#WelcomeBackMrWhitaker

Call me Mr. Rubric

I'm not sure why I didn't roll these out earlier, but I'm so glad I did. I put the question out about rubrics on Facebook and the responses were pure gold. So I have a few rubrics for specific projects and some that can be used for general stuff.   For the latter I'm going to laminate them and allow the kids to keep these at their tables. The specific ones I'll have to print off as needed and I'll make a large one to go over on my promethean board. After the kids get used to it I'll have them help me make rubrics for each project. Going to laminate a large 4 x 4 grid on some chart paper. I'll use that to make new rubrics that the kids will be able to write the needed elements on. I know my students don't care that much about paper. They're not that into NOT wasting it. Matter of fact it's a big deal that I repurpose old lesson plans and scrap paper for them to do morning warmup work on the back. I'm going to have to drill and drill that this is what I'm going to use to help you get the most from each lesson/activity. Should be fun. 

It was one of those weeks

 We either rocked like Rock stars or we looked mighty odd.  I choose to believe that we rocked like Rock stars. 

This week was interesting. My class did A LOT of projects and class work I'd hoped to be able to display. The issue is that what the kids gave me wasn't remotely what I was envisioning. Not to say it wasn't good. It just wasn't what I had expected at all. Take the project below. 

I wanted the kids to draw a Fact Family of the basic addition facts. The plan was to use these to compile into a book for them to reference every now and then. (At least until they got the facts down like second nature.) So I put this up on the Promethean board for them to look at. 

I also did an example and passed it along around the room. 

What the kids gave me was less than what I expected. Such that I didn't even take pictures of them. On Monday I'm going to have them redo this project as well as a writing assignment they did. Thanks to a good friend making the recommendation, I'm going to post two rubrics one for each project and have the kiddos reference back to them as they do the work. All I can think of is that since I didn't have a rubric for them to reference I didn't give them a clear idea of what I wanted. 

 

I've done rubrics before. Not certain why I stopped, but I'll be doing these more often for sure. 

Midweek grilling and chilling

It's Wednesday and I'm ready to grill. I love when Wednesday comes around. It's my grill day. On Wednesday I just drill, grill and thrill. We review, restate and re teach skills from earlier this week. I also have tutorial today and I hope those little dears are ready cause I'm going to push them for that hour for sure. I sure hope their appetites are in place cause I'm about to serve it up! 

Started bringing the hot fire by keeping all my parents in touch by texting them through out the day. That has been miraculous. The response and ROT (return on text) has been much better than just calling. (Besides I now have a text stream that I've talked to each parent to put in my notes for future conferences)

I have my menu ready, the grill is hot and the workshop will be smoking! Might even start wearing my grilling apron on Wednesday. 

Class vs. Shaving cream (Round 1)

I get tired of watching my students go through ream upon ream of paper just wasting it. So I got this idea from another blog to use shaving cream as an assignment. It's not cheaper per say, but it's sure a lot more fun. 

*Mind you I did notice that this student has the "+" symbol in the wrong place and an "=" sign where it's not needed. My hands were covered in shave cream and I was good to get one picture. 

We were working on inverse operations to see/prove that subtraction can help us better understand addition. The kids loved it. Since I did a lot to prep the lesson this really hit home. They did this for about 20 minutes, cleaned up and and journaled what they found. Only one had cream all the way up to his elbows. None got any on the floor. Most surprisingly none got any on their classmates. 

It cost me $1.16 for a can of cream. Not bad. Tomorrow we may pull out the shave cream again and work with forms of energy. Might save this for the next time I'm being observed to either a) hit a home room or b) crash and burn in a blaze of glory. 

*Points to remember if you use this method

• Tell the class they're icing cakes. That will keep them from rubbing the shaving cream so much that it evaporates.
• I'd think that whipped cream would work, but it's sticky, the kids will try to eat it, and it might attarach bugs. 
• They don't need a big space. The size and shape of a legal sheet of paper is fine. 
• One can of shave cream goes a LONG way. Thought I was going to need like two, but ended up using 3/4 of one. That's with me re-upping many kids work areas. 
• Take your time wrapping up. As you're talking and going back over the steps, the shaving cream dries. This makes it very easy to clean up. 
• Have baby wipes on hand unless you want to send them to the rest room to wash their hands. 
• Don't sweat cleaning the table/desks until after school. Shave cream is soap and doesn't hurt anything. It just leaves a film on the desk, but it washes off quickly. 

The bet that my class could get 150 class Dojo points has been less than spectacular. As of today they've earned 80, but also have lost 79. That's not good. Going to do something special for those who are on track with 5 or more points tomorrow. Maybe they'll get extra center time or get to go as a small group to the media center. Can't focus to much and to long on those who won't do right. I have some Prince and Princess students who want to learn and are making the most of each day. Can't let a few ogre's ruin it. 

Off to Crossfit South Cobb. 

My blog isn't like the others

and that's a good thing. 

There are so many top notch idea focused teacher blogs out there. I can spend entirely to much time surfing them, gaining ideas and letting the bloggers know that they're really appreciated. My own blog is different.  I can't be like them and I won't even attempt. What I can do is be Jason and put out what I think people would like to read about me and my return to teaching. 

I like to talk about what I do. I love my students even though my beard is starting to look like it needs a little touch up, because of said students. I like to vent that sometimes, more times than I'll admit I'm at my whit's end. I adore my co workers. We have the best group of rough and tumble, trench slogging, never quit teachers I've seen. I like to free myself for a few minutes and just say..."I'm a teacher and I make a difference". It feels good and that's why my blog isn't like most others out there. 

What I'm learning today is that I have to teach "children" to think for themselves. To often we've taught them to come to a wall, obstacle, challenge and sit down until you're told what to do next. That's a BIG hassle when one has a class of 20 who all seem to run into roadblocks at the same time. I almost think that my biggest goal is to get them to think past the immediate issue and think long term. It's a tough row to turn, but I see results daily. 

Thanks for checking up on Whitaker's Workshop

Facts vs Opinions

Earlier this week I set my kids up to listen to some unique songs, Bob Marley and some Shawn Brown. They had to listen to the 3-4 minute songs and write three facts and opinions about  them. It was a lot of fun. Listening to the kids explain and defend their thoughts was refreshing. One song has become our Official Unoffical after lunch song. It kind of cute listening to them sing it throughout the day. Ok, back to lesson plans for next week.  

This is going to be a great week

Found out I have a scheduled visitation ALL day Thursday. This should be a blast. I have a solid lesson planned. I know that I need work, but I'm confident that everyday I'm getting better and better. Let's see how Thursday goes. I expect nothing less than outstanding. 

Classroom fairy hit my room again for 2.0. I'm quite proud of it. I know the kids are gonna flip over the 3D ladder bulletin board and the new reading area.

2nd grade the first recap

I'll talk about the ins and outs of 2nd grade a little later. In the mean time let's talk about The Whitaker Workshop

As I rolled into 2nd grade with a classroom theme. The theme is " Building the next Generation". So the decor is all about construction, building and workshop.  

This sign greets all who come to my room. The kids love it! I wish I had made it a little larger so the sayings around the letters could stand out more. Next time. 

This is a shot into my classroom. I have this mini-hallway before you get into the class. It's a great surface area to create "get ready to learn" space. Sometimes my kids use it as a run way to sprint through. We'll be stopping that Monday morning. 

This is a reverse shot of the same mini hall. 

This is what it looked like when I left Friday. We review the rules twice a day. I found out quickly that my room is to big for this small sign. So I finagled and wrote them out on two large sticky notes and posted them around the room. *Shout out to my secret decoration angel. She's the truth and very passionate about classroom decor. She takes your idea and RUNS with it. And she's not for hire. 

 

This is where I'll post some of the spectacular work my kids produce. 

I took a picture of each of my students with a hard hat and an apron on. I printed and cut the pic out posting each on a different gear. I continually remind them that they each work together to help us all reach out goal of 3 rd grade and a life time of learning. 

How my room looked before we started really digging into the theme. 

Our new class moto over the coat rack. Used an old tool box to set up the theme. It will also be my "treasure" box. I'm looking to fill it with things the students like. As they're caught being kind or doing good work I'll let them dig in the tool box for a reward. Thinking of some good rewards that they'll like and won't cause me to pull my hair out cause they've had candy and are now bouncing off the ceilings. 

 

How my word wall and tech area looked before. 

New Word wall area. Words will be going up this week. My plan is to make the words look like bricks to work with the building theme. 

A math station. I have clothes pins attached to the wall so I can swap in or out a center board or another math theme. 

This was again a shot of my class in the beginning. 

This is a shot of the room how it greeted the students on Wednesday. We made table caddies with the table number on them. When I pass out crayons or scissors they go into the caddy and they return to the caddy. The Table Captains are responsible for getting them back to me. 

I'm working on replacing that very unique and quite dingy rug. It doesn't work with the decor, but for now it's what I have. 

Every morning the kids come and get their apron for their specific jobs. This pic doesn't show the job titles on the apron. I did that a little later. I had the kids complete a job app based upon the job they wanted. It was very fun. 

The class jobs are:

• Apprentice (FKA Teacher's helper)
• Tool Manager (FKA Paper Passer)
• Runner (FKA Errand person)
• Foreman (FKA Clean up person)
• Architect (FKA Line Leader)
• Engineer (FKA Line Monitor)

I was going to make hall passes, but I found that the kids LOVE to wear an apron around.  So, I started just giving them an apron to go to the restroom or what not. 

 

The classroom rules are simple: 1. We raise our hands to speak 2. We speak when we should. 3. We respect others. 4. We follow all instructions. My plan is during a day or two day period as I see kids doing the right thing or doing great work I'll drop some kind of warm fuzzy in the bucket. Since I use ClassDojo I could easily tie this into filling the bucket daily. Of course as the kids get better at that one rule I'll just move to the next or the next behavior I'd like to see more of. 

So far I really think the feed back has been positive. I didn't get a pic of my mobile desk and some other things. I'll make sure to add them this week. The kids like it and that's the best part. Now on to the content and making sure each of them is best prepared for 3rd grade. 

My return to Crossfit South Cobb has been met with rewards. I feel MUCH better when stressed and I'm sleeping better. I feel strong. Albeit not as strong as I have, but I know that's coming. 

Day 7 sans sugar and coffee. I'm through the wilderness already. I feel great. I'm still gonna enjoy an iced coffee every now and then, but it will have to be sugar free and I'm pretty sure I won't want that everyday. 



 

So the theme for 2nd semester is...

Extreme Classroom Makeover has concluded and the theme is...

I went with a workshop and contruction look for the room. I believe it really came alive. There are some store bought decorations, but must of it was hand made by a good friend who was FIRED up to help me do a total class turn around. I wanted to finish more of it, but it wasn't realalistic to stress it today. We had a vision of a ladder for a KWL Chart as well as some major overhaul in my book area. It just wasn't going to happen today, but if it had WOW! I have at least until the weekend to really make it pop. Besides, by then I will know if I need to have a truck load to sawdust added to make it seem more real.

Whitaker's Workshop:

Building a student who embraces risk and gives heart felt effort. Creating life long learners who will one day shape the world. 

Pretty sure every year I'm going to do a theme for the year. So next year I'll keep this one and just add more to it. I'm sure I'll find lots I want to add and take away. I have some neat friends and I think if I don't do the Workshop next year, I'll still have a serious theme. The end result has to be the kids learning. 

Today starts Crossfit SouthCobb's 5 week challenge. I feel so much better than I did last time so I'm expecting to bring it this time around. Didn't fair well on my lean muscle gain and fat loss last time, but my strength numbers did go up some. So this time I'm aiming to slim, trim and throw them weights.

Day 4 sans coffee/sugar. Feel good, but I could use a giant iced coffee for sure. 

End of the Semester party the award show

As of January 2012 I'll be a 2nd grade teacher. My principal felt that my skills would be better served in the lower grade. So the next couple of days I need to get my class moved and ready to roll when we get back from the break. 

We're having an End of the Year/Semester Party next Tuesday. My theme is 1st Semester Awards. I'm working on some fun awards to dole out. Thinking about some of these

• Good and Plenty: Read good and plenty of books/ideas
• Milky Way: For being a star student
• Almond Joy: Always being joyful
• Snickers: Able to make others snicker/laugh
• Whatchamacallit: known for asking more than your fair share of questions
• 3 Musketeers: Couldn't separate you from your friends
• Payday: Everyday is Payday cause you come to work every day! 
• Skor: You do a great job and make a great effort

Since someone told me it wasn't "fair" for me to ask each of my students to donate $3 towards our party I'll just foot the bill and get each a candybar. I geuss it's fair for me to dole out $23 than for each kid to bring $3 so we can have food/drinks at our party. 

I should give that person a "Sour Patch" award for trying to rain on my parade. 

Monday we're having an all day reading event. They're bringing in hot coco and the kiddies are going to read pretty much all day. I have some final educational activities for them to do while I'm packing my room, showing a video and maintaining order. Shouldn't be a disappointing day at all.