Camp Champions

This crazy crew is headed to camp!  View the slide show of our homeroom adventures below.  

Habit 1: Being Proactive

We are participating in a district-wide program entitled The Leader in Me. We began exploring the first habit, Be Proactive, more in depth.  We discussed how each of us "controls our own weather" and can control our outcomes by being proactive rather than reactive.  

In regard to this habit, Covey writes "I am a responsible person. I take initiative. I choose my actions, attitudes, and moods. I do not blame others for my wrong actions. I do the right thing without being asked, even when no one is looking."

As a class, we brainstormed challenging situations that kids face every day. The students came up with some very timely situations. Some of these included:

• A friend at school is being mean to you.
• Your mother makes you go grocery shopping with her.
• You have a big project for school due in a week.
• Your parents embarrass you in public.
• You have a hard time waking up for school.
• You are late for school more than once a month.

Students broke into pairs to identify a proactive way to approach their selected situation and a reactive way to approach this situation.  They used Puppet Pals, an iPad app, to share their thinking.  Below is an example of one of the videos student groups created.  

You can learn more about The Leader in Me here.

Digital Citizenship PBL Presentation Day

Today we presented our learning from our Digital Citizenship PBL to Mrs. Hollis and Mrs. Bernero today.  You can view our presentations here.

Mrs. Bernero Visits our Class

Mrs. Bernero, our principal, visited our class today and read the story Three Questions to our class. In this story the main character has three questions:

• When is the best time to do each thing?

• Who are the most important people to work with?

• What is the most important thing to do at all times?

A wise turtle helps him reflect on his adventures throughout the day to discover:

• The most important time is now. The present is the only time over which we have power.

• The most important person is whoever you are with.

• The most important thing is to do good to the person you are with.

Throughout the story, the students made very strong connections and inferences using textual evidence.  We also found several examples of figurative language.  We absolutely enjoyed her visit and hope she comes back to read with us again soon!

Literature Circles

Over the past several weeks, we have been learning about accountable talk and the discourse of an effective learning environment.  To help us, we have created several speech bubbles/talk stems to help us communicate effectively through active listening, building on the ideas of others, learning how to disagree respectfully, elaborating and clarifying ideas, and supporting our thinking with evidence.  

Over the next two days, we will be having literature circle discussions as we analyze two poems.  We will be using the fishbowl protocol.  Half of the class will be discussing our first poem while the second class observes and then provides feedback.  The next day the roles will be reversed.  

I will be using the Harkness discussion method to collect data that I can share with the students.  During their discussion, I will be listening in.  I am not an active participant but will jump in to address misconceptions or to guide the discussion if absolutely needed.  I am so excited to listen in to the students as they continue analyzing poems.  

Figurative Language

We have been learning about Figurative Language over the past two weeks.  We have had a great time exploring what each device is, identifying where authors and poets have utilized them to create images for their readers, and analyzing the impact these images have on the written word.  We have been collecting our observations on a Thinking Map.  

Digital Citizenship PBL

Students have been collaborating on the Digital Citizenship PBL (Project Based Learning.)  After our launch day, we broke into teams and brainstormed apps students have used on our campus.  Each team selected an app that they wanted to explore further.  

One thing the students felt that they needed to understand is what the rules are for each app.  We discussed what terms of service were and then students formulated research terms to help us locate more information for each app.  

We also have explored several presentation apps that they might use to share their knowledge.  

Many groups have moved on to storyboard their presentations.  

Special thank to Mrs. Hollis who has been collaborating with our Minecraft group as they complete their project.  

We will be presenting to Mrs. Bernero and Mrs. Hollis to share our learning soon.  

The Center for Learning and Innovation

Today we visited the school Center for Learning and Innovation.  What a wonderful resource this will be for us this year.  There are so many wonderful books, spaces to collaborate, and technology tools for learning.  

Launching our First PBL

Today we launched our first PBL (Project Based Learning.)  Our driving question is:  How can we, as digital citizens, teach others how to to use technology safely and responsibly?  

Our entry event was watching a video invitation from our principal Mrs. Bernero and our wonderful facilitator of learning Ms. Hollis.  

After viewing the video, the driving question, and the rubric for the project, we recorded our Knows and Need to Knows using Padlet.  I am excited to see where the students go with this and will post more details about our project soon.  

You can learn more about Project Based Learning here.  

Character Traits

This week we have been learning how to use textual evidence to infer character traits.  As we have been reading a chapter A Package for Mrs. Jewls, we have been focusing on one of the main character's Louis and how his actions and words reveal clues about his characters.

We also have been taking notes about Auggie and Via Pullman as we have been reading the book Wonder aloud.  As we read, we have discussed the difference between emotions and character traits.  We have noticed that as the story progresses, Auggie seems to change. We are learning that in some stories and biographies, the main character undergoes a significant transformation as a result of an event or interaction with another character.

We have extended our conversations to how our words and actions reveal things to people in our lives.  

Mission Statement

In order to have a successful year, we wanted to start with the end in mind by creating a vision of what our ideal positive learning environment would look like. We began by brainstorming what each of us would need in order to be successful in school.  Then, we grouped our thinking into big ideas.  You can view our Padlet of this process here.  

Below is the mission statement we crafted for our homeroom.  I am excited to see where this year takes us.  

Project Based Learning

Next week, we will be launching our first PBL (Project Based Learning.)  To help us prepare, we have been learning more about what collaboration looks like and sounds like.  We have discussed the traits of  effective listeners and communicators and how they impact our ability to be an effective team member.  

You can learn more about PBL here.  

Our Classroom Environment

One thing you will notice when you enter our classroom is that we have a flexible open-seating environment.  Students do not necessarily have assigned desks.  We have team tables where student teams might choose to meet to collaborate in their learning.  

However, some teams might choose to spread out on the floor so we have pillows, stools, and beach chairs. Having a flexible environment enables us to make necessary adjustments to the space to best serve our learning rather than having to adjust our learning to meet the space.  

One immediate reaction to our room at the start of the year is it seems bare. There are very minimal wall decorations.   This is done intentionally.  Our wall space will begin to fill up as we collaborate as a learning community to create anchor charts to record our thinking.  Some of these will be create by the teacher as I collect their thoughts as a group.  Other times, they will work in teams to create charts that will fill our walls and serve as a resource for further learning.  It is my belief that filling our walls with authentic work rather than teacher purchased decorations enables students to take ownership of the classroom.

Another important aspect of our classroom centers on my philosophy that every child needs 21st century knowledge and skills to succeed as an effective citizens, workers, and leaders.  I will strive to structure our instruction to develop learning and innovation skills that will equip our students to be life-long learners and positive contributors to the world.  At the start of the year we will focus heavily on developing communication and collaboration skills so we can work effectively as a learning community.    

Additionally, our team will utilize Project-Based Learning at numerous points throughout the year to help foster 21st century knowledge and skills through our content standards.  Below is a short video that will explain a bit more about Project-Based Learning.  

I am excited to join the Rooster Springs Elementary team and look forward to collaborating with students, their families, and our community in order to make this a fun year filled with profound learning.