Rest, relax and Septic Tanks????

I love April and I love spring break.  Who couldn't love to rest, relax and recharge.

Seriously I did relax but I also seem to get so much more done including my second post in a week.  Woo Hoo!  I also love Farley's linky over at her awesome blog , Oh Boy...It's Farley.  Grab a cup of coffee and find a comfy spot to get lost in all these amazing blogs.

Here is my currently...

Listening - The news is on in the background but I can't hear it due to my crazy dogs barking at each other or the invisible whatever in the yard.

Loving - It is the last two days of break and who could not love that.


Thinking - Two words,...  lesson plans.  Yuck!

Wanting - I want the cleaning fairy again.  Even though I did get a lot of spring cleaning done over break it is never-ending ending with three kids, 2 dogs and 2 cats.

Needing - An appliance fairy.  We seriously are having problems with all our appliances, my oven died, the top basket of my dishwasher broke and my septic system is malfunctioning.  The last one is a scary problem. Ewwwwww! Fingers crossed it is just the float thingy and my hubby can fix it himself.  These all broke within in two weeks.

Whatever - I am actually excited that school starts on Monday.  I miss seeing my kids and sharing new things with them.  I have a lot of fun ideas planned (in my head) for the last nine weeks!  We start back with making marshmallow peep catapults and reading mythology.

So what are you up to?  Please leave a comment or two.  I enjoy finding new blogs...

Happy Saturday,

Crickets, Smores and Campfires

Well Hello, thanks for stopping by.  I wanted to share my first ever classroom transformation thanks to Angie over at Lucky Little Learners for all the inspiration.  Every Friday, we have "Flashlight Friday" where the kids get the entire period to independently read while I conference with them.  The kids still love "Flashlight Friday" but I felt the kids were a bit bored and not focused. To be honest, a lot of "fake" reading was going on.  You know asking to go to the bathroom or wanting a drink a million times, changing books but not finishing any, using their flashlights for anything but read, and the constant noise of giggling and talking.   Grrrrrrr!  

Hype It Up

The first thing I did was give the class clues about the up coming, "Flashlight Friday."  Then I posted a picture of the tent sent up in my house on my classroom app, Yapp App.  This app is where I share all my classroom pictures with my families.  I have the free version but I am unsure of the current pricing.  The day before I put a sign outside my classroom telling the kids that "Flashlight Friday" was moved to "Camp Read A Lot."  

Day Of

The day of, I stood outside my classroom and welcomed each "camper" to "Camp Read A Lot." The kids were given their teams on the front board and which station they were to go to first and how to rotate. They rotated every 7 minutes to a new site.   I went over the number one rule, If I see "fake" reading they must go back to civilization (their desks) to finish reading.  Yes, I had a few kids who had to go back to civilization.

Picnic Station 

At this station the kids sat at our cafe to read while eating smores (Golden Graham cereal, chocolate chips and mini marshmallows).  Yum!

The Cave at Camp Read A Lot

I threw sheets over a table in my classroom and the kids read in the "cave.'

Sleeping Quarters

I brought in a real tent and blankets and they read in the tent.  I need to thank my hubby for dragging the tent in on a Sunday for one of my crazy ideas.  I love that guy!

Base Camp

Since we were starting a new book club, mysteries.  I needed the kids to look at the book choices and vote for their top three books they would like to read.  So I put together a Google Slide of the choices which I posted in our Google Classroom with another powerpoint on the subject of mystery genre.  

Lake Camp Read A Lot

On my Smartboard I found a video on Youtube that showed a moonlit lake with nighttime creature sounds.  The kids sat on yoga balls to help them feel like they were really on the lake reading. Look at the awesome miner light that one kid used to read.  Love it! 

Campfire

At this station my oldest daughter made a campfire out of construction paper and I threw blankets on the floor and they read around the campfire.  

We had so much fun at "Camp Read A Lot."  It definitely spiced things up and the kids have been begging to go back to "Camp Read A Lot."  I told them we could only do camp reading once since I wanted it to be special.  I do have another transformation up my sleeve.....maybe Camp Read A Lot goes to the beach or amusement park.  Hmmmm I need my thinking cap.  Have you done any classroom transformations?  What have you done? I would love to hear about them.

I hope you are having a fabulous Wednesday!

SOLE - Letting go of the reins!

Happy Friday,

I just wanted to share a lesson I did with my 5th grade science students.  One of my teacher friends told me about the S.O.L.E. project that her school has started to use.  First S.O.L.E. stands for Self Organized Learning Environment.  To find out more about the project you can check out the website School in the Cloud or our local website is S.O.L.E. Cleveland.  Both of these websites have excellent videos, lesson plans, printable and examples of "Big Questions.  This is a wonderful video from the founder of School in the Cloud, Sugata Mitra.  It really made me think.

The S.O.L.E. project has students or the teacher create a "Big Question" that they will answer through research and then share with the class.  My fifth graders during our solar system unit asked the question, "Is there anything beyond space and if there is what do scientist think is beyond?"  Now I have to admit I absolutely love my fifth graders' amazing thinking brains.   I thought presto a perfect "Big Question."   The students form their own groups and each group is only allowed to have one computer.  The students can float between groups if the group they are in is not working for them.  The teacher does not solve or interfere with the conflict.  The responsibility is on the students to problem solve. The teachers is only there to remind them they can change groups if that group is not working for them.

The struggle is real.....
While researching their "Big Question"  they came up with other questions such as: "What is the Hubble Bubble?"  I walked around and many of my students wanted me to tell them what a Hubble Bubble was.  I supported them and said they may have other questions that pop up that they may need to answer first.

 Another issue that came up was that some of the groups were frustrated with only one computer.  Many groups wanted to stay in big groups with their friends and I let them.  They quickly realized that when I said the groups should be  no bigger then 4 people and can only used one computer it was a good rule.  The big groups started to struggle and I let them struggle. I asked them how can you solve that problem?  I did not tell them what to do. They then realized that if they broke up into smaller groups but shared information between their groups they could work more efficiently.   I love seeing the light bulb go on.

Present Info & Reflection....
 The last 10 minutes of class the groups then presented their findings and asked questions. I did print off a printable located here for the groups to write down their information and then evaluate how their group did and how they did with the task after they presented.  It was really eye opening to see their reflections.  As well as truly amazing to see the students find answers to their questions, work as a group and enjoy completing a task all on their own.  They totally were able to take ownership and reflect on how they could do it better next time.  This definitely will be another technique I will be adding to my teacher tools.

Have you every used S.O.L.E. in your classroom or would you ever let go of the reins and let the students direct their own learning?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

New Beginnings and Making Memories!

Hey Everybody,
Happy New Year......it is 2016.  Yahoo, there is great things to come.  Such as a party over at Farley's blog, Oh Boy 4th Grade.  I hear Farley has not been feeling well but she can still throw an awesome party and get me off my bloggy butt!  Hope you feel better soon Farley!!

Listening - Our crazy deaf white boxer barks at our hearing bulldog constantly.  Ugh!!!!  Can't wait to go back to school so I do not have to hear that.  My kids also complain about me taking our Christmas deco down.  It is a pain to put it all back up in the attic that does not have stairs, just a shaky ladder.  Now everything is on hold while I party with Farley!  Thank goodness you can't see my living room.  Here is what our tree looked like before I started to dismantle it.

Loving - Who does not love one more weekend!

Thinking - I forgot to make dinner or was it intentional?  My hubby is now scrounging around for something to make.  Hee Hee!  Seriously this is what I did during break.  Played doctor and ate breakfast with my youngest and drove my oldest to work in my PJs!  EEEEK!

Wanting - My lesson plans to be done.  I have attempted 3 times to work on my lesson plans for next week but nope they are not done.  I just can't get focused.  I have all my plans in my head though!

Needing - Nothing this break was just what I needed and confirmed to me that I am blessed.  I am actually looking forward to going back to school....but for my lesson plans.

OLW - TRY...I want to try something new this year professionally and personally.  I love a new year, so many opportunities and a fresh clean slate to make more memories.

Happy New Year & Stop by again I love company!

Cafe Read-A-Latte

Look at our newest addition to our classroom!  Yep a restaurant booth.  I am so in LOVE!!!!

  I read this article about alternative classroom seating in a 21st Century classroom by Kayla Delzer.  She talks about how classrooms should be like Starbucks with different seating for different learners.  I would love to get rid of my desks and only have a few for those students that need or want a desk.  Then have low tables with stools, tall tables / book shelves for standing and other types of seating. So I went on a mission to find a table for students to sit at like the one in Erin Klein's classroom check it out HERE.  I love to go to resale type stores and my recent favorite to find furniture is Habitat for Humanity. I did not find the "breakfast nook" but I did find a restaurant booth.  SWOON, but whoa the price tag was more then I want to shell out....$100.00!  My hubby works in the restaurant biz so I put him on a mission and within 24 hours I got my restaurant booth!  For free!!!!  

I named it "Cafe Read-A-Latte" and put an opening soon sign up for the kids to see when they came in on Monday.  I even added "ropes" to block off the seating so no one could sit in it before it was the grand opening.  Then I slowly started to introduce the booth, First I met with students to conference with them individually before parent teacher conferences on their 2nd quarter reading goals.  Then I give stickers for good behavior so for 10 stickers the students can pick to eat lunch with me and a buddy at "Cafe Read-A-Latte."  Then I added to the sticker rewards that they could sit in the booth all day for 20 stickers!  One girl was the envy of the entire class when she sat all day in Cafe Read-A-Latte!!!  Then last Friday I walked around looking for the BEST independent readers during "Flashlight Friday"  and picked four students sit in the book for "Flashlight Friday."  Talk about getting their act together during independent reading!  Look at these four boys!  

Do you have alternative seating in your classroom?  I would love to hear about it and how it works for you and your students.  My mind is already spinning with some more additional seating.  Check back to see what I have in mind.

Two Days of Pirates, Books and Hogwarts and I Never Left Ohio

I need to blog and share the first teacher conference I ever went to this week.  I have had my teaching license for 19 years and have never gone to a teacher conference.  Lots of workshops but never a two day conference!  Wow talk about packed with information!  I went with two other awesome teachers and the principal from my school to AMLE 2015 (Annual Conference for Middle Level Educators).

Here are some of my favorite sessions...

I went and saw Dave Burgress from Teach Like a Pirate.  You know I had to go see the Pirate.  I already read his book which was very motivational and inspiring.  This session was fast pace, extremely fast pace  and had hilarious anecdotes about gaining student buy in, hooking students with a teaser (think burning bra and many Victoria Secret bags) and BBQ-ing steaks (creating and presenting lessons).

Here is a picture of what was up when I walked in.

I have to admit I sent the picture to my hubby just to see what his reaction was!  LOL

"Read Together ~ Succeed Together:  Creating a Culture of Literacy though an Invention / Enrichment Period.  This session by Hudson Middle School (Hudson, Ohio) teachers and principal was my favorite and really had me thinking. If you love the Book Whisper (I love this book) this group really implemented a lot of Donalyn Miller's ideas in their Intervention / Enrichment period. They set aside 30 minutes, four days a week devoted to reading;  independent reading, genre studies, and other literacy activities. Every teacher in the building participates no matter what they teach.

Another favorite was  from Dominion Middle School in Columbus, Ohio.  The teachers and principle presented how they divide their 6th - 8th grade school into four houses similar to Harry Potter's Hogwarts or Ron Clark's Academy.  I just love this idea!!  I am in a K- 8th grade building and would love to have mixed age group houses work as a team collecting points for good deeds and grades. They meet once a week.  The kids participate in a once a month Fantastic Friday where they play Minute It To Win It games such as Hungry Hippos (just think kids belly down on a scooters with a laundry basket out front collecting balloons in the middle of the gym floor).  These teachers had all of us out of our seats popping balloons, they passed out tickets for prizes, we were shaking our booties to get the ping pong balls flying and doing the Nae, Nae! This session was full of energy!  LOVE!!!

Those were my favorites and there was a few duds ( I do not like being sold anything I seek out that product.) but if I can walk away with a least one thing I can use in my classroom this conference was a success.  A success that truly has inspired me.

Do you go to conferences?  What are some of your favorite sessions?

Happy Friday !!

Spaghetti, Marshmallows and PIE

The rhythm of the school has at last gotten in a groove at last in October.  Gosh the beginning of the year can be so tough.  I know you all can agree with that.  So I wanted to share what I was doing in my reading and science classes.  We have been so busy but we are having fun.

In science this year I have vowed to do one STEM activity a month and we did our first one at the end of September.  I was cruising around the internet and stumbled across a website, Projects by Jen, that I have done online activities (Charlotte's Web & the Oreo Challenge) on but had forgotten about it.  I saw Jen had posted a STEM challenge, The Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower Challenge. We had to make towers with spaghetti with a marshmallow on top and then post pictures on her site.  It was perfect timing, I had just finished teaching them about the Engineering Design Process and what better to experience that lesson.  Our tallest structure was 50 cm!

 
 Now in reading we have started our historical fiction book clubs.  We are reading: Number the Stars, Bud Not Buddy, I Survived Pompeii, I Survived the Great Chicago Fire and I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake.  Some day I would like to do a historical fiction book club with only the I Survived Series. Slowly but surely I will add a few books at a time and get there.  The kids love that series!

Then we started our PIE Time (Prevention, Intervention and Enrichment). During this 45 minute block 4 times a week I get to work with my fourth graders in the area of reading and vocabulary.  Our technology intergrationist turned me  on to Scholastic's Storia.  I think I am going to love this site...I can assigned different ebooks to students based on their abilities, they can take a quiz and the site keeps track of their progress.  Oh and the books can be read to them and all the studies I have read say that can increase comprehension by 50% and helps improve oral fluency?!  Love, Love, LOVE!

Soooo I have a rotating schedule of four activities, one for each day we meet.  Partner read Scholastic News (we always need practice with informational text), vocabulary / spelling work with a student choice board, teacher time (I would like to work on oral fluency but first I have to get them working on the Storia site) and then online on the Storia site. I hope to have them work on independent reading as well every other week.

 They would fill out my Quick and Easy Independent Reading Response Sheets which are available on TpT.

Well that is my month in a quick blog post.  What have you been up to in your classroom?  I would love to hear.