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Of the Fundamental Five, I use working in the Power Zone regularly. Having my kids seated in the horseshoe allows me to walk in to the middle and have close proximity to each of the students easily. We also move around the room as a group and I move with them, whether we are gathered up front at the rug or gathered around me reading/singing a book.  The kids also work in groups and I walk around the room when they are collaborating.  The fundamental I may have the hardest time implementing is writing critically due to time constraints.  I know that writing can be used effectively in any subject, but 40 minutes is not a long time and I want them to primarily make music when they come to my room.
~Joanie

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I feel that I do focus on changing my location in the classroom as I instruct and manage the classroom activities.  Whether it be a whole class mini lesson or a small group guided lesson, I try to give balance and bounce back and forth between instruction, one-on-one check ins, and overall facilitator (stepping back while students take charge).
Writing Critically is the most difficult practice for me to use in a balanced way within in the confines of our schedule.  I feel that I use this practice in segments of our day.  However, within those small guided group times, I find it difficult to incorporate unless the defined task of the group is a dedicated written activity.  Often though, a specific written activity is not always the focus of my small group instruction.  So, how do I find the time in the fast pace of meeting with all of my groups to add this in as a best practice instead of it being what gets cut when I need to keep my group rotation going on schedule?  Maybe I need to have writing critically about our small group learning be something the students do after they leave my table instead of always trying to fit it in while they are sitting at the group with me.  Could it even be something they do later in the day to reflect back or the next day to connect past learning with the new day's learning?
Wendy

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I think my greatest strength as a teacher is the ability to recognize and reinforce as students progress. I believe that as a students' confidence grows they are better able to under-take challenges. I work hard to develop a relationship with each of my students so that they know I am authentic in my praise and recognition. This year I have started using an "interactive" Learning Pit to help my students recognize their small accomplishments as a way to build on larger accomplishments. This has been a great success and each of them has shown great excitement about this new addition to our classroom.
Hardest to Implement:
Writing Critically- This is a challenge in my small groups. I have so much to teach and is such a short amount of time, that to have them write about various topics seems time-consuming. However, I see how it would be a good way to reinforce the academics of content.

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When students are working at the tables/in centers or stations I am walking around checking in to see how they are doing and who needs extra support or what they are doing it correct or me to ask them questions to have a discussion with them about what they are doing and why.
Writing critically ... we write everyday, but it is not critical. it is narrative or story in nature for them since they are just learning to write.

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Use:  I think I use Framing the Lesson now.  All my lessons begin with an objective or an “I can” statement.  As we move through a lesson, I try to highlight the objective to reinforce what we are addressing and why it is important.  One portion of framing the lesson that I need to improve is consistently providing students with a clear picture of how they will be expected to demonstrate their understanding of critical concepts.  Hardest to implement:  I think Frequent, Small-Group, Purposeful Talk about Learning may be the most difficult for me to implement.  Over the past few years I’ve wrestled with various strategies and methods to allow for efficient and effective classroom management for meeting with small groups (guided learning time).  I spend so much effort trying to manage this time that I lose focus on the purpose.  Working out an efficient system to manage the classroom and provide meaningful discussions with all the small groups is a monumental task.  Furthermore, I would like the meaningful discussions to promote more higher level thinking.  Very difficult.
-John

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As a first grade teacher, I am constantly up and moving.  Monitoring student behavior, checking for understanding, greeting students, modeling activities, answering questions, etc. are just a few reasons why I work in the Power Zone daily.

An area that I can improve on is  writing critically.  Allowing our students to write quality pieces is key and modeling that for a first grade class can be difficult due to time.  I am hoping this book gives us some resources on how to fit it in more.
~Darby

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I feel this is one of my strongest areas. Students need to know that certain accomplishments are important. From the book, "The words  teachers use can motivate students, build confidence or destroy self-image." Words are powerful.
One area for me to work on would be writing critically.  Writing allows the children to make connections.  I need to implement more writing into my day.
Nancy

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As I reflected on this I realized that I do this all day long. First graders are looking for recognition and sometimes they demand it! As I walk around the classroom I am always privately conferencing with the students about their work. Sometimes it can be a positive word about a skill that they are using and other times it is a short discussion to help a student better understand a concept. Either way, it only takes a few seconds and it builds trust and respect between the students and me.
Hardest: Writing critically is an area where I need to improve. I'm okay doing it during writer's workshop, but to find the time to have first graders write critically during the day is a challenge.
~Maureen

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I feel I use Work in the Power Zone everyday. I am constantly walking around the classroom monitoring student behavior and achievement.  This allows me to see who may need help but doesn't want to ask for it.  I can see who understands material and who needs to be pulled for small group instruction.
Hardest:  Write critically
I'm just not sure how to incorporate it into every lesson.  I would like to learn more ways to incorporate critical writing so students make connections to their learning.
Sherri

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This practice is one I use everyday and all day.  Moving throughout the room allows you to see who understands and who doesn't, who's on track and who isn't, and it also allows you to be part of the conversations the groups are having along with hear the students understanding of what you are teaching.
Hardest: Write critically
I wish I could have my students write more often and to be critical writers.  A lot of students don't want to write as well as to think critically while doing it, so this tends to be a struggle for students.  The other problem that I feel keeps us from writing critically is time.  You need to dedicate time in order to write critically, and I feel like I lack in this area.  I hope to find more ideas for this practice.
-Jaci

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Use: Work in the Power Zone Hardest: Framing the Lesson

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Use: Work in the Power Zone Hardest: Framing the Lesson

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Currently, I use Work in the Power Zone most often out of the 5 Fundamental Practices. This is to reinforce student behavior along with quickly working out issues that come with learning. I enjoy moving to locations near different students and really getting to know how each individual works through their own learning.
Framing the lesson is one of the harder practices for me. This is because of the last step of closing out the lesson with an 'I will...' statement and writing that on the board. I am not sure where I can add this to my classroom environment with the starting statement.
-Sophie

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I feel that I am constantly walking around the room if the students are at their desks doing something as a whole class.  I provide them with quick feedback as I do this; even something as quick as a thumbs up or a reminder to fix something.  Even in small group time I am out of my seat and walking around the small group to provide feedback as needed to the group.
Hardest: Write critically
I would love to have them write for more than just writing time, but having the time to do it is hard.  It is also hard for first graders to write so incorporating this into all subjects and lessons would be a challenge for some of them, especially at this point of the school year.  It would also be nice to learn more about this practice so I can try to implement it correctly.
- Janel

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Use: Recognize & Reinforce. I truly feel that we are able to motivate students to achieve more than what they think based on our encouragement. Our students must believe they can accomplish something before they actually are able to accomplish it

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Use: Recognize & Reinforce. I truly feel that we are able to motivate students to achieve more than what they think based on our encouragement. Our students must believe they can accomplish something before they actually are able to accomplish it

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Hardest: One of the hardest and most important practice, in my opinion, is writing critically. I would love to learn more information to get students to make connections to their reading and "...transform[s] subconscious ideas into conscious thoughts..." without feeling the pressure of "am I doing it right?".
- The OTHER Ashley

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Out of the 5 fundamental practices, I think I am the strongest in Framing the Lesson.  At the beginning of the lesson, I say "SWBAT" and the students repeat "SWBAT" and we state the objective of the lesson.  It is also posted on the board for the day.  I also explain what we are learning and how it applicable to "real world".  I have them reflect often on Seesaw (not always at the end of the lesson but maybe later in the day) on their learning.  I think the hardest practice to implement is Writing Critically.  I think this is the hardest due to not haven't enough time.  It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just time constraints for each subject. - Kristi

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Out of the 5 fundamental practices, I think I am the strongest in Framing the Lesson.  At the beginning of the lesson, I say "SWBAT" and the students repeat "SWBAT" and we state the objective of the lesson.  It is also posted on the board for the day.  I also explain what we are learning and how it applicable to "real world".  I have them reflect often on Seesaw (not always at the end of the lesson but maybe later in the day) on their learning.  I think the hardest practice to implement is Writing Critically.  I think this is the hardest due to not haven't enough time.  It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just time constraints for each subject. - Kristi

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Out of the 5 fundamental practices, I think I am the strongest in Framing the Lesson. I use this practice everyday before, during, and after each lesson. I explain to my students what the objective is for the lesson, as well as write an "I Can" statement on the board. I also explain what we will be learning, how the students will show me what they learned, and have them reflect on their understanding. 

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Out of the 5 fundamental practices, I think I am the strongest in Framing the Lesson. I use this practice everyday before, during, and after each lesson. I explain to my students what the objective is for the lesson, as well as write an "I Can" statement on the board. I also explain what we will be learning, how the students will show me what they learned, and have them reflect on their understanding. 

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Even though I incorporate small-group talk, I feel like it is not always purposeful or that the students get off-task and have other conversations. This is an area I would like to improve upon and sometimes feels like the hardest to implement effectively.

-Ashley S.

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I do have the kids write critically, not after each class, but they will often reflect on their work after the piece is complete. The kids will reflect on their successes and things they could improve on.
I'm not sure how to implement small group learning into my class. while the kids are often talking about their work and their choices in their art work, I'm not sure how much learning is going on.