Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Chances

Behavior today was atrocious in all of the classes. I noticed that last week students were given several opportunities to correct their behavior with gentle reminders but that approach doesn't seem to have worked. How many chances should we give them in the beginning of the year to get their acts together? I've always heard that teachers, especially new ones, should be stricter and "meaner" at the beginning of the year than they are at any other time so that students know to take them seriously and adhere closely to the rules. That isn't what is happening here. I'm not sure if this outburst of disappointing behavior should be expected or if this is a product of our lax enforcement of the rules last week. Are we being taken seriously?

Homework Blues

It's the second week of school, and students are already failing to bring in their homework. And those who did, did not follow directions AT ALL! My mentor teacher has a policy that if students do not bring in their homework, they must write in their agenda books, in ink, that they did not submit their work. This is to be signed by the student and the teacher and shown to parents. This is supposed to motivate students to bring in their homework. It seems like it takes up an immense amount of class time and that more efficient way would be send notes home in the Friday Folder. We'll see if this works!

Trouble in Paradise... Already?

I was surprised to see that students were already straying from the morning routine as they came in today. I guess it should be expected - these are kids, not robots - but I found myself getting frustrated. What is so hard about coming in, unpacking, and doing the warm-up? It seems like it should come naturally, right?! Wrong. I repeat - these are kids, not robots. To encourage students to get on task, my teacher suggested walking around the room and putting stars on the papers of children who were doing what they were supposed to do. These stars indicated that the student would get a Charactergram (a school wide positive reinforcement tool) for doing what they were supposed to do. As the others realized what was going on, a ripple effect occurred and everybody quickly caught on to what they were supposed to be doing. I was shocked and impressed by this simple technique that allowed me to get the class under control without having to reprimand and remind students.

We spent most of the day going over more procedures for the class, mostly focusing on the nightly reading log that students will be working on every night (including Fridays!) this year. They were given explicit directions about the reading log was to be completed and how to choose appropriate reading material - no cartoons and baby books, lots of chapter books and Newbery winners.

Creating Our Learning Community

On the first day of school, we had students fill out a worksheet entitled "All About Me" which asked them to tell us about themselves - their interests and hobbies, strengths, weakness, and fears, and their home lives. Today we were finally able to have the students share their responses. All of the students were asked to take notes as presentations were made because we are playing "Name-O" on Friday - a modified version of Bing-O where students place their classmates names on the grid and cover them up when they hear a fact about that individual.

Although I think that this was a good idea, I really would have liked to see a more engaging activity. Students were not really motivated to pay attention as their classmates spoke. For some students, getting up and making a presentation during the first week of school was extremely stressful and it showed as they fumbled and trembled their way through. I understand the purpose, but it could have been done in a less threatening manner that would have done better to establish a comfortable learning environment.

We also introduced the "20 Questions" card game that the class can elect to play during down time. Each card has a person, place, or thing at the top and 20 clues that describe it. As clues are read, students try to determine what they are describing.

First Day Switching Classes

Today was the first day that the fifth graders are switching classes. My mentor is the Reading/Language Arts teacher and I could not be happier. Although I feel confident in all content areas, Reading and Language Arts are the ones that I enjoy the most. Our homeroom (the Red Class) has been identified as Talented and Gifted (TAG) or above grade level and goes to science and social studies first and then math until they come back to us for the third and final period of the day.

The Blue Class, which has been identified as below grade level, comes to us for first period. They are significantly different from the Red class. Most of them strongly dislike reading and, if they do read, choose books based on how short they are. They are also much less eager to share. We tried to get them engaged in reading short stories by reading a short story called "When Pete Bruce Came to Town" aloud from a book called Porch Lies by Patricia McKissack. The story was humorous but the discussion with this class was strained and it was difficult to get them to participate.

The Yellow Class (on or slightly below grade level) were very similar to the Blue Class - not very excited about reading and reluctant to participate.

The First Day of School!

The morning began somewhat hectically. I wasn't sure what to expect at all and I was combination of excitement and nerves. I was so excited to meet the students but I was also concerned with what they would think of me and how I would perform. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about. The students are wonderful and I am so excited to be their (student) teacher this year!

Many of the students were walked in by their parents, most of whom left immediately after shaking the hands of myself and my mentor teacher as we greeted them at the door. A few stayed until almost 9:30 am though, which had me pretty concerned! We wanted to get the day started and for some of the students, having parents in the back of the room was very distracting! Eventually, the straggling parents started making their way out but it seemed like they had been there for entirely too long. I asked my mentor what she would have done if they hadn't left on their own and she said that if fifteen more minutes had gone by she would have politely asked them to leave. It's hard for me to imagine doing anything like that at this point, but I guess that's a skill I'm going to have to learn soon.

We spent a lot of time going over classroom procedures for coming into the room, completing and handing in work, changing classes, going to lunch, and how to leave for the day. The kids seemed a little overwhelmed by everything that was being said and I was too. I feel like the room is still really unorganized and I'm not sure how we are going to be able to function with it in this state. I'm also pretty concerned about how these students are going to handle switching classes. This is their first experience with departmentalization and I am not convinced that this is what is best for the students. Time will tell and I am hopeful that, with practice, things will run smoothly.

Welcome!

And thank you for visiting my blog!

My name is Christyn Byrd and I am a senior in the Elementary Education program in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. I have been interning as a student teacher in a fifth grade team at a Prince George's County school starting in August of 2010 and ending in May of 2011. I plan to use this as an electronic version of the paper and pencil journal that I use to record my observations while in the field.

I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences as I work my way through this exciting, challenging, and, at times, overwhelming year.