A Well Oiled Machine

Six weeks has passed since the beginning of school. In those six weeks one of my "Friday Reflections" was about establishing a classroom within the first six weeks. Well, here we are. So how has it turned out?

I would say quite well. 

They are still pushing in their chairs when we leave...that's encouraging! And they are slowly but surely become a "well oiled machine".

One area that proves to be challenging for any class I've had is our rotating stations for Reading & Math. Three times a week, faithfully, we have Math Stations in the morning and Reading Stations in the afternoon. The kids are split into four groups and there are four activities. One activity is always with the teacher, the next activity usually involves a practice book of some sort (Math Journal or Daily Practice Book), a third station will be a game, grading, or extension activity, and the fourth station is always the computer station.

The groups of students spend about 12-15 minutes per station and then they rotate. After the hour or so, everyone has been through each station. It's the rotating that gets 'em every time & understandably so. They are focused on their work during the station time and when the timer sounds that it is time to rotate the room becomes filled with the flurry of conversation and movement.

It used to take them 2-3 minutes to travel the 12 feet from one station to another, settle down, and get to work. We worked on it. Every day we had stations we worked on it. We practiced, we timed ourselves, we worked on it.

This week, the sixth week of school they moved through the stations with relative ease and finesse. It wasn't perfect, but it was much better. They were clocking in at 1 minute, 15 seconds. A marked improvement. 

We took our Reading Street Selection Test and Spelling Test this morning. For the last 5 weeks of doing the same routine. They take the Selection Test, entering their answers on paper and then on the computer. Then they move on to their Spelling Test on the computer. After the Spelling Test is complete they print it down to the LRC and go retrieve it, turning it in to me upon their return. 



For the first 4 weeks of this routine many kids didn't finish in the given time. During this sixth week all of my students who were present finished the assessments on time. It truly was like witnessing a well-oiled machine.

So here we are...week six and the classroom is humming along. What a great environment to teach and learn in day after day.

Mr. Casten

Sept. 27, 2013

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten

Confidence & Faith

Today is Thursday. I'm writing my Friday Reflection one day early. It is late afternoon slipping quickly into evening. I sit in Room 202, the sound of the air-conditioner humming in the background, silence around me otherwise.

I will not be in school on Friday. There will be a substitute teacher taking care of my students for the day. It will be the first time this year that my students will tackle the day without me. It's a day of many activities on the agenda.

They will be taking their Selection Test for the story, "Marven of the Great North Woods" along with their spelling test on the laptops. Of course, the Basic Math Fact Test will also be taken with paper & pencil. They will learn about fire safety in our 2nd week of the "Learn Not to Burn" lessons given by the Elmhurst Fire Department. They will have Spanish and Gym. They will complete Reading work and grade math homework. To end their day they will be practicing a "Secure in Place" drill. Quite an agenda, I'd say.

I took some time today to review the schedule for the day so that they themselves would know what to expect from their day. We talked briefly about how it is their job to "run" the classroom in terms of the logistics...in terms of how things proceed on any given Friday.

There's is old saying that hangs behind my desk in my classroom. It sits quietly beneath a picture of some students from my first year of teaching. The students are completing a somewhat difficult task all by themselves, without any help from me. The saying underneath the picture reads, "The object of teaching a child is to enable them to get along without their teacher." -- Elbert Hubbard

I have confidence, faith if you will, that my current 25 students will take the responsibility I have placed in thier path for this Friday seriously...and make the room run...make it hum...make it work...make it on their own; without their teacher.

Come Monday, when I walk into the classroom, I'm sure I'll find a note from the substitute; I always do. And I have always read the note to my students...whatever it may be. I will do the same this year. There's nothing finer than reading a note from a substitute that shows the confidence and faith that I had placed in my students was, indeed, well placed.

Mr. Casten

Sept. 19, 2013

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten

 

"Umm...you forgot to grade this."

Fourth Grade is considered a "turning point grade" in the field of education.  It transitions a child from the primary level learning to the intermediate level.  With this transitions comes a host of changes; academically, socially, emotionally, & physically.

A social-emotional aspect that always presents itself revolves around responsibility and accountability.  The two "-abilities" that present the highest level of frustration, confusion, and stress for 9-10 year-olds in a school setting.

On Fridays the kids are given their "work from the week".  They have completed many assignments through the course of a week; grammar, spelling, morning work, science, social studies, test, quizzes, etc..  They like getting their packets of work.  Each Friday I can hear the flipping of pages at the end of the day as kids look at the work they produced.  Minor squeals of delight and moans of distress often accompany the mad rush through the papers.  

Last week a student approached me and politely said, "Umm, excuse me Mr. Casten, you forgot to grade my work."

"Let me see" I replied with concern.

The student showed me some of the work, homework mainly, and said, "See, you didn't mark it with the red pen or anything. You forgot to grade my work."

I stood, wondering what to say as I felt I had not done my job.  Then it quickly dawned on me.  The papers had actually been graded by the student...in class!  

"We graded it together, right?  Remember?" I said.  "I didn't mark on it because you already did!" I continued as I pointed out the marks the student had made.  

"Oh yeah.  I forgot.  cool.",  was the student's reply as they walked away looking at the pack of papers more slowly now...seemingly taking more time to notice what was actually written on them.

It was a moment of responsibility and accountability.  The student had been used to having someone else evaluate them.  They were used to receiving their work back with some kind of "grade" or indication of how they did...an external source of feedback.  

Fourth grade calls for the student to accept responsibility for their own work and the evaluation of it...at least in terms of homework and in-class work.  Of course, the teachers still grade quizzes and tests.  And of course, we still look at the homework and in-class work as it comes past our desks.  

The accountability on the students' part comes into play in that fact that their work has been graded...and the mistakes have been corrected...by the student. 

The combination of this type of responsibility and accountability make for a student who is poised to take more control of their learning.  From there, they learn the value of self-sufficiency and independence.

The student who thought that the work went without being "looked at", went without "being graded" seemed to let the world around them dissipate as they were engrossed in their work, their evaluation, their self.

Mr. Casten

Sept. 13, 2013

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten

3 Weeks In and 3 to Go

When I began teaching some 13 years ago my principal at the time gave me a book.  It was called, "The First Six Weeks of School"

This book outlines strategies for setting up a classroom and getting the school year off to a good start.  It emphasizes the importance of establishing routines and expectations.  It details ways to model and teach how the classroom should run on a day-to-day basis.  It provides practical advice on how to communicate in a way that elicits respect and an appreciation for both the student and teacher.  

As you might be able to ascertain from the title, the book proports that the first six weeks of school are really the most critical in this "establishing of the environment".  I can recall thinking to myself that six weeks is way too long to spend on establishing a classroom.  There was teaching to be done, curriculum to get through, chapters and quizzes, tests and papers, grades and report cards.  Maybe a good week, two weeks if you wanted to stretch it, would be sufficient for what the book was trying to tell me to do. 

So that first year, and a few after that, I spent one week, maybe two on the "establishment of the classroom" then proceeded to get into the what I thought was the "meat & potatoes" of teaching.

I saw other teachers, more experienced teachers, as they interacted with their students.  I noticed a difference in how things played out.  They seemed more "calm" than I was; more "in sync" with their class. 

My principal continued to encourage her staff to read "The First Six Weeks of School" each and every year at the beginning of the school year.  For another year I didn't take the advice.  I thought I knew how to do it.  Then it dawned on me.  The difference that lies between me and other teachers was not simply a matter of time in the profession, but rather how that time is used.

I read the book again.  Things became easier.  I did what it said by taking the six weeks to establish my classroom.  Things got even better.  Each year I tried something new from the book.  Each year I found managing classroom behaviors a more pleasurable task simply because there were less problems.

This year is no different.  We have spent the first three weeks working on classroom and school behaviors.  We have three to go.  The work is somewhat intensive at times yet it pays off.  The expectations and routines are solidified in that time and last the entire year.  Work still gets done and learning takes place.  It is possible to spend six weeks molding and creating a classroom that runs smoothly while at the same learning and growing. 

Mr. Casten

Sept. 6, 2013

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten