{Saturday Sprinkles #2} A Back-To-School Remix

Welcome to this week's edition of Saturday Sprinkles, where I try to show you how we tried to stay awake and engaged all week.  LOL.  I am fairly certain all teachers who returned to school this week will agree, this was a looooooooong week! Monday was not easy for any of us.  In fact, I had 3 students falling asleep sitting up while I was teaching. Basically, I made sure to to get them up and out of their seats as much as possible, more so than usual in fact. That and I could have sworn I took way more pictures of our week than I actually did.  Perhaps, I was too busy keeping them wrangled in.  Whoops!

Once we got past Monday, I promise you, we actually got quite a bit done and by Friday afternoon, I felt like my students walked away feeling fulfilled and better about their learning.  

Join She and I (yes, we are the only ones enjoying this linky party so far) as we share snippets and quick snapshots of how much fun, engagement, and learning we had in our classrooms. Feel free to join up as well so you can reflect and look back on your week.  You'd be surprised at how it makes you realize you DID get a lot accomplished and your students DID enjoy themselves.  So what are you waiting for?  ;-)  The link-up information is down below.

We worked all week on probability in so many different ways, left and right.  Using the nicely made Probability Practice Packet from TeachersPayTeachers in Kalena Baker's store, I stepped it up a few levels in order to meet my students needs...which would be boredom due to being back after a long break and needing to cover higher-level learning with probability.  The pack from TPT is more for 2nd-4th grades.  One thing we did was use our ActivExpressions to send in class data so we could compare and contrast some of our theoretical and experimental probability with the dice experiment.  I can't believe I didn't take pictures, but we also used the vocabulary posters she includes as our own huge human-sized interactive scale across our back classroom wall.  I used a bag of colored tiles, figuring out the theoretical probability of each color in the bag, and then I asked them the following, "What is the likelihood I pick a __________ from the bag."  From there my students walked to either impossible, unlikely, equally likely, highly likely, and certain.  Not only did this give me a chance to see who was still stuck or confused about the vocabulary, but it also got them out of their seats.  Hallelujah!!

We also carried on with our levers experiments, although we didn't get very far due to an assembly at the end of the day.  My students were none to happy about it either because they had just begun to figure things out before we had to quickly start cleaning up for the end of the day.  

After giving my students room to build some background on levers (see my first blog post here), we began to get some of that juicy scientific vocabulary going in our writing and conversations...and boy is the word "fulcrum" hard to say as a 5th grader...and then it was time to start finally playing!  I gave them a quick 2-minute or so demo on how to use the supplies to build a lever.  We located the fulcrum together (the binder clip) and from there the inquiry-based learning ensued.  

In the very very short 5-8 minutes we had before the bell was going to ring, students' lightbulbs were going off!  I was able to visit with 3 groups who figured out to either move the fulcrum and/or load to level out their lever without any guidance or tips from me. Unfortunately, and any teacher will probably attest to this, we had to cut it short just as everyone was starting to feel like mad scientists.  So, it is another to be continued lesson...again.

If you'd like to link up and share your classroom sprinkles from this week or even last, head over to Sprinkle Teaching Magic and include your blog post link.  See you next Saturday for another sprinkling!  

{Saturday Sprinkles} Of The Science Variety

Well, sadly my winter break is OVER!  Waaaaaaaaaah!  I cannot believe how seemingly fast 2 weeks went by.  But I really needed it and am glad it came when it did.  So, to help me get back into the swing of things, I am linking up with my buddy, my pal, my friendliest friend, She, over at Sprinkle Teaching Magic for this weekly linky party.

While I never really officially blogged about my National Board results, I did mention over on my 13 in 13 blog post here, that I missed it by a teeny tiny 6 points.  Argh!  So, I am retaking my Entry 3 (Science/Math) and 1 or 2 Assessment Center exercises (Science and Fine Arts) this year to make up those 6 points.  

Two weeks before winter break, I introduced our Levers & Pulleys (FOSS) unit to my students through exploration and very little information given by me.  Because I know my students learn best through exploration, I chose to have them jump right into working with levers through exploring with what they already know and understand, which helped them grasp on to the concept more deeply and peeked their curiosity way more than if I had just given them a vocabulary lesson and jumped right into the first experiment of setting up a lever to lift a load.  Do you see how I just threw a National Board explanation format at you?!  It comes at you in your sleep after working on them for 4 entries and assessment exercises for 2 years.  You're welcome.  

Here is a peek into our classroom during this 45 minute chunk of time where I had small groups of students gathered around me to help me open a paint can with their fingers while partner/trios gathered around our computers to explore and attempt a Simple Machines Brainpop game on how to build levers and pulleys to complete tasks (again, remember I did not give them any background information).  

While you can't see their faces, let me just paint the picture (LOL, see how I did that?) for you. They are staring at that paint can for about 5-10 seconds and thinking solo about how they can possibly open it after all trying to do so with just their fingers.  Right after this, we had a seriously insane conversation about what they could use to actually open it.  Many of them mentioned seeing their dads or uncles opening one with a screwdriver before, so I asked them, "Why do you think a screwdriver works instead of your fingers?"  Some of them wanted to try to open it with their pencils because they figured out they needed something similar to a screwdriver, but stronger than their fingers.  Of course, their pencils broke and I asked them to discuss why the pencil broke, etc. Through this, they were heading towards the idea of a fulcrum, but they weren't quite there yet...perfect!  It paved the way in such a beautiful manner for their first experiment.  See below ("I Wonder" in their notebooks) for their next step after what you see in this picture.

They had some fantastic exploration discussion going as they tried to play out ways to move objects and lift loads to win the game.  I definitely recommend giving your students a shot at this free game from Brainpop.  My students absolutely ate it up and wanted to play it again.  It was hard for me to shoot video (via my iPhone) while trying to listen in on their discussions, so I only got this quick 10-second video after I asked this pair of boys why they think their object they chose finally worked to lift the load (for some reason I also couldn't get my YT link from my page to work either, so there's that).

When students were finished with either the paint can or the Simple Machines Brainpop game, they went to their desks and began filling out their "I Wonder" page in their Science Notebooks.  All I asked them to do was write about what the two activities sparked in their minds.  These wonderings will pave the way to their experiments, including their two final inquiry-based experiments in which they design their own exploration and carry-out the building of levers and pulleys to accomplish a task.

There you have it!  This is what Science looks like in my classroom...at least at the beginning stages of a new unit.  I only took these pictures for my National Boards portfolio entry, so they aren't super detailed.  But I loved She's idea of looking back at what the week was made of and considering how successful it was.  Basically, I think this weekly linky party will be a really perfect way for me to reflect back on those bad weeks (really hoping they are fewer and fewer these last 2 quarters).

Thanks for visiting!  Definitely link up with She and other teachers each week.  This is a way for us hard-working teachers to share those successes we have more often than we realize.

What a Relief!!!

Technically our first quarter is over.  I do have one more week before report cards are to be sent home.  Our kids have taken their first quarter round of district benchmark testing.  The aggregated (weighted) scores are in.  I'm blogging this at 10:15 at night because I'm feeling darn good.  Darn good.

Within the last 3 weeks my class finally found their niche, their routine, their compromise to my expectations.  It is as if something clicked in everyone's minds. My troubled student and I had several chats and heart-to-hearts and he is a changed man...it is like night and day and my colleagues can't believe that he is no longer on my radar.  I find him trying to impress me now and working to show me he CAN do it. I love it!!!

I just braved our district's testing site to see if our data was in and...drumroll, stomach butterfly moment, or perhaps a stomach dropping moment later...there it was!  My kids are doing well!  What a relief and a reason to celebrate.  All that work that I felt was not working is.

I only have about 8 kids who are not meeting or exceeding the quarter 1 standards!  While normally, this number is much less in my classroom, this is something to still celebrate...with a difficult group of kids who I have struggled with...I am extremely happy to see these results!

There have been moments where I have been so behind in our lessons that I thought I was completely letting them down.  We had to work so hard on getting transitions down to less than 30 seconds instead of 5 minutes, going over and reviewing our classroom rule and expectations, stopping to address things like, "He took my pencil," "She shortcutted me in line," etc., that I honestly did not think my kids would be able to pass our benchmark tests.  As the gifted cluster class, my students and I are normally ahead of everyone else and we work at a much faster pace, so this was a tough and confusing quarter for me.  I was thrown off my game over and over again.

Did I do a good job this quarter though?  No, I could have done so much better.  Will I be able to do better for my students next quarter...heck yes!  I know exactly what I need to do to help them achieve and become even better learners.  There is still so much work ahead of us, but at least I know they are reacting to my expectations and truly rising to the occasion.

So, I am relieved to say the least.  I am celebrating!...with some gifs!

as well as

with a little bit of

So, how about you?  What are you celebrating?  

On a Teacher's Deserted Island...

It's time for my first link-up!  She over at Sprinkle Teaching Magic just posted about some of her celebrity Teachers Pay Teachers members and I wanted to follow suit...since I have quite a few that I'm awestruck by.  You can watch her YouTube video about her favorites and her answer to the question, If you were stranded on a deserted classroom island and could only teach with one TPT teacher's curriculum, who would it be and why?

This question totally isn't fair for me right now!  I discovered Young Teacher Love (AKA Miss Nannini) this summer and am starstruck, if you will.  So, I'm going to cheat a little for this one.

1) Teaching in Room 6

She has some of the most amazing materials that can completely change your math instruction and student achievement!  The biggest and most favorite item in her shop is by far her Calendar Math for 5th grade (she also makes it for other grades, so check her store out).

In fact, she just finished an all-in-one product that makes Calendar Math even more user-friendly and set for your classroom...it's 300 pages!!!  I plan to purchase this one soon (come on pay day!) and cannot wait to better implement this spiraled AND scaffolded program in my classroom this year.  Last year, it sort of fizzled out due to some confusion on my part and plain insanity.

I also just purchased her spiral homework pack for the entire year (this is another product that she makes for multiple grade levels) and am truly appreciative of having something I do not have to make myself...as I did in the past years with my fellow teammates.  I look forward to having something extremely CCSS based and balanced for my student and families.  I was lucky enough to win a $50 TPT gift card from Sprinkle Teaching Magic and this is what I bought with it (along with a few other goodies that had been on my wish list...but I'll get to that next).

2)  Miss Nannini

And here is the new store I discovered earlier this summer when I was reading one of my favorite teacher blogs.  I found Young Teacher Love through a linky party and it was love at first sight.  Since I discovered Ms. Nannini's blog, she has exposed me to The Dream Class book as well as her Procedures checklist.  And most importantly, this teacher is an expert on CCSS and has created some of the most in depth and incredible classroom resources for multiple grades...all based on what she needed and used in her classroom this past school year.  If you haven't already bought them or added them to your TPT wish list, then you are missing out!

The first item below are CCSS based assessments that teachers can use as often as they wish.  They coincide well with the 2nd product I am posting from her store as well.  I am in awe of how in depth she went into with both these items (for both Math and ELA).  Both are available for such inexpensive prices as well.

Miss Nannini also makes this for ELA CCSS

Miss Nannini has put together CCSS checklists and more in this product in order to allow students to keep track of their progress and goals as well as reflect on their learning multiple ways.  I found this when I was searching for a new and improved way to implement data binders in my classroom.  There are a ton of these CCSS checklist systems on TPT, but this one is the most student-friendly (and teacher-friendly) that I have found.  I especially love the rubric/scale posters she includes to allow students to label their learning for you and themselves.  Check it out!

This is also available for Math CCSS

I could go on and on about several other of Miss Nannini's products, but these are two of the most essential items I would take with me to the deserted island.

There you have it...evidence as to why it would be way too hard for me to choose just one store to take with me to the deserted island.  I don't think I could have one without the other...after all, the reflection and assessment piece goes hand-in-hand with the Calendar Math.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

If you'd like to participate in She's linky party, you can link up to it here.  She has 3 questions you can blog about, in case you'd like to blog about your own store or a product you have had major success with in your own classroom.