn the content. I am absolutely overwhelmed at all the content I was introduced to. Wow! But this introduction into the world of blindness helps me understand this student's perspective better.

Day #14

The students met in their new RTI groups. Our group is the 4th grade level of Words-their-way. It is the largest group which is a good thing since this is grade level for them. We introduced the prefix of mis, dis, and in which all mean 'not'. The students were given a rather large list of words and had to sort them accordingly and then we went over the meanings.

Day #12

After the children left for home at 12:30, our team of 4th grade teachers met for a help session. One of the teachers is a first-year teacher and he is struggling with some of the demands. We helped him chart his 'Words-Their-Way' spelling test and easy CBM tests. We are grouping the students into RTI groups and we needed these results in order to do so. I was glad I knew as much as I did about the tests. I feel like part of the team....which is such a wonderful feeling. It feels good to make progress together.

Day #11

We had our weekly PLC meeting. The principal always meets with us and she noticed that we test more than any grade in the school. The teachers agreed that too much testing is starting to impact the students in a negative way. Some of the students no longer take the tests seriously and do more guessing than anything. We have decided to reduce our easy CBM testing from weekly to every other week.

Day #8

Today was Halloween and I thought the students behaved quite well considering the holiday. The day was a normal academic day. We crunched in as much as possible. Then at 2:30 the PTA brought the Pizza for the pizza party we won. Several other mothers donated treats. Mr. Curtis let the students watch an educational cartoon and then we played a group game. I was impressed with how much fun we had for very little money or planning. Teachers can do amazing things without being complicated. I need to remember this.