Miss Mendenhall

We had our first counseling session today and had the opportunity to meet our new counselor, Miss Mendenhall.  I had heard WONDERFUL things about her but wasn't quite aware of just what we had in store for us until she began her first lesson in my room.  She is REMARKABLE.  FABULOUS.  ENERGETIC.  ENGAGING.  PASSIONATE.  CARING.  FRIENDLY.  KNOWLEDGEABLE.  Simply the most wonderful counselor I have ever had the privilege of working with.  

The way she communicated with the students was amazing.  She was on their level, literally, she would squat down and get on their level.  Her intonation grabbed, and kept, each person's attention.  Her sense of true interest in each student had each of them eager to share their passions with her.  I was on "break" yet I couldn't disengage myself from her lesson!

She shared about herself, learned about each child, shared the "Get-As" {Get Ahead, Get Along, and Get A Job}, and taught them about various listening styles.  

Before she left she taught them a fun song about ways they can listen.  The video is posted on our Instagram account.  Check it out!

Building Stamina

Following the STAR Reading Test, students headed to the Book Nook for a little Independent Reading.  Next week we will begin calling Independent Reading time Read to Self time.

Each student found a cozy little place to begin reading and read independently for about 10 minutes.

I know 10 minutes does not sound like a long time, but many students need to build up their independent reading stamina.  We took a few minutes to learn about the word stamina and what it means to our reading ability.

 I used my marathon training as an example of stamina.  I explained that if I went out on week 1 and was expected to run 26.2 miles that I would be setting myself up for failure.  Running 26.2 miles takes a lot of training and practice.  I must start out with low mileage and slowly increase my distance, or stamina, until I reach my goal.

Students must do the same thing when reading.  I cannot sit them down during the first week of school, following months of summer vacation and freedom, and expect them to read independently, silently, and still for 45 minutes.  If I expect them to do that then I am setting them up for immediate failure.  In order to build confidence in their ability to read I must first provide them with opportunities to feel successful!

Today most of us read for the full 10 minutes without moving or becoming distracted.  We will try again tomorrow and Friday until we master the art of reading for 10 uninterrupted minutes.  Next week we will begin increasing our stamina by 2 minutes every other day :)

STAR Testing

Each student in the school system, K - 12, is taking the STAR Assessment this year.  The STAR tests students in both reading and math.  We took the reading portion today so that I will know what books are appropriate for your child, and which strategies and skills I need to focus on when teaching.

Ships & Sailors

This week we are beginning each day with an ice breaker activity.  This morning's activity was called Ships & Sailors.  This game created community in our classroom and made us immediately become comfortable with one another because no one wanted to have to exit the game.

I began by yelling the commands of, "Ships!" and "Sailors!"  Each time I said ships the students would run to the left and each time I said sailors they would run to the right.  While they were running back and forth I would yell other commands at them.

This command was Mess Table.  Mess table required 4 people to get together and pretend to be eating. You group had to have 4 members, no more and no less.  If you were not a part of a group then you were out.

 Another command was Sea Sick.  When I called sea sick each student individually began acting like they were sick.  They walked around "sick" until I yelled, "Pepto Bismal!"  If they followed any other commands that were given following the sea sick command, before they were cleared with the Pepto Bismal command, then they were out!

 4 Men Pointing North is another command.  This command, of course, required 4 members.  They gathered together in a circle and pointed up.

Man Overboard required 2 group members.  One member would get down on one knee while the other placed their hand on their partner's shoulder and began looking out over the seas to locate the man overboard.

 Crows Nest was a 3 person command.  Students would turn their backs to one another and link arms together.  Not in a group of three?  You're out!

Commands not pictured:  Hit the Deck!  3 Men Rowing!  and Captain's Coming!

When Hit the Deck is commanded students must immediately hit the ground!

3 Men Rowing, students get in groups of 3 and pretend to be rowing a boat.

Captain's Coming, students stand at attention until At Ease is called.  If they follow any commands prior to the at ease command then they are out!

They absolutely LOVED the game and did not care who their group members were as long as they got to continue playing!  They ran, sweated, and got plenty of exercise all while begging to play again and again!

Name Maps

Tuesday morning each student began working on a name map.  This is the first piece of work that will make its way to the hallway so that others in the building can learn about us.

Each name map includes the students name surrounded by pictures of things they enjoy.

 Bakarri and Micavela worked hard at making their name maps perfect!

 Reagan completed her name map and began working on an All About Me book that she did not have the chance to complete Monday morning.

Our First Day of Fourth Grade

As I said in the e-mail I sent out, this was the fastest first day in the history of my career!  I will say that even though it was a fast day I can still confidently say that I have the sweetest fourth grade class in the entire Decatur City School District.

This morning I met the students in the Little Theatre to walk them down to the classroom.  When they entered they unpacked, placed their backpack on the back of their chair, and began working on the back to school packet on their desk.

While they worked on their first day of school packet I took care of first day of school house keeping business in the classroom.  I think the packet was probably more fun :).

At 8:30 they learned where they would place their back pack each day and how to make a lunch choice in their new classroom.  My bet is they enter the room and take care of unpacking, placing their back packs in the hallway, and making a lunch choice like fourth grade pros tomorrow morning!

At 8:45 we began an M & M get to know you activity.  

Each M & M colored represented a topic.  Reds were their favorite TV show or movie, Orange was something they like about school, Yellow represents hobbies, Green is books/authors/series they enjoy reading, Blue is words that describe them, and Brown represents places they like to visit.  

They sorted their M&Ms and began making their lists because each M&M they had of each color was one item they had to list in that category.  At 9:00 we began sharing our interests.  Many of us learned of others in the room that share many of our same interests,

At 9:30 we began setting up our S.O.A.R. Binders.  Each student received their S.O.A.R. Binder Cover and a few pieces of the Procedures Manual for our classroom.  We began working our way through the pieces of the Procedures Manual that we needed to line up, travel down the hallway, use the bathroom, and function appropriately in PE.  Once we finished reviewing those pieces of our manual it was time for PE, so off we went!

After PE we stopped by the bathroom and then made our way to the cafeteria so that we could review lunch procedures prior to the cafeteria filling up.  All of these little procedure reviews took up valuable classroom time, but by taking the time to review the procedures in detail now we should save time later.

We returned to the classroom to discuss being nut-free this year and why we needed to make that accommodation.  After answering a few questions it was time for lunch!

Following lunch we reviewed 2 other pieces of our procedures manual, reviewed our newsletter and behavior log, and received a first day of school snack.

We snapped a few first day of school group shots and then it was time to begin packing up :(.

Students completed their Behavior Log and then met me in the hallway for individual first day of school photographs.

Their day ended in S.T.E.M. with Mrs. Davis and Drama with Mrs. Knox.

I hope your child's first day was great!  I know mine was, it was just entirely too quick.

Rockin' in Room 27

This week I have worked and worked and worked and worked.  Many teachers have spent many late nights at the school trying to make everything perfect as we begin a new school year.  It never fails though, we are all running around frantically on student orientation day regardless of the amount of hours we have worked prior to that day.

Today was student orientation day and yes, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Alyssa Borden, one of my students from last year and Kathleen Borden's daughter, helped me tremendously the past two days.  She was there to cut laminated material, hand me items while I was on a ladder so that I didn't have to climb up and down, scrape velcro from desks, place name tags, staple and pass out packets, run errands, and simply do anything I needed her to.  She was AMAZING.  She and I put last minute touches on my classroom and got orientation packets ready just in the nick of time.

After losing 2 students at 2:00 this afternoon and gaining another student at 4:00, frantically making a wish-list, and running last minute copies, everything was finally in place when 6:00 rolled around.  I met many wonderful students and their extremely supportive parents.  I had a chance to share with them about my passion for reading and my love for their children.  As orientation wrapped up I made my way through the classroom and chatted with individual families.  Each parent was so eager to be involved and was genuinely concerned with their child being challenged to be the best they can be each day.  I cannot wait for Monday to get here and for the chance to spend the next 180 school days with this precious group of kids.  My heart is so full :)