Daily 5 Chapter 2

1 .What goals do you have for your classroom as you work to implement the principles and foundations of the Daily 5 discussed in chapter 2? What support do you need to do this?

• I know that at times I have been mistrustful of my students when it comes to their learning and self management.  I have felt the need to micromanage every detail of the classroom down to the cap of the last glue stick.  Now that I have a few years under my belt- literally three years- I am learning to let go.  To set the expectations, teach the routines, and then let the kids take responsibility.  I still have control freak days, but they are few and far between.  And the trade off is that I can spend more of my energy on what really matters- students' learning and growth.  My goal here is to continue trusting my students to meet high expectations.  
• The section on choice really spoke to me.  I love the idea that purpose + choice = motivation.  I know that when I am forced to do a task it is much less meaningful to me than when I make the choice to do so.  I have paid the concept lip service, but the fact of the matter is that I have been swallowed up by the curriculum and the pacing guides.  One of my major goals for this year is to provide as much choice in the classroom as I reasonably can.
• Building a positive classroom culture is one of my strengths.  I love giving each child a sense of importance and belonging in our class.  I think this is vital not only to learning, but to building healthy, stable people.  Each child that comes into my class has a right to feel like she or he is a part of the community and that we are all in this together.  
• I love the story here about the child who asked the VP to keep it down so she could concentrate!  What a dream come true for any teacher :)  My goal with this principle is to really focus on giving kids the feeling that their work is important and they are capable of success.  
• This section is, without a doubt, my favorite part of this chapter.  I love the idea of taking the mystery out of building stamina and just having a frank discussion about strengthening the mental muscle.  Kids need to know that they will become successful once they have learned to practice a skill.  And learning to practice is itself a skill.  My goal here is to really work with my kiddos to build their strength and focus so they become independent learners, while I work to target specific areas for growth.  

2. What stands out as the most significant aspects of this chapter? 

"What meaningful activities does research say my students should be engaging in that puts them in charge of their own learning, is self motivating, is worth of their time and effort, and will improve skills?"  I love this quote!  The part that really stood out for me is "worth their time and effort."  I know that when I do something that I feel is worthwhile I commit to it 100% and I feel that my students will also develop enthusiasm for work that helps them feel worthwhile and productive.  

 3. How do the foundational principles of the Daily 5 structure (trust, choice, community, sense of urgency, and stamina), align with your beliefs that support your teaching strategies and the decisions that you make about student learning?

The principals of the D5 really resonate with my beliefs about children and learning.  They offer a sense of dignity and trust for individual learner and for the learning process.  I feel that by implementing these principles, I am honoring my students as whole people, not just as test scores.  

 

Daily Five Book Study

First, I want to thank Seusstastict for hosting The Daily Five Book Study.  What an awesome idea :)

If you haven't read The Daily Five, go and buy it right now.  Seriously.  When I first read it in my second year of teaching I remember thinking- "OMG!  This is how to TEACH!"  It was like getting the Cilff Notes.  Sadly, the district I worked for at the time demanded fidelity to their curriculum- implementing D5 was not an option at the time.  Happily, I have moved on to far greener pastures :)

1. On pages 4-6, the authors present two different pictures of their classrooms. In thinking about and reflecting on your own practice, how would you characterize your literacy block? Does it look more like the first or second scenario, or is it somewhere in between? How will you change it?
My literacy block, sigh, my literacy block...  
Back when I was in my teacher training program, low those many years ago, I had a cooperating teacher who gave me the soundest piece of advice I have heard to date: "Never, EVER work harder than your students."  I have been smart enough to not waste my energy making adorable and decorative but meaningless activities that need to be written, laminated, cut out, set out, stocked daily, graded, and returned to students.  But I also know that the work students are doing is not tailored to their needs- it is basically a list of page numbers from the work book that goes along with our curriculum.  


One size fits none- some kids can't even read the directions, others are finished in 10 minutes, the rest know in their hearts that it is busy work and act out accordingly. For all my big talk about how the kids were responsible for working, all of the lessons I gave on how to solve problems, all the 'fostering independence' lessons, I was still at the front of the class.  The busy-workers were constantly interrupting with meaningless questions about their meaningless work while the small group became restless, wanting desperately to join in the party that the rest of the students seemed to be having.  I am looking forward to giving my students meaningful work that will encourage them to really participate in learning to become readers.  

2. The typical teacher is very busy having students do lots of different activities. How is what you are having students do now in your classroom creating quality readers and writers? 

I have been pretty successful with getting kids excited about writing.  I am not sure HOW I am getting this to happen, but somehow they're always pumped to spin a good yarn.  I think a big part of what makes writing engaging for my students is that I am excited about their stories.  I really do look forward to reading them- I call one of my dear friends and we chat endlessly about how wonderful their ideas are, the progress that a specific student is making, and how to guide another student toward the next step.


I think I create a culture of writers- I love reading their work, give personalized feedback, share a story here and there, and have fun with guiding them along the way. Reading, not so much.  I have them doing their work, but it is erratic.  There is no real structure or pattern to the kinds of things they are assigned.  I am covering the components of the Daily 5, but in an unstructured way.  Kids are reading, writing, doing word work, and participating in literacy but with no consistent pattern to guide them.  And we all know what happens when you take consistency out of a kids life- LOL!!

3. What sets the Daily 5 structure apart from what you are doing in your classroom?

There IS a structure- LOL!!  I am really looking forward to giving the kids a chance to show what they can do when good choices are taught, modeled, reinforced, and control is relinquished to them.  

Counting Songs

I love mixing music into the classroom. Sometimes a catchy tune is all it takes to help a reluctant learner over the hurdle and onto success. The folks over at Have Fun Teaching have made these awesome videos and songs about counting. And the best part is they are fun, hip-hop-ish, and not cloying in any way shape or form. Seriously, check this out:

   

 Come on, you know you tapped your foot! Check out their website Counting Songs and don't miss their give away page.

Little Things That Make a BIG Difference

Cheers, Chants, Celebrations

Roller Coaster: Begin with your hands down low, tick them up a little at a time while saying 'tick-tick-tick.' When your hands get up as high as you can reach bring them down, bumping along like a roller coaster while going 'Wooo-hooo'

You're Great: Open an imaginary refrigerator door, reach in and find some imaginary cheese, and grate it on your imaginary cheese grater while saying "You're great, you're great, you're great."

Silent HooRay: Give a totally silent scream for your achiever.

Golf-Clap: Make a snobby face: nose in the air and a stiff upper lip.  Clap like you are at a golf tournament.

Raise the Roof: While saying "Awww yea" pump your palms to the roof.

The 100% club: Any time a student gets 100% on a test or quiz give them a special high five- I give them a regular high five, then a fist bump while making an explosion sound.  I still can't believe how hard my students would work to get in the 100% club!

Da Bomb: Bring two fits together, then explode them out while making an explosion sound.

Lots more here:

http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2000/anytime_2000.html

Chirp

More to come, for now enjoy this video of crickets chirping!