Building Community and Discussions with Stanley, Our Class Pet

Hello my friends,  I've introduced you to our class pets in this post.  However, I'd like to go a little deeper.  Since we've started school, I will invite you to take a look at how Stanley helps create such a positive atmosphere in our room.  He's an ordinary stuffed puppy.   He does absolutely nothing except look cute!  He is mess free....trouble free...bark free...and you know what else free...

I do not have any extraordinary skills in ventriloquism, but they adore my dear Stanley.  I use my "Stanley" voice, and that's about all the tricks I have to do.  The rest is left to the brilliant imaginations of a five year old. 

Here's an example of one of the things I do with Stanley.  In the Responsive Classroom, we teachers write a positive letter to our students every day letting them know what we are doing that day.  It's funny, but I was doing that with kindergarteners long before I knew what Responsive Classroom was...but I imagine that it's because it's a great practice and the kids enjoy it.  Each day I greet my students, announce the day, what we are doing and end it with a positive phrase like "You are awesome," for them to repeat to the group around them.  It then becomes our phrase of the day (but certainly not limited to the only positive phrase of the day.)   Then, I sign the letter, love, Mrs. Wallace and Stanley, and leave Stanley's paw print. 

Another thing we do is "Praises and Prides."  Our friends form an orange (which means form a  circle to see everyone's eyes, instead of grapes or rows to listen to a book.)  We each take turns & go around the circle holding Stanley.  The only one allowed to speak is the person holding Stanley.  Honestly, you would think six year olds would get tired, but somehow Stanley brings the magic of stamina to our room.  I love, love, love the respect this element brings to our classroom.  I look forward to it.  Each person has to think of one thing to compliment another student in our room and say one thing they've done well in our room.

Students don't automatically know how to compliment each other.  Usually I start this ritual with "praises" for each other.  This usually starts with physical attributes like "I like your dress or your hair," and then I train them through other things we do about noticing and complimenting each other on the inside.   Then we move to "prides," or compliments for ourselves.  This activity often makes our kids uncomfortable because they don't yet know the difference between boasting and being proud of  making a goal or accomplishing a difficult task.  I carefully introduce the difference, and with practice, they figure it out.

As the year goes on and we make our community discoveries, I will include more here.  For now, I hope that something sparks an idea for you.  Please feel free to share what works for your classroom community because I'm always on the look out for new ideas.  For now, CHEERS!  And have a great weekend.

 

Oh the things Pictues Can Do! Low Tech for Technology Tuesday

Hmmm...funny this post has had some "technical" difficulty... made me laugh since this week's post is more low tech...

In the past few years, I've used a lot of pictures in my classroom, mostly to label work and make class books.  But last year, I began using them for lists; and this year, I pinned some things on Pinterest  from Chartchums about using pictures for anchor charts.  Wow!  How that little added piece of personalizing a chart creates more engagement for the kiddos.  I'm sure I haven't even
touched the surface of what I can do with such charts.  I might not even be able to keep up with my ideas for them!

My favorite part about the Chartchums' poster was how the kids used sticky notes for parts
they were currently using.  This is a  quick visual for the teacher and a token of accountability for the student.  Can't wait to use it for my Writing Workshop charts this week!


This week I used pictures to show what Reading Workshop looks like.  I went around the room taking pictures of kiddos completing the Daily 5 T-chart rules:  remaining in one place,  quietly,  reading the whole time, keeping our feet and hands to self, and our class agreement to stay away from our friends (since we are a bit chatty around them.)   This is an awesome management tool as well because they all want to be "caught" on camera!  I tell them it's documentation for their parents that they're working hard and doing a fabulous job!

I will repost pictures later as I'm still having technical difficulties.

Have a happy week!

Technology Tuesday presents DROPBOX !

I love genius!   Really, Dropbox has been around for awhile; however, I had tunnel vision on it's uses, thinking it was mostly a way for businesses to share on the "cloud."  Lately, I've been more appreciative of it's benefits to an ordinary human like me! AND, it just might be what you're looking for you too!   My problem was not remembering to bring a flashdrive back and forth to work or worried I would lose the flashdrive, when I needed these precious files (like lesson plans and activities)  in both places.  So for over a year, I would email files back and forth to myself.  This caused a bigger problem, cluttering my email!  I was frustrated, and I knew that my school district just wasn't yet able to assist me with this.

So, when I "restumbled" on Dropbox on my phone, I was elated!   Honestly,
I wasn't sure what took me so long to recognize this incredible tool for it's personal uses.   I'm glad I figured out how it would work for me!   The best part?  You don't have to download software (but sometimes it enables you to do more.) You can share photos and videos AND do it all in the popular social mediums like Twitter and Facebook.  You can automatically upload photographs or videos from camera, tablet, SD card, or smartphone, and you are given 3G.  For small users like me, this is enough storage and assists me with what I need it fore.  But imagine, as I get more into this, and begin sharing photos and video, I just might want to purchase me some bigger storage space.  Who knows?

In addition, I can think of a variety of uses for professional development for those documents that we teachers are constantly working on as teams like math units and lesson plans and other shared documents!   I imagine it's like all the other great technology out there...just waiting for people to take advantage of it.

For now, I'm a happy camper...
Happy technology Tuesday! 

Rockin' Robin TWEET TWEET- Technology Tuesday

Good Morning!
It is Technology Tuesday, and I believe today we are chatting about Twitter!   I actually signed up for Twitter many years ago when my girls signed up.  Mostly, I used my account for following others and hearing about what was going on in their lives.  It seemed silly to do little updates about an everyday life American...but it was interesting hearing about a "star's" life or what was new going on in the world.  I didn't tweet.  I just followed tweets!  (Does that make me a Twitter stalker?)

Since then, Twitter has blown up, and my sweet daughter, Kelci, a social media guru, told me the benefits of using it in my classroom.  Also, we heard about it a lot at DENapalooza and our great technology person, Ashleigh, gave me a few tips.

So, when my parents came for open house last week, I gave them my info and told them how to follow me with Wallace updates.  My hashtags will be #throughfirstgradeeyes.  For now, I will probably use it just to give my families brief updates of what is going on in the classroom and to learn about great things going on in the education world.  Let's see where it goes from there....TWEET TWEET Rockin' Robin....doo ta doo...  :)  (imagine a whistle here.)

Happy Technology Tuesday!  Have you thought about great apps you enjoy or cool technology  and want to share?  Post it here!

:) Marie

It's All About Community!

I love starting a new year. It brings fresh starts and fresh eyes and ways of seeing things differently. 
Every year, I work incredibly hard to build community.  I tell the kids they now have two families, one at home and one here at school.  They are surprised at first and a little disbelieving.  But I am convinced that if a child feels happy and safe and loved, they can accomplish great things and will be willing to try most anything!  This sense of family brings unity to our day...it begins our journey of learning empathy and sympathy

This year, I'm working harder than ever to move slower into curriculum.  As always, I've turned to my favorite books like The Responsive Classroom.  I adore this curriculum because it builds community with successful steps.  We write a morning message every day (which I've always done because the kids adore it.)  In this case, I write a morning message with my class pets (more about that here.)  The kids can hardly wait to see Stanley's paw print on a message. These class pets are just as much a part of our community as the kids.  (It's magic.)

In addition, we learn every morning how to greet each other, how to act with each other, how to see the best in everyone.  I don't stop there.  I add elements of Peace Builders and other curriculums which build self esteem and self confidence. 

In these first days, we concentrate on creating rules for the classroom and for outside. 
Before kids are allowed to use playground equipment, they are taught how to play games with each other, making sure kids aren't left out and that they are playing fair and by the rules.  What I love about this set-up is that kids are taught success right away.

Here are a couple of the games for big groups:
octopus              fish gobbler  (this one has several P.E. games)

Next week I will bring out playground equipment and teach them more games involving balls and jump ropes.  It will be such fun!            

I know there is so much more to community building than I can write on this page, so I will continue our discussion further later on down the line.

These first days are so important.  In the end, just like the old mantra, "go slow to go fast."  Spending time to invest in the kids and community now, ensures they will be more responsive when it comes time to do more academic things.  I love my school family.  These steps also allow me to have something to look forward to every day.

Cheers!

Remind 101 for Tech Tuesday

It's Tech Tuesday and time for another wonderful tech tip.  This week we start school, and I found the most awesome tool,  that makes sending and receiving messages quick and safe.  Remind101 -  There is a great youtube video that explains the purpose of this wonderful app.

For the last nine years or so, I've sent email reminders for upcoming events or projects or any communication I needed to send out massively.  It was my attempt to save on paper and to efficiently send out a note to all my parents and also making sure that notes got home for those little cherubs that had difficulty getting them home.  Until the last 4 years or so, this wasn't a tool I could use for the majority of my class.  With the explosion of cell phones and more and more people with access to cell phones versus a home phone, this app is helpful to send out those very quick reminders and there's no exchange of personal information.  The phone numbers are private for all parties.

On parent night, each of my parents will receive a notice of how to sign up for this service.  It's so simple!  Parents text in a special code and it goes directly to the teacher to know they've signed up, and they're set up in the class. 

What are  your apps for the week?  Have you tried this app?  If so, in what ways has it worked for you?  I'm hoping to return to this post later and let you know some tips and tricks that might work better for you.

Enjoy!   Happy apping!

New Running Record App! for Tech Tuesday (late)

You have to love Teacher Tipster.  First you love his awesome Youtube videos, and now he's making apps!   Have you gone to the Google Playstore and tried the Running Record  Toolbox App?
And yes, there's an android version for folks like me.  It has a WPM  stopwatch!  (for those of us who might lend out their stopwatch and not know where it is) .  The Running Record Calculator allows you to instantly do the math and finish up those records on the spot.  Lastly, it has a symbol Cheat Sheet and an Accuracy Table as quick reference guides.

                       Here is a YouTube video to explain the app more in depth. 

If you haven't had a check out some of Teacher Tipster's other videos, please do.  He has so many handy ideas from classroom management to activities for reading and math.  Mostly of them are simple to create or perform.

Happy record keeping!