Classroom Set Up

I absolutely love setting up my classroom.  If I could be a professional Classroom Setter Upper, I would.  Every year, I do something a little bit different.  I'm also a chronic furniture rearranger, so this is just the start!  In no time at all, I'm sure the desks will be in some sort of U shape, but this felt right to start.  This is a 5th grade classroom where I teach 3 blocks of math and one block of Social Studies.  Sit back and enjoy the tour!

When you walk in, you'll be greeted by a bookshelf with our new text books nestled in.  Once the kiddos arrive, each class will have their own shelf.  Behind the bookshelf and flanked by another is our rug area where I'll hold number talks and some of our lessons.  This area also houses our flexible seating options, which include cushioned crates, pillows, carpet squares, bean bag chairs, stability balls, and a rocking chair.  I'm still working on the best way to avoid arguments over who gets what type of seating, but have put forth a "one cush per tush" rule.

On the back side of the rug area, you'll notice some stick-on whiteboard space, in addition to the larger whiteboard.  There were enough spots for all students to work on the board last year.  We have larger classes this year, but there is still a lot of VNPS (vertical, non-permanent surface) for students to work.  You can just see the edge of the easel I'll use when jotting down student ideas.  I have a nifty cart gifted to me by someone fabulous through the #clearthelist movement (THANK YOU), which holds all my instructional goodies for both rug time and working at the teacher table, pictured below.  I've also applied some whiteboard surfaces to the tables.

The last picture above shows the supply center, which includes numbered scissors, glue sticks, highlighters, erasers, and sticky notes.  Each student is assigned a number and may borrow supplies from the supply center.  I used to put pencils in here, too, but they disappeared last year.

You may have noticed a little desk tucked in between the closet and the bookshelf.  This is our in-class break space.  It has some calming activities and a three minute timer for when students need a little break, but can remain in the classroom to take it.  This is the first year I'll be rolling it out from day one, so fingers crossed!

On the outside wall, we have the "This is What a Mathematician Looks Like" board, as well as the "Fun Friday" board, scrap paper, teacher resources, Social Studies resources, a game shelf, decimal vocabulary, and cleaning caddies.  The cleaning caddies are new this year and contain wipes, paper towels, and a small broom and dustpan to help students become proactive in keeping the classroom tidy.

On the opposite wall is our "What is Math?" board, complete with a basket holding sticky notes and pens.  Anyone who enters is encouraged to share what Math is to them on stick it on the board.  You can also spot the Resource Center where students can access important handouts, graphic organizers, etc.  A little further down is some more VNPS.  Our clothes line number line sits below this giant bulletin board.  To the left is where I'm storing our pool noodle fraction bars, class turn in bins, and Standards for Mathematical Practice.

Student desks are numbered and grouped in 4's or 6's.  Seats are randomly assigned by students drawing numbered ping pong balls for the first couple of weeks.  The projector also has whiteboard space underneath.  The daily agenda is projected with a Do Now each day when students enter. I'm fortunate enough to have a TON of whiteboard space!

I've got a few finishing touches to add, such as this awesome ice cream light, but I'm in great shape to welcome kiddos!  I can't wait to see what this year has in store!

Fun Friday

Last year, we had a student out for an extended period of time.  We wanted them to know we were thinking about them and decided to make a video of the whole team dancing to a song we'd learned in my after school Cardio Hip Hop club.  I snagged a few minutes where I could to dim the lights, put on some fun, flashing LEDs and pump up the speaker to practice with my 5th graders.  One day, my principal popped by to let a student in (since our doors are always locked) and I surely was not going to be having a midday dance party for all to see.  I finished practicing with the students and began mentally packing all of my things for when I would surely be escorted from the building later that day.

Just as I'd expected, my principal came to chat with me about what he'd stumbled upon.  He asked if I do it every week.  I explained what we were up to and he talked about mindfulness and potentially building a similar activity into our weekly routine (and of course keeping data).  To say I was relieved would be an understatement.  From then on, I implemented "Fun Friday."

Knowing not all students would be into dancing, I allowed students to choose some activities to put on what they dubbed the "wheel of misfortune".  They often chose games like Simon Says, Museum, 4 corners, 7 Up.  Rarely did they want to dance.  I decided that this would need to be something student earned and put a system in place.  Each class had to earn initially an 85% average in each of these categories.  When that proved to be too easy to attain, I raised it to 90%.  The whole class earned it.  The categories were:

• Class behavior: I had a jar of 100 marbles.  Each class started with 100% (a marble for each % point).  If I needed to redirect THE CLASS (not an individual) or wait a long time for regrouping, etc., I removed a marble from the jar.  Once it was out, it would not be replaced.  The marbles were in a glass jar, and removing them made a lovely little noise that helped cue students in.  (More on this part in a bit...)  Each day, Monday through Thursday, I'd keep track of the class's percentage and post it on a board.
• Do Nows:  This percentage represents the class average of the prior week's Do Now scores.  you can read more about how this assignment looks in this post.
• Wrap Ups:  This percentage represents the class average of the prior week's Wrap Up scores, which you can read more about in the link above.  This was always the lowest percentage.
• Homework:  This is the percentage of students in the class who completed the homework (not the percentage of accuracy).  As an added bonus, if a class every had a week of 100% homework completion, I would give that class a week off from homework.  It never happened.

The seven percentages above were averaged for a weekly score.  They reset every Monday.  85% or above earned 10 minutes of "Fun Friday."  I always reserved the right to bump the ten minutes to the following week, if necessary.

I chose this structure for a number of reasons:

1. Students could calculate the class percentage as we went through the week to gauge how they were doing.  It created an organic lesson on percentages, what they are, and how to calculate them.  I never told them the percentage throughout the week.  If they wanted to know, they'd have to figure it out.
2. It included performance on a variety assignments, some for completion and some graded.  Students would also look at the Wrap Up average and comment on how low it was.  They started to work to increase it and were proud when their efforts paid off.
3. It tied in academic performance with behavioral expectations.

As we approach a new school year, I'm on the fence about whether to continue this practice at all and, if I do, can I make the behavioral aspect of things more positive while still being simple to manage?  Should I be taking ten minutes to play non-math games?  Are the more fun activities I have worked in sufficient?  Is this practice sending the right message to ALL students?  So, I turn to you, my readers. What do you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the answers to these questions and other practices that may or may not have worked for you.

Routines

Often times, when I chat with other math teachers, I ask what a typical class looks like.  For years, I'd been curious about routines in classrooms that might benefit both myself and students.  This past year marked ten year of teaching math and I finally developed some routines that work well for me and the kiddos.  Mind you, nothing is perfect and I'm always adjusting, but I thought I'd share what works for us in case something here might work for you.  (5th grade)

Entering/Do Now:  Students bring a math binder with them to class each day.  (I'll talk more about the binder in another post.)  On Monday's students go to the designated drawer to get a blank Do Now sheet.  I've edited it for the upcoming school year to put a greater focus on goal setting and include a graph.  Here's last year's version; the journaling didn't work well, so I replaced it.  Each day, there is a Google Slide projected with the (required) objective, a daily Do Now, the plan for the day, and reminders about longer term assignments, such as the weekly homework.  Students copy the objective down on to the form and complete the task for the day.  They keep these sheets in their math binders until Friday, when they're collected and graded based on completion.  Each day of the week has a specific type of task:

• Monday: Which One Doesn't Belong (WODB)  Student must defend their choice.
• Tuesday: Reading graphs and a number talk
• Wednesday: MCAS Question (This is our state test.  I opt for a review question a week instead of a boring and stressful review in the weeks leading up to it.)
• Thursday & Friday: Estimation 180

Students really enjoy WODB and Estimation 180, which is why I chose to begin and end the week with them.  Both tasks allow students to enter where they're comfortable.  Nearly all students eagerly participate in these activities.  I sometimes feel guilty that I've tricked them into passionately engaging in math discussion and justifying their answers.  But really, I'm quite tickled. 

Lesson/Practice:  This is where things look different day to day.  If we're exploring something new, they'll be an introductory discussion where we all ask questions and investigate a bit.  Admittedly, this always takes longer than I'd like.  I'm working towards more student-led investigation and hands on activities that would sort of flow into the practicing bit.  I try to have our as many writing-free discussions on our rug to build in some movement, change the location for a bit, and create a more relaxed environment to encourage participation.  For practice, I typically select problems from varied resources, although often it is the workbook connected to our text.  When we do this, I require certain problems of all students.  They must come check in with me at a work table.  If it's correct, students move on and usually earn flexible seating.  Initially, students can come up three times before I invite them to my table for some help or pair them with a peer who overcame a similar struggle.  I keep a roster at the table and keep track of who I've seen and whether or not they're ready to move on or need more help.  In this time, I also try to run small targeting groups based on the prior week's wrap ups and quizzes.

Some days, we practice on white boards.  Last year, I had small enough classes that there was enough space for all students to come up to board.  Sometimes, I call out or project a problem and students turn and face me when they think they've got it.  Sometimes, they simply work out specific printed problems at their own pace.  It's neat to see them help their neighbors, but you do have to have a keen eye for those that are confused and are just copying the work of others.  This is where it's important to chat with the kiddos to be sure they're understanding what they're doing.

Other days, we rotate through activities or task cards.  Sometimes, we rotate through games.  This part of our lesson is really dependent on where students are in their understanding and a number of other factors.

Wrap Up:  Similar to the Do Now sheets, students grab the weekly Wrap Up sheet from the drawer on Mondays.  These are specific to the week with one carefully constructed or selected problem for each day.  Students often don't have enough time to do a good job with these in class, but they should at least take a peek before they leave.  The sheet has a problem for each day Monday through Thursday.  If they don't have time in class, students can work on them at home or if their Do Now is done the following morning.  No matter how they choose to approach this, it is due on Friday and it is graded for correctness.  The score is out of 4 points, one for each day, so it behooves students to make sure they're doing a good job.  The problems selected are very closely tied to a weekly quick quiz and are the best resource for studying (although many students don't see the connection despite repeated explicit reminders).  Student can ask for help on these either at the beginning of class or during extra help hours.  Students who like to get ahead often try to do all of the problems on one day and get frustrated when they don't yet have the experience, understanding, and/or skills to do Thursday's problem because they haven't had the lesson!

Weekly Quiz:  Students take a 5-10 question quiz on Fridays that have a range of questions requiring work and explanation as well correct vocabulary application.  Last year, I thought I was being clever by calling them "Friday Flaunts."  The intent was to reduce the anxiety over a quiz.  The result was students not knowing what "flaunt" means and not reviewing the weekly lessons as I'd hoped.  This year, they're just going to be called quizzes and we shall see what happens.

Grades:  My grades are based off of homework, classwork, and assessments.  Assessments include weekly quizzes, one test per unit (there's always a practice test), and at least two projects a quarter.  All carry the same weight within the grade category.  The projects are quite variable and designed with those who struggle with test taking in mind.  Classwork always includes the Do Now and Wrap Up pages.  It also includes some practice pages (although they're rarely graded), 3 act tasks, etc.

Homework:  Last year, I purchased a year long homework packet from Teacher's Pay Teachers (my love/hate relationship here is a discussion for another time).  Everyone loved the weekly set up, but the review nature of it was confusing for some students and families.  This year, I'm attempting to write my own weekly homework sheet that's better aligned with current content.  Students will be given the homework on Fridays.  It's also posted on Google Classroom.  The homework is broken down by day, Monday through Thursday.  It includes current content as well as review.  Students must hand it in at the beginning of class on Friday.  Other than that, they can do any amount of problems on any day they choose as long as it's in on Friday and work is shown.  I hold a designated extra help on Wednesdays before school specifically for homework.  This allows students to take a look, give it a try, get some guidance, and try again before the week is over.  Wrap Ups become homework if they're not done in class.  Here's what I'm thinking it'll look like: Homework due 9/21.

While it's a lengthy post, I feel like this just barely scratches the surface.  It has been very helpful to have a scaffold for each day so that students know what to expect, within reason.  There are other, more in depth considerations I haven't mentioned here, such as seating, but this gives a pretty good overview of the general structure of my class. 

What things do you do that work for you?  If you had to choose one aspect of your teaching that you'd suggest a colleague try, what would it be?

Rev up your engines!

I'm gearing up for a new school year.  I've passed through the typical summer phases:

• Thank goodness!
• Beach time
• Denial
• What do I need to buy?
• Buying all the things
• Planning
• Waiting

About a week ago, I was nowhere near emotionally ready to head back to the classroom.  Now I'm ready to bang down the door Jack Nicholson-Style to get into my classroom. (Seriously, I'm sure the floors are perfect.  I'll sweep and dust and wipe down; just let me in!)

While immersed in deep denial that I do, in fact, have to return to work, I had the opportunity to see Tracy Zager speak at Mt. Holyoke College.  If you teach math, I highly recommend her book Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had.  Listening to her speak and being surrounded by like-minded educators ignited the spark I needed to get back on track.  Now, halfway through Ilan Seidel Horn's Motivated, and I'm ready to go!  

It's been a while since I've blogged, but thought perhaps I could use it as a place to help me set goals and assess my progress toward them.  To that end, I'll share some of my big goals for the year with you (and try to remember that these ideas are formed in my quiet home-office without the realities of actual real life teaching in front of me, so as to be gentle with myself when I sometimes miss the mark),

• Weekly Number Talks and/or Counting Circles
• Walk around A LOT more
• Meet with small, flexible groups more often
• Identify and remediate multiplication fluency gaps EARLY
• Focus more on the standards and less on the text
• Do at least one 3 Act Task per unit
• Greet every child, every day
• Write each child a personalized note at least once this year
• Include a weekly graph and ask students what questions could be answered using the graph during the Do Now
• Remember quality over quantity
• Ask myself: "Is this what I'd want for my child?"

Perhaps sharing these goals here will help me be more accountable throughout the year.  At the end of last year, I made a list of what went well and what needed to be adjusted.  I am once again looking forward to random seating, flexible seating, using the rug area for lessons. predictable structure with Do Nows (a once dreaded requirement, now something I could not do without), Fun Friday, and a student supply center.  Wrap Ups and Extra Help hours need some TLC, and the Fun Friday incentive needs to be finessed (more on that in another post), but I'm ready to get started.

I'm so thankful for the time I have off.  The solar recharging is necessary in making sure that my students get the best me this year.  This time off is invaluable for its restorative properties, as most of this work and reflection would be diminished without it.  Thank you, summer.  Now let me into my classroom!  I'm ready.

Unintentionally Inspiring Thinking

In my second year teaching 5th grade, I realized that added routine and predictability would be very beneficial for students.  Over the summer, I designed a "Do Now" slide for the beginning of each class.  Students would receive a weekly sheet that included the daily objective and a math-related task to get started.  There would also be a place to set a weekly goal.  Each day of the week is designated for a specific activity.  The sheets are kept in a math binder and collected and graded each Friday along with a weekly wrap up sheet, a weekly homework page, and a Friday Flaunt (a weekly assessment with a slightly less intimidating name).

• Monday - Which One Doesn't Belong (WODB)
• Tuesday - Journal prompt (not always math related, but intended for relationship building)
• Wednesday - MCAS question
• Thursday & Friday - Estimation 180

This routine has made my life much easier.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still working for about 90% of my waking hours, but it is a more predictable routine for me too.  The routine wasn't primarily for my benefit, but for the students to settle in and set the tone for learning.  And maybe to inspire some less confident mathematicians.  

The school year has been filled with much more chatting than I had anticipated.  It has been easy to get lost in the frustration and lose sight of where students are.  All students are actively participating in the "Do Now" activities.  I had noticed that nearly all students were hooked in to the organization established for them and by eight weeks in, most are independently putting resources in the correct locations in their binders. Trust me, this is a far greater feat than it seems.  But, it's still a grind.

This past Friday, I took a personal day.  I was thrilled to get an experienced substitute who just happened to be a retired 5th grade teacher from our school.  I filled her in on the maddening level of chatting as fair warning.  Entering this morning, I wasn't sure what kind of report awaited me.  

A teammate had posted my daily "Do Now" slide for students.  I wanted to keep the routine as much as possible and knowing that I had a competent teacher in my place, I left Friday's Estimation 180 activity for her to debrief with students.  I was hopeful that routine had been well established and this would go well.  The routine goes like this:

• Students fill in their too low, too high, and estimates for the projected image.  Then, they write their reasoning. 
• I ask students to share their too low (prodding for braver answers when necessary).
• I ask for too high estimates.
• Estimates are shared and MUST have a sound reasoning.

When I ran into the substitute in the hall this morning, she said something that stuck with me all day.  They were thinking.  The students were actually thinking.  She remarked about this to students as well, explaining that when she was in school it was just practice, practice, practice.  It was so refreshing to have a seasoned educator impressed by the level of thinking that was taking place.

Too often, I worry that no one is thinking (or even listening).  We're just going through the motions.  Some fresh perspective has helped to motivate me as we begin our next unit.   I'll introduce Number Talks this week and can't wait to see what kind of thinking becomes apparent there.  It's so lovely to realize that what was intended to create predictability and routine also inspired deep thinking and lots of student participation.  This idea has caused me to pause and reflect on the gains we are making this year, even if there is a whole lot of chatting going on!

I'm done! Now what?

This year, I find myself with a good deal more of autonomy in my classroom.  With this newfound freedom, I'm more motivated to use data to drive instruction (funny how that changes when it's not forced), and focus on greater differentiation for the huge range of understanding I see in each of my classes.  Some of my fifth graders are ready to move on quickly and need very little instruction and practice to really master a concept.  Others are struggling with automaticity with addition and subtraction, making fraction and decimal operations even more challenging.

Self reflection has led me to realize that I am doing a much better job of assisting struggling students and need to give more attention to those students who are excelling and quickly getting bored.   After talking with colleagues, parents, and students, I've arrived at the following possible ways to further engage and enrich these students:

• An independent research project on the Fibonacci numbers, the Golden Ratio, or something similar.
• Activities from the 6th grade text
• A connected project per unit or standard
• Purchasing a couple of copies of something like this: The Cartoon Guide to Algebra
• A student brought this to my attention.  She's been working out of it with her grandma and asked if she could work out of it when she has finished her work.

I have several things that need to be worked out.  We have limited technology, so an independent research project is somewhat tricky.  Also, while any student could potentially have the opportunity to work on an enrichment or challenge activity, the reality is that some students will likely never get there, and this could cause some resentment (or maybe motivation?).  How is this work assessed?  If it is not for a grade, will students want to do good quality work?  Should it connect directly to the standards or is this a good place for some "extras?"

I really want to avoid giving additional or different practice and would like for the work to be challenging, interesting, engaging, inspiring, and worth while.  It is also important that the work be largely independent or collaborative among students so that I can continue to provide remediation for other students.  It would be wonderful if this work could be ongoing and long term so that students pick up where they left off.  What do you think would be the best way to drive these students forward and facilitate a greater love for math?  What have you tried in you classroom that was effective (or not)?

Brain Breaks and Perspective

This fall, my district is offering the Studying Skillful Teaching course through Research for Better Teaching and I have been lucky enough to attend.  It has offered an opportunity to meet many pre-K through 12th grade teachers in my district, and "talk shop" with a group of math teachers on a fairly regular basis.  For the most part, the course has reemphasized many important ideas in sound professional practice, such as backwards planning, using wait time, and cultural sensitivity.  Although it took some time, it, like most courses of this nature, has left me feeling inadequate.  This post by Tom Rademacher sums up my experience pretty well.

"The struggle isn’t just inevitable, it’s important. It shows us where to get better, where to adapt, where to throw out the old answers and come up with some new ones. There’s no better sign that things are going poorly in a room than a teacher who always thinks everything is going just fine."

I refer to this post from time to time to remind myself that when things go wrong, reflection and adaptation are my course of action and it's all part of the struggle.  It's just that sometimes, it all feels like too much.

Jim, the instructor of the RBT course, has been wonderful about emphasizing the idea of matching, that is to say finding strategies that work for the particular students in front of us and for our respective styles as educators.  He rejects the notion of "best practices" as one-size-fits-all solutions for classroom success.  This is all helpful and reassuring, but I still cannot escape the nagging feeling that I should be doing more.  And it's not just RBT that makes me feel that way.

Twitter is home to a fantastic community of math educators (Math Twitterblogosphere), where I can turn to help process challenging situations in the classrooms, get answers to pedagogical questions, and just generally geek out about teaching math.  It is through this network that I learned about Notice and Wonder, 101qs, and engaged in an amazing discussion about whether 2 X 7 should have really been written as 7 X 2 when considering the number of lenses in 7 pairs of glasses.

But here's the thing: as much as I love engaging with this community (and learning new things in RBT, or in general), I sometimes need to take a break because it magnifies the feelings of inadequacy.  You see, I arrive to work early, stay a little late, bring a bunch home, and spend a great deal of time communicating with students and families, correcting, planning, and generally working to make my classroom an amazing, positive, and inspiring place for my students.  I engage with online learning communities, read math teaching books for fun, and absolutely love what I am doing.  And it leaves me wondering how any one teacher can employ all of the engaging strategies and improve learning outcomes so effectively and efficiently.

How come a handful of my 87 students are failing, despite many attempts at differentiation and remediation?  How can I better include more strategies from my RETELL course to reach my English Language Learners?  Why are some students still not finding a common denominator to add or subtract fractions?  Why are some students using the handy foldable to help them add and subtract decimals (for the love of all that is holy, line up those decimal points!)?  Where is the balance between conceptual understanding and skill development?  How do I move on when some students are exceeding the standards, and other are not working at grade level?  Now that we've noticed and wondered, when will we have the time to do more with our "wonders"?

Sometimes, I need to step away from Twitter, put down the math book, and remind myself that I'm doing the very best that I can in this moment for the learners I have been given the opportunity to educate this year.  The day I stop learning from my mistakes, adjusting my practice, and growing professionally, is the day I should hang it up.  Thankfully, that day is no where on the horizon.  Hopefully, I will learn to be more inspired by those educators who are able to answer most of the questions posed above and remember that none of us really feels like we have it all together.