Any ideas for a 1st grade behavioral plan?

After the round table discussion we had on Tuesday I began to realize that most of the discipline plans I have read and heard about a more directed to upper elementary. As I mentioned in class i am in a 5th grade, and have witnessed a successful behavioral plan. The class has its own currency called "Hinze bucks" and are able to buy activities or prizes during their Friday Free time. The amount of time they get for the free time is based on how much time the class wasted on the timer. (20mins at the beginning of week) The students keep each other accountable for the time but getting money is based more on individual behavior. I liked how this works because unlike the marble jar mentioned in class, students are responsible for their own money. In the marble jar idea I felt like many arguments and hostility could arise by making everyone suffer from one student.
Since next year I will be working with first graders I want to begin thinking about a plan similar to my current teacher. I believe the money concept might be a little too much for them to comprehend but want to find something similar. I have not spoke to my CT next year but heard through the current intern that her behavioral plan is name on the board then a check for no recess then a call home. I really do not want to ever take away resource unless it is an absolute must. So I am wondering if there is anyone out there that seeing a great behavioral plan in lower elementary that doesn't include taking away recess?

Should students know their reading level?

After reviewing some of my classmates responses about how they see reading implemented, I wanted to bring up a strategy from a teacher I observed in TE301. My Ct at the time had been teaching for many years and swore that students improve faster if they know the level of success they are at. She had every book in the classroom labeled with a colored sticker. This sticker would indicate a child's reading level. So lets say that there were about 5 groups and therefore 5 different color stickers used. For instance, a yellow sticker would indicate the lowest reading level. Student in this group were only allowed to read the books labeled with a yellow sticker. The teacher each week would meet with all the different color groups and listen to the read out loud. It was then that she would listen or do a running record to gage whether they can move up to the next reading level. She will show them using different books and say this is the book you are reading (bigger font, more pictures) in a few week I want you to be reading this type of book with no problem. ( smaller font, more challenging vocabulary) I struggle with this way of teaching reading for several reasons. I am not sure that all students would respond positively. Some students might shut down, and just assume reading in their "bad" subject and not try to make much effort to fix it. Other students might be embarrassed that other students know their reading level. Not to mention, the teasing and ridicule that students might face. I just feel like the risk of a stigma towards reading is far to great to approach reading groups this way. My teacher however, assured me that this was not the case and has been successful for many years. I guess it might just come down to knowing your classroom and students and what they are able to handle.

Comic Strip-New literacy

I chose this program because I thought it would motivate the students who lack interest in writing. This was a program I found that was already on my Mac book computer. I believe it also can be downloaded from a website as well. It is a program where you can import any picture from your camera or the Internet and make into a comic. It allows you to insert text through comic bubbles or by inserting text boxes to explain the entire page. Students would be able to use this program to enhance their writing and creativity. Students would be able to either decide to tell the story through the characters in their pictures (using the bubbles) or summarizing the page through the text box or both!

Another positive aspect of this program is that it has the ability to incorporate many types of writing projects. For instance, in the project I created was more of an autobiography. I made an all about me comic which introduced all the important people in my life. Students could use this activity the first week of school to get to know their peers. Teachers could also use this when they want children to research a famous historical figure (or another type of bibliography). They would simple down load the pictures and use the comic bubbles to tell what they learned. This type of digital story telling is a fun hands-on way for students to appreciate digital/visual literacy! The fact that this can be used in the classroom to promote literacy is very exciting to me as a future teacher. Students will be able experience visual literacy on a personal level when using this program. In comparison to traditional literacy, this is much more exciting for students. To see and write about their own personal experiences gets students fired up to do a good job and the share with their peers. I remember when I was in 3rd grade the most excitement I had was getting out of my seat to walk to the library and pick out a book! In my opinion, this is an exciting program that upgrades literacy. I will be sure to incorporate in my future classroom!

High Expectations for 5th graders!

This past week when I went to Central Elementary school, I observed the 5th graders in the computer lab. I was absolutley shocked to see the difficulty in the assignment that they are working on. The students were given a strict rubric that explained what was expected of them. They were asked to research a scientific question they might have. After they found a topic to research they need to write 5 paragraph paper which includes 3 sources. Those sources are to be included in their bibliography page and cited using MLA format.

When I first saw this assignment, I thought to myself, I did not do something like this until 7th grade! I understand technology has advanced greatly since then but still thought this was quite a difficult task. I was eager to see how the students would do with this kind of project. As the week went on, the students were so excited to use the computer that they took the challenge head on! The students did well and finished this project within 2 weeks. Seeing how well the students succeeded with such a difficult task really made me realize how much teachers and myself underestimate the capability of students. This really opened eyes to challenging my students in the future.

Writing in my classroom

When observing my CT's classroom, I have noticed a few different ways writing is implemented. The main focus has been writing after reading. The teacher and students will take turns reading from a novel and then write in their journal about how they think the character felt. Sometime the teacher asks them to write as if they were actually the character. Other times they are asked to write what they think will happen next. These are not graded on spelling or structure, it is based on completion.

After teaching my lesson and evaluating the writing I believe the students will greatly benefit from self or peer editing. Many of the students had very insightful writing but struggled with grammatical errors. I think it is somewhat dangerous if the students write repeatedly and do not get corrected. I think if the student or a peer helped correct the writing it would be more meaningful then a teacher just simply making red corrections on the page. I will definitely keep this in mind when I am teaching writing in the future. How is everyone else seeing writing? Do you think peer editing is a good idea or do you think it might cause students to be reluctant to let someone else evaluate their writing?

Sorry I am a little late on the post, but I was so preoccupied with my lesson and getting it done before spring break that is caused me to neglect my blog!

I decided to incorporate my teacher's smart board while teaching my lesson on Paul Revere. The whole lesson went better than I expected. The children all volunteered to read parts of the poem out loud and also had great follow up discussion. Some times in the conversation the students got a little off topic or you could say creative. When I asked the students how Paul Revere's message would be spread, many students went into great discussion about cell phone ringers and how they thought there would be a ringer that said "the British are coming!" I had to bring the class back after this but at least they were being creative!

I kept note that every child participated in either reading out loud or responding in discussion. I did notice however that boys participated several times. Many wanted to explain their knowledge of the muskets the British used or the details of the boats that they used. I am not sure if this is because stereotypically boys are more interested in these topics or if this is just my typical class. I noticed also for the assessment, boys had written longer responses then the girls. This is something that i will continue to keep in mind and evaluate throughout my future teaching.
While teaching a lesson based on discussion I realized the most difficult part for me was how to respond to the students. I never wanted to portray to them that there is a right or wrong answer but I also wanted them to know I appreciated and valued their response. When asking my CT about this he suggested responding with, "I see you are really thinking about this question" or "that is a thoughtful response." Another suggestion my teacher had was showing the students a model of the type of assessment I want them to complete. I struggled with this idea because I do not want to limit the student's creativity or for them to simply mimic how I completed the assessment. Overall I am very pleased with my discussion based lesson. I am very appreciative of the helpful responses to my blog that helped make my lesson more successful!

Ideas for Literacy Lesson

I think I have finally figured out what I am going to use for my literacy piece! It has been quite a struggle because my CT does not teach reading or language arts. I have had to consult a different teacher and see what would fit for that particular classroom. I decided since the class is just getting into the American Revolution, I would use the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Paul Revere's ride." To incorporate some technology in the lesson, I found a great introductory video I could show before reading the actual poem. It is a 2 minute video that show pictures and narrates what happens the night of Paul Revere's ride. After that, I plan on reading the poem as a class taking volunteer readers. Then I will open the rest of time up for discussion about the poem. To ensure that the lesson is discussion based and not recitation I will plan meaningful questions that will entail much more then a 1 word answer. As of right now, the topics I have thought to discuss are how Paul Revere might have felt as the messenger. I would ask the students what they think he felt like and if they would like to be in his position. Another topic I thought would provoke some serious thought. Was how differently a message is spread now a days compared to the poem. The students know it takes under 5 minutes to send and receive a text. I would ask what they think about this and how might the message be spread today.
If anyone has any ideas of other topics of discussion I would love to hear your ideas!

A Recent Digital Native

It is almost comical in some ways for me to call myself a digital native. But I believe after many technological mishaps, I have made it to that point.
I have improved a great deal since my family got our first computer. At this time I was convinced that everything I did would give the computer a virus. It was a struggle to turn the computer on and off and just to get the mouse pointer to land directly on the large X to close out the box.
Since then, my education and societal norms have forced me to embrace things such as power point and instant message. Throughout college I have learned increasingly more about technology. Throughout education classes and switching my personal computer I am now familiar with both PC's and apple computers. I am now able to navigate my way through almost any type of phone and text at an obscene rate.
Although some of my new technological skills may seem pretty average, I believe they will be of use to me as a future teacher. I am currently in a classroom where my teacher has used a video camera to record book reports and a giant wall projector to show lessons on his own personal computer screen. I hope by observing how my CT implements technology in the classroom and my rocky-but improved past with computers that I can bring effective technology in my future classroom.

literature piece

I have been delaying my post for a bit because I have been trying to give more thought to what type of literature I will use in my classroom. Since I am in a 5th grade classroom and have realized that I would not have time to teach about a novel during my 45 min lesson that matched my student's reading level. The teacher that I will do my literacy lesson for is not my CT. He teaches strictly from the books given to him by the district and offered for me to follow suit. Since my lesson needs to be focused on discussion, I will most likely not be using his books (unless I find a great topic to discuss). I have thought about using a song or a poem from the time period that they are studying but still have not found a certain piece of literature I would like to use. If anyone has any suggestions about a short story, poem, or song that would work for 5th grade let me know. I was also wondering what a teacher should do if they are only getting one word responses during discussion. Should a teacher state her expectations of the discussion first by letting the students know that this is unacceptable? Or would this be putting pressure on them and resembling recitation?

Post on differentiation

When I hear the term “differentiation,” in terms of education, I think about the many different styles of teaching that educators will use to reach their students. For teachers to be successful at this they need to understand a child’s interest and motivation. Once taking into consideration a student’s culture and prior knowledge as well, a teacher can begin to cater their teaching in literacy to fit the child’s need. When teachers try various ways of teaching the same subject this to me is differentiation.