Highs and Lows

Well Friday was very exciting at school. It was the day that I was to present my iMovie in 1st/6th grade Buddies. After plugging in a million cords and figuring out the Pythagorean theorem equivalent of technology I finally got the movie up and rolling. Before we went over to the 6th grade room to watch the movie we talked in 1st grade about how we will behave during the movie. I knew that they would get all figity and excited when they saw themselves on the movie (rightfully so) so I was proactive about their behavior - I'm learning! We talked about how we act in a real movie theater and how we should act the same way next door. We talked about how if he get excited we can keep it inside. It worked! WOO! They were super quiet and respected their classmates and watched each segment quietly. They LOVED the movie, the 6th graders did as well. I was happy that the kids loved it so much but I was excited for me too. I was proud of myself that I thought of a fancy technology lesson and made an iMovie. It's something I can definitely use to my advantage when I need a job.... in 3 months OH MY GOSH. Anyway - iMovie.... SUCCESS!

I implemented centers again on Friday. I LOVE CENTERS! They keep kids engaged, motivated, and not to mention we get so much done! I can also differentiate and conference with individual students. Did I mention I LOVE centers? I am glad I decided to use them, I plan to continue to do so. My co-op doesn't do centers but she said she likes them so I can continue with them. No problem! I am going to try literacy centers next week and I am going to do that for my observation lesson (I hope it goes well!!) I think I will go over some center rules though. I wish so badly that we did guided reading. It drives me insane that we don't. Oh well. Not much I can do. Or can I? I'll have to see how I can conference with student individually and work on reading. Perhaps doing a buddy reading center will suffice for now.

I also tried little pieces of Power Teaching (AKA Whole Brain Teaching) today. During a search on the internet last week (my really exciting Friday night) I came across Chris Biffles website. I found a huge interest in it. While I am a firm believer in the Responsive Classroom teaching approach I still like to see how other teachers/districts do things. After all that's how I got so interested in Responsive Classroom. A few things I liked about Whole Brain Teaching is that they use gestures to reinforce rules and concepts. They go through their rules each day and put a little gesture with it. For example, they actually raise their hand and move their hands in a talking motion to represent "Raise your hand for permission to speak". I like that because it give students multiple opportunities to remember things. I tried using that today while explaining A.M. and P.M. we made a gesture for noon and midnight and used them to represent when A.M. ends and P.M. begins and vice versa. It worked well I think.

I also tried two signals (Class - YES? and Hands and Eyes) Both of which worked well and the kids seem to like it. It's better to change it up I think. I still use "Where should you eyes be", "I will wait until everyone is ready so that I can begin", "Show me that you're ready", and "I like how ____ is sitting and waiting for directions," etc. The more signals the better I think in 1st grade. Not TOO many that they get confused but enough that it isn't repetitive and non-effective.

Something else i realized today was that the bathroom is a breading ground for DISASTER. When I have my own classroom I am going to make sure to stress during my rules lesson that rules apply everywhere in the school. The girls play around and chat and the boys are wild. They throw water, slam stall doors and climb on sinks, YES climb on sinks! I need to come up with another way to stop them from doing this. I feel like I have tried everything. I hate the bathroom. Also, I think I hear the phrase "Can I go to the bathroom" in my sleep. To do before I have my own classroom: Establish a bathroom policy that doesn't drive me insane. Pencils too! That's another one that drives me nuts.