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Every Monday morning, we begin the week with a "Monday Mantra." As a class, we read an inspiring quote that relates to our classroom Charter and/or the values we share as a class community. We discuss the meaning of the "mantra," and I invite the children to share how the words inspire them, what connections they have to the message, and how the words can be used to help them act and respond with their best selves in mind. We reread the mantra each morning during the week, and hang it up on the Mantra Wall in our classroom, where it remains for the school year. The children and I reference quotes from our mantra collection almost every day. Now, students find and suggest their own mantras for us to read and add! For example, when studying Mae Jemison, students discovered an inspiring quote in the book, "Mae Among the Stars." They immediately asked if it could become one of our Monday Mantras. Recently, a student also created a slide deck filled with inspiring quotes, one of which became our latest mantra. It's delightful to hear my second graders saying things like, "When you know better, do better," or, "Be a voice, not an echo."

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I've been trying to be more purposeful about using non-permanent white spaces to help groups learn from other groups. After solving this problem in trios, students went around and looked at other groups' thinking, then came back to the whole group to share something another group tried that they did not. As they shared what they learned from other groups, we added to and built on one of the Wipebooks so that the whole class contributed to making an anchor chart.

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I tried "helping trios" as suggested in chapter 9. Here you see a trio giving advice/feedback to each other.  Sometimes, having two "partners" to collect feedback from feels less intimidating than just one partner. The support from the group strengthens the pairings.

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During our professional development a couple weeks ago, I started to think about a learning partnership alliance meeting with one particular student in my class. Throughout the year, her family has not engaged in my communications and I have had very limited success in making contact with them. Our group discussions about learning partnership alliances reinspired me to make every effort to help her family become more engaged in her school experience. This student is one who would benefit greatly from the support that could result from more alignment between home and school. With that being said, I plan to reach out to her family with the very specific area of focus of assisting me in supporting her literacy development by practicing reading a few of her books at home each day. My goal is not only that the extra practice will be beneficial to her, but also that seeing her grown ups place value on and engage in her learning will help to shift her mindset toward that of a more active and engaged learner. In addition, I hope that developing a stronger home and school connection at this early stage of her academic career will set the relationship up to be stronger as she continues through her education.

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Prioritizing Trust and Relationship Building

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Prioritizing Trust and Relationship Building

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My focus this year with my students has been to establish positive relationships with ALL students from the beginning. One friend in particular had strong expressed a dislike for school early on in the year. Through having conversations about topics that he liked and didn't relate to school and listening to all concerns, I began to develop a positive relationship. This along with being a warm demander built a good foundation for us that has been helpful when big feelings about academic content have popped up throughout the year.

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Trust Generators and Points of Connection

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Trust Generators and Points of Connection

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A chapter that has stuck with me since the first time I read it was Chapter 5: Building the Foundation of Learning Partnerships. Especially at the start of the school year, I worked hard to learn about my students and build authentic relationships with them. The trust generators that Zaretta recommends in this chapter provided some concrete points of connection I could develop with my students. As the year has progressed, while I feel there has been strong trust and rapport built between my students and I,  I have noticed that these points of connection aren’t as strong between students themselves. This week, a student asked if they could share something they were proud of from a class/ hobby they do outside of school, and that they would even be interested to see if anyone else did a similar hobby. She suggested we could do an “identity show-and-tell” to share something our classmates might not know about us. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to open up new points of connection between students and further grow the trust and rapport in our classroom community. As students shared, others were encouraged to notice which classmates they shared similar hobbies, traditions, or interests with and see if they could talk more about it together during a time like lunch or recess. Not only was this such an exciting opportunity to learn even more about the students in my class, but you could almost instantly see the new points of connections being made. For example, there were two students who really enjoy baking outside of school that wanted to share a recipe, and two other students newly found out they spoke the same language at home.

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During Power Half Hour, students have the opportunity to coach others and receive coaching from peers. I explicitly taught coaching strategies and provided students with sentence stems and opportunities to role-play different coaching scenarios that might occur. Initially, coaches were selected by myself. Very quickly, students began applying to be kid coach. Students' self-awareness strengthened and they were able to identify areas of expertise and areas of growth. Those who host kid coach groups can be seen developing learning targets and preparing resources. This routine has strengthened students' abilities to provide strong feedback and extend their thinking.

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One student came to us as a beginning reader (level D independent) as a 2nd Grader! She was identified for reading support with the special ed team. The issue I  had was her mindset about reading. She had an aversion to any book that didn't look like the books her friends were reading! She had already decided that reading was something she couldn't do and would appeal for help or sit passively on most tasks. I found that with support , she could read much higher than she was showing us independently. I searched for books that she saw as worthy of her time and we began reading fairy tales together. I jumped in when she needed support and she read what she could on her own. She also began rereading familiar books with me, which was something she did not want to do before. With this triple dose of reading work ( Kim, Mel in the classroom and me) this friend is now reading at a level H independently! And even more importantly, she is beginning to see herself as a reader!

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In the beginning of the year our Morning Meeting routine would consist of a greeting, get to know you activity, morning message and going through the calendar/ weather. A few months in I noticed students needed more than just get to know you questions and activities. Students didn't only want to be known but they wanted to be included and appreciated. The typical get to know you activities were not cutting it. I transitioned from getting to know you activities to a daily affirmation that we say every day. I added this in as a sort of classroom ritual/ routine we do every morning to help students' academic mindsets throughout the day. This helps students center themselves to get ready for learning. It also helps them to affirm things in themselves they may not completely believe in yet. The repeat after me affirmation is:
"I am loved

I am kind

I have a really smart mind

I work hard

I’m unique

I’m the coolest kid you’ll ever meet

Now kiss your brain

And tell someone quietly you’re glad they’re here today!"

This allows them to not only affirm things in themselves but then also spread the positivity to others in the classroom. Students really love this every morning and I noticed the difference in attitude and confidence in my classroom since we have started this.

Bishop

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Giving students the basic tools for independent learning.

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Giving students the basic tools for independent learning.

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This year as a warm demander I made a list of the many tools that students at various levels are using to move from dependent to independent learners of Spanish, which is seen in chapter 5 page 100. Students are provided with a Google Classroom which includes many resources. One such resource highlighted here for grade 3 is a self- reflection cone of proficiency. This is based on the national standards, but written in a kid friendly format. We use this starting in second grade and it can be used after each or any use of the target language when speaking interpersonally. This spring all grade 3-4 students are ready to record their second performance task with a partner and will be using a comparison of their downloaded fall and spring recording to set goals for the remainder of the year and the next.

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At the beginning of year, we would hold book checkout at the end of class. Then one day, a student in second grade raised their hand and was comfortable enough to question why this was the routine. He suggested we try book checkout at the beginning of class. This was something I had never thought about, but was willing to give it a try. After a few weeks of holding checkout at the beginning of class those students reported that book checkout was more enjoyable and they felt a sense of calm because they were not feeling rushed.

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In the resource room I have spent a lot of time and effort this year with one particular 4th grader, working towards shifting his mindset as a learner. In addition to his behavior, learning has always been, and will likely always be, very difficult for him and at the beginning of the year he did not see himself as very capable. As a warm demander, I have spent the year holding him to high standards that match his ability level, while also continually providing him with the reassurance he needs. When he would slip up with his behavior or effort, I kept the bar high, and although he did not like it, he still respected it. This drove him to try harder and strive to meet the goals that not only I set for him, but that he had started setting for himself. Through lots of trial and error as well as tears (probably from both of us!) this student has done a 180 and is now behaviorally on track, is making great gains in his academics, and has taken ownership of his learning. So proud of him!

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In Kindergarten before our traditional morning meeting begins, we open with a centering activity. As a meditation teacher, I explain the purpose of mindfulness and its value at the beginning of the year, beginning with breathwork and shifting to building a capacity for awareness. We listen to a singing bowl meditation every morning and focus all our attention on the sound of the bell. In this centering activity students begin to increase their self-awareness and build strategies for remaining calm and collected in the moment.

Starting the day with this ritual reinforces its value and prioritizes our well being in the classroom.

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Success in the Art Room May Look Different! 

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Success in the Art Room May Look Different! 

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I worked with third grade students on simple sewing skills. Some students hesitated but most jumped right in. Many students struggled with basic skills of tying knots, threading needles and the running stitch. This student embraced each skill and truly enjoyed every moment of the lesson! It was a joy to watch him create and feel safe to fail forward in the art room!

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This chapter suggested using naturalistic elements from nature as a part of every day learning environments and experiences at school to communicate collectivist values that emphasize beauty and harmony with nature. In my writing center this week during literacy centers time, first graders will study items from nature (some of which they have collected themselves) and record noticings in their observation station notebooks.

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I am currently working with 4 fourth graders on fluency and comprehension.  I taught the students how to coach each other on their fluency while reading aloud using a "fluency scorecard".  It was interesting to see their initial struggles with coaching one another.  At first, the students would just tell their friend the word they were struggling on.  After a little bit of coaching into our fluency scorecard tool, the students are better able to articulate areas of growth and provide clear feedback rather than answers. This made me think about our recent PD and our discussion around cognitive load and the wait time needed to process information, especially for our neediest learners. Kid coaching is one way we can help provide clear expectations for peer feedback, discuss the importance of wait time to process information, and extend the thinking happening in our classrooms.