Treading Water

School is fully underway and I feel like I have just barely been keeping my head above water these past few weeks!  Is anyone with me??  (And we are only 7.5 weeks into this school year!)  Thankfully, the classroom is running rather smoothly.  If it wasn't, I don't know what I would do!  It is just all the other responsibilities and never-ending emails that are running me ragged.  Too bad WBT doesn't have a solution to these non-student issues!


Here are some updates:
1) I started the Genius Ladder a couple of weeks ago.  The kids loved it and for the first time I feel like I taught a relevant, engaging grammar lesson.  I've always disliked grammar myself so it was exciting to see everyone having fun.  


I think I made a mistake when I tried to change it up the second week.  We were suppose to be learning synonyms, and it kind of confused the kids since it was different than we did the first week.  If we had better grasp of the Genius Ladder to start with, I'm sure it wouldn't have been so challenging to add in this concept.  Here is the slide I made on PowerPoint.  -->


2) I still love the Super Improvers Wall!  


3) I got a Smart Board this week!  It's amazing but I have a lot to learn to fully be able to utilize its capabilities.  The students who have used them in the past are helping me to learn.  Are there any Wibbeteers out there who use a Smart Board?  I'd love to see any WBT ideas for it.  


Today we played Mind Soccer on the Smart Board!  It was very basic.  I drew a rectangle on each side of the board for the ball and I put in a clipart image of a soccer ball.  The kids thought it was so cool to have an actual picture of a soccer ball after using the white board eraser as the ball for the past few weeks.  


4) Tomorrow I will have 40 second and third graders in my classroom for half of the day.  What is my first item on the agenda?  Class-yes, teach-ok, and classroom rules of course!


Allison
WBT Intern, 2011-12

UHM Update

The 2nd week of the Universal Homework Model went even better than the first.  Here is a list of positives I noticed:

• Turning in HW and tallying stars took about 5 minutes or less each day.
• The class gets to practice math skills while tallying the stars.  They have a vested interest in adding, skip counting, and graphing when it relates to homework stars!  Later in the year I may even have them calculate the stars themselves.
• Coach B's prediction came true!!!  Students actually asked for FOUR STAR HOMEWORK!
• Students asked, "How many more stars do we need to earn 3 minutes?"  That fit PERFECTLY with our subtraction lesson.  It is important to them, so they actually care and pay attention.
• Mind Soccer was better this week.  I took more control and volleyed the ball back and forth.  I love how it leaves them wanting more!

Something else I noticed:  It's harder to earn enough stars when the stomach bug hits the class and many students are absent.  I considered lowering the goal...but no, let's use the  absences to motivate the others to work harder!

Allison

WBT Intern, 2011-12

The Universal Homework Model

This week I began implementing the Universal Homework Model.  The UHM allows students flexibility on the homework they complete each night because they get to CHOOSE how much they do!  It is also easy on the teacher!

According to the Model Classroom Handbook (which can be downloaded for free), homework should include:

1.   Free reading for at least 20 minutes
2.   Increasing reading fluency with a reading speed exercise
3.   Increasing math fluency with a math speed exercise
4.   Recording results for 1-3 in a homework log
5.   Recognizing significant improvements

I made it work for my classroom by deciding on the following.  See my HW checklist on the left.
One Star Homework: Do a spelling activity and practice math facts.
Two Star Homework: Do a spelling activity, practice math facts, and read for X minutes.
Three Star Homework: Do a spelling activity, practice math facts, read for X minutes, and write a letter to your teacher about the book you read.

After I introduced the UHM my students explained it to each other using the teach-ok. They were excited to start having homework!  It was cute to hear how they planned to schedule their week and decide how many stars to do on each day.





The class tallies the stars earned each day.  The number of stars earned determines the number of minutes the students get to play Mind Soccer on Friday.  On the spur of the moment, I decided to draw a simple graph on the board to visually represent the number of stars the class needs to earn.


While it would be wonderful if everyone did 3 star homework every night, it really doesn't bother me in the least if they don't.  Why?  Because if they simply study spelling and math facts each night, I'll be a happy teacher.  I can't wait to see how this impacts our math data!  If they do 2 star homework and read for fun beyond the 20 minutes we do daily in the classroom, I'll be thrilled!  If they choose to practice their writing by writing me a letter, that is awesome!


I did have a couple of challenges, but that is to be expected when you do something new.

• It took a while to tally up the stars each morning.  The students will learn the procedure and it will become easier.  I'm thinking about making a magnetic chart like people do to take attendance but have the students move their name to show 1 Star, 2 Stars, or 3 Stars each morning.
• A few parents had some questions, which I expected.  It is an unusual way to do homework.  A few of the ESL students may need to be pulled aside next week for a UHM reteach to help them understand the details.
• It was my first time to play Mind Soccer.  The teacher is really in control of the game and since the class only plays a few minutes, you really have to be on the ball!  The losing team was a bit disgruntled.  We'll work on that next week...

Each 6 weeks I plan to tweak the requirements for each star level.  For example, I will increase the number of minutes should be reading as the year progresses.

Allison

WBT Intern, 2011-12