As we move into our sixth year of teaching, we picked our top priorities to focus on!
J- This year I want to have a morning meeting with my kids telling me goals they want to reach this year. Anything from learning how to tie their shoes to counting to 1,000! What goals they pick, I will guide them in figuring out a way to obtain that goal and the goals become personal for them.
Learning targets will be posted week by week to ensure the students know what we will be learning along with the goals of the week. These will be discussed every morning meeting we have.
Guided math groups….ahhhhhh!! That’s how I feel about them, but I think I will be able to centralize the learning with more focus on the skills. I believe in the long run it will be well worth pulling small groups during math. Some skills I will only teach in small groups and other times I will start with whole group and then go into small group lessons. I’m constantly changing up how I teach each year because I always feel there is something I can do better than before.
Letter activities I am super pumped about! Having a different fun activity for each letter is my goal, but in reality I will probably only do 1st-2nd quarter letters and see how it goes and of course see how the kids like it. I want them to have choice in their learning and what we do in the classroom. Ownership in their learning will be huge! We as adults think things will be awesomesauce and then they flop because we forgot the part of asking the kids what they want! I have to plug this book here Let Them Speak by Rebecca Coda and Rick Jetter. Go read it now! They speak on how student voice is a powerful tool for not only educators, but districts as well.
Students tracking their own data will hopefully increase their growth. I have read several articles on this that support this theory. I’m posting charts in the room that students will fill in themselves after quarter assessments. This will be an easy way for them to see their own growth and hopefully want to strive to grow even further.
M- 2018-2019 is the year of following the motto “do less things with more passion!” I decided on three things I want to focus on!
If I write it down I can be held accountable!
-Guided math groups
I want to start out teaching the strategy whole group and then send kids to work independently while pulling back a group with me. Making sure to differentiate the subject by paying attention to my kids’ interests and abilities. I want it to be flexible- more and less time needed for my different groups. Not being a stickler about x amount of minutes per group. I would like the transition between centers to also be smooth! Obviously I want my kids to be engaged AND learning- which I gave up a few years literacy centers and let my kids do free play because of those exact issues. I still do free play, so I don’t think I am asking too much for them to work independently doing math activities.
-Portfolios! ClassDojo vs. Seesaw portfolios? I tweeted looking for a comparison of the two. A Seesaw ambassador replieds saying she hoped there would be one soon. I have used ClassDojo the last few years as my behavior management tool, but I am thinking of shying away from that and really focusing on the relationship and reteaching aspect. I do LOVE using ClassDojo as a communication tool and their ClassStory feature makes me so happy! I don’t want to double up and use two different apps- which goes with my next goal….
Maintaining a simplistic approach with minimal clutter and fluff. My classroom completely transformed when I switched schools and I tried to make it more "homey" and kept Reggio Emilia in mind! Back to my early childhood roots!
It is sooooo easy to get caught up in all of the trends, strategies, technology and it is necessary to focus on what is important to YOU and works for YOUR class- which is different year to year.
Be a star thrower!
J & M
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