Writing

We love Writer's Workshop in our class! Students are always working on something in their big Writer's Notebook binders or digitally in their Writer's Notebook Google Doc. I strive to find a balance between overcoming barriers as well as developing fine motor skills, spelling, and penmanship in students.

Google Read and Write has been installed on every students' Chromebook and they have all been formally trained to use it. Many use it daily in various ways. Some students use it as their go to dictionary when they don't know how to spell a word; they will use speech to text or prediction functions while they write by pencil in their binders. Some use the speech to text feature to get out "big ideas" and sentences that they then copy down. When they edit and proofread they often will type their story on to Google Docs and have it read back slowly to them while they correct the mistakes. A few students prefer to tell their whole story on a Google Doc. Most students will be using various tools on their Chromebook with their binder open beside them and bounce back and forth between the two.

Writing is often broken into three main parts:

The mini lesson where I share or build on the skill we are working on in our current genre (example: describing setting in narrative writing or using sub headings in expository writing.
Quick collaboration (sharing of ideas, check in with a partner, practice a skill, just for examples)
Independent writing where students a writing or conferencing with me. Typically, once independent work time happens students scatter to a place they feel comfortable (one of the carpets, in the hall, at a desk, under a desk, for examples). I take this time to check in one on one or with small groups.
Sharing! I always try to save time for students to share what they have worked on. Sometimes I will share before we start independent time as well. I share my own writing and we co-construct writing as a class but sharing student examples is an essential tool to show students the skills in action.

Writer's Notebooks

In my current classroom, the Writer's Notebooks have a special home on a shelf by my desk. Students know where to get them. If I need to check on how they are doing in writing, I can grab a binder and flip through it.

Students spent a couple of classes at the beginning of the year decorating their binders. They house their ideas, any resources they might need (for example word mats or graphic organizers).

When a student finishes a story they are met with, "That's awesome! I can't wait to read it. What is your next story going to be about?"

Writing block is for writing.

Anchor Charts

I use anchor charts to remind students of the skills we are building on in each genre of writing. I don't save them year to year, I usually create them before, during and after mini lessons.

I refer to them often as we work on mastering skills. There are usually a few posted around the classroom.

Math

Math is where I have seen the most growth recently as a teacher.

To be honest, I have struggled teaching math in the past. I felt like I was trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. Too much time was spent grading tests, I found myself assigning homework because the student didn't "get it" in class and I hoped their parents would have a better chance than me. My time in class was eaten up by re-teaching the whole group lesson almost verbatim over and over again during one on one check ins. Between students being absent and others not getting enough small groups or one on one instruction to truly grasp the skill it became customary to teach a skill until the class achieved a satisfactory level of "enough students get it" and we would move on to the next skill. Math was really hard.

I have been changing how I approach math. I have become much more intentional on how I use my time in math through the guidelines of UDL. I began focusing on mastery of skills instead of teaching units at a time with a big unit test at the end. I have integrated technology and increased student collaboration to increase engagement and accessibility and have seen (and measured) an increase in student achievement.

I often start of class with a gamified warm up reviewing the skills we have been working on in class. My students love Kahoot and Blooket for this. I use Canva to create graphics to supplement the questions. Students look forward to these games. We play "analogue" math games often to reinforce skills in a collaborative and fun way.

I also regularly make Kahoots to practice mental math with the students. We review addition, subtraction, skip counting and other skills in regular intervals to develop numeracy fluency. I have a large and growing library of tailored mental math Kahoots that I use over and over to review with students.

I have recently implemented a blended learning, self paced approach to delivering math lessons to facilitate individualized learning paths. I have a full website that goes into detail, you can check it out under "Tech Integration Project" or just click here.

Hands On Learning

I focus heavily on having students use concrete items to represent the concepts until the student has solidified their understanding. I often find when a student was struggling with a concept, they were not using the tools available. I encourage number lines, counters, pattern blocks, connecting cubes until the student is fluent. Some will rely on these tools longer than others and that is ok. They are essential tools in my classroom.

Evidence of Learning

Kid watching and finding gaps in understanding is my job in math class. I have frequent conferences and check ins where I have students demonstrate their understanding or I help scaffold their understanding. In these moments I will keep note of misconceptions and will use this information to deliver a whole group lesson or address in a Kahoot lesson (often both).

I also collect a lot of data. I have recently integrated self grading google forms for every lesson. This gives me a snapshot of the students understanding while giving the students immediate feedback on their mastery of that skill.

This is a quick look on some of the data that I have collected to inform my teaching.

Inquiry Based Learning

A teacher within the Primary Years Programme (PYP) framework values collaboration and critical reflection from students, as well as oneself. Teachers collaboratively build units of inquiry and encourage building skills and knowledge in a rigorous and engaging environment.

I have had the opportunity to teach at two PYP schools as a classroom teacher as well as a PYP Coordinator for a school in the application process. These experiences gave me an opportunity to reflect on how the framework of inquiry based learning affects a classroom environment as well as a school community as a whole.

For now, I am not teaching within the PYP framework. However, the Nova Scotia Department of Education (NSED) values an integrated curriculum in the elementary grades and inquiry based learning guided by essential graduated competencies across K-12 grades. There are many parallels between the PYP values and the values of NSED. The experiences of being a PYP teacher have shaped how I approach planning learning experiences and how I interact with the NSED curriculum.

PYP Grade One

In this activity grade one students were inquiring into Where We Are In Time And Place. They drew a map of their classroom. As an exit ticket they described where students were sitting in the classroom in terms of the cardinal directions.

We used a compass to mark the cardinal directions on the walls of the classroom. Most students were English Language Learners and thrived being able to spell their classmates names and were able look to the posted directions on the wall to spell for this learning experience.

PYP Grade Three

Students in this third grade PYP classroom are showing what they know in a variety of creative ways. They are writing instructions for games they have built out of cardboard, sharing their knowledge of volcanoes by creating posters to display in their classroom, and have created elaborate cardboard fair games complete with a ticketing system. They celebrated their learning by having a full afternoon of games which felt like being transported to a bustling and exciting afternoon at the fair.

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