Tired

Morning meeting was easy today because we did it like we do on Fridays – choice greeting and activity. The class chose the maraca greeting where we spin the maraca and greet whoever it points to. We started our shares, but there was a surprise fire drill. I was proud because the principal selected our class as a model class because we walked out so quietly. He had us go in first so the whole school could see. I made sure to praise them for that complement from the principal when we came back inside. We got right back to our shares and chart. We had to do a quick activity and they chose “Yes No.” My CT and I took turns coming up with Yes or No questions to ask. There is a laminates Yes and a laminated No that we put on the floor. They move to either side to answer our questions. It is a simple game, but a lot of fun, and it’s interesting to learn about the class.

We did Daily 5 and during the first round I sat with two students who missed our last math test and we did that. They both did very well, but needed a few reminders about how to do some problems. I wasn’t surprised because the test was on things from about a month ago. We also did their spelling test today too and they all did very well. They are great at practicing their weekly word lists.

After lunch, I had them sir on the floor to play a word jeopardy game. It used a variety of “A” sounds like –ay, ai, a-e, etc. They had sheets with a word bank and I split the class into two teams. I think it would have worked better if I split the class into 3 or 4 teams instead. The teams were big and it got a little talkative – until I started fining them for talking. When teams got a question right, they would get play money. When I heard too much talking, I would take a hundred dollar bill from the team. That worked really well. The word sort went well too. We did a sounds again, and I had them, one at a time, come up to the board to move words into the correct column (long a, short a or oddball). My CT suggested that next time I have them write the words down in their word work journals or on a whiteboard. I didn’t have time this time, but I may do that next week to switch it up.

We had a quick video in pit for President’s Day and then we had snack. I picked a book they already read in library, but they enjoyed it anyway, and we did one madlib. Then it was time for their science test. We did a quick review and I even told them some of the questions beforehand. We talked about what the answers could be. I then gave out the test and I went through each question with them. I had a student read the question, then I repeated it and clarified it. I told them how to respond and to put their pencils down and eyes on me when they finished so I knew when to go on to the next question. I graded them after school and found that most of them did vey well. The hardest question seemed to be “name as many different ways things can move as you can think of.” I was surprised because that seemed to be the easiest to me. I guess because that is so open-ended, it was more difficult. I tried to give them as many hints as I could without giving it away. We had gone over the same question in pit yesterday. I think only 3 people got all 3 words we talked about.

After I collected their tests, I told them to come up front for math. I had a basic plan, but I don’t think my plan was detailed enough. I had the idea to do a game they had already done with cups and counters, using the worksheet we had, but it didn’t work out very well. I paired them up, but we had an issue when one student didn’t want to be with the partner she was put with. I told her they needed to work together, but she would keep moving away from him. I finally got them to sit together, but she wouldn’t play the game. Meanwhile, the rest of the class was laying with the counters and talking loudly and it took so much time just to get set up, that we barely even got into the lesson. I was disappointed with myself that I couldn’t get it under control enough to play the game. I know they already know how to do this because it was something they did during my first or second week there, so maybe they were bored because it wasn’t challenging enough too. When I asked them for answers, they all knew the answers right away. So, at least I know they understand the concept, but it was disappointing to not end my teaching today on a good note. Students are off tomorrow for an In-Service day, so hopefully, on Tuesday I’ll be well-prepared to come back and make all of my lessons work.