I’m coming to realize this week that it is pretty difficult to teach a solar system unit. I have to be done teaching space by May 6^th so I am working to get all of the information completed. But there is a multitude of information in the solar system so this week I have tried to incorporate the information in different subject areas as well such as writing. In writing, the students began searching for facts about the moon and constellations. In efforts to make it more student-centered and the goal of it being led by the interests of each student, books were differentiated based on ability level. Groups came up and selected a book on the topic they desired and received a note-taking template for them to record facts and questions (2, 3, or 4) depending on ability.

We spent the first couple days of the week on the planet Mars. The students did a much better job working in their groups to state the main ideas in their own words of their assigned section. Thursday we began planet research. It was awesome to see how excited the students were and how they truly demonstrated a sense of ownership, responsibility, and maturity when beginning their research.

2^nd week of takeover brought it’s own set of challenges and lessons to learn from. Monday not only brought a new a week, but also a new student. It was hard. Needless to say, I have never before dealt with that situation before. He arrived late, during morning work so it was a balance of trying to get him accustomed to the classroom and show him daily routines, etc while trying to keep the other students under control and engaged.

We finally finished the sun flip charts, which was a big accomplishment. I am excited to finally move on to something else in the solar system!  It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be for students to learn how to take notes, translate the main ideas the author is communicating in a text to their own words (and even grasp that concept in the first place), to ensuring the notes on each student’s note-taking template met the expectations, and then begin the process of transferring the notes from the template on to the final product of the flip chart. This week in writing, Lauren, the special education student teacher, and I collaborated, planned, and taught lessons on 5 Sense Poems. We had the students write them about Spring. They did a great job!

It is a lot harder than I thought to initially plan units and even trying to fit the desired content within a certain time frame.  Trying to do this and then finding a balance in between wanting to cover the material while ensuring you are being flexible, adapting/adjusting to the diverse needs of the students. It is also crazy how literally every ounce of time during the day as a teacher is filled. I am constantly in awe how my brain is always rushing and thinking of things to do, or what I need to do next, going through mental check lists to ensure I am planned and ready.

Rarely ever does it occur, but when the students filter into the classroom after taking their chairs down and setting their folders and assignment notebooks on their desk, they begin to write down their assignments. On these rare occasions, I don’t even need to listen closely as the exclamations begin, “No math homework? YESSSSS!!!!!” or “we don’t have math homework today! Best day ever”

Needless to say, math has been a subject of frustration. The kids seem constantly distracted or bored during lessons and then have trouble with the material. No wonder! On Friday, I tried having all of them come closer to the SMARTboard, having my distractible students sit at the table, with the goal of them being able to be more hands on with one another in solving the problems and more alert in completing the problem set. It was not as successful as I would have liked it to be, but nonetheless it was another example of being receptive to the needs of the students.  A step back and ensuring understanding of the material is necessary is essential and this lesson did open my eyes to the fact that some of the students still did not have understanding of previous material that was necessary to understand the material I was trying to teach. After all, sometimes it is a game of trial and error, but there is always a lesson to learn which enables me to better help my students.

This week, I started the “team points”. The way it works is there are six tables in the classroom. On chart paper, I wrote each table. During a transition time or if I see a table is the first one to have followed the instructions I gave, then they receive a tally next to their table number written on the chart paper. Once a table gets to five tallies, they get to choose a prize.

With the table configuration, I have been trying to promote an environment of teamwork and encouraging the students to work to help one another. One way I wanted to motivate them was using our spelling pretests. We always have a pretest the day before the spelling test and if students get everything correct on the pretest, they receive a “spelling vacation” and do not have to take the test the following day. I told the students if they got 8 vacations as a class, they would receive a class prize. During the pretest, I was circulating the room and noticed a piece of paper in one of the laps of my students  — the spelling list folded very small. My heart sank. Not only was this girl cheating, but she is someone who rarely gets in trouble, as sweet as can be, and most likely did not realize what she was doing was wrong. I didn’t want to draw attention to her so I did not confiscate the list right then and there, but positioned myself near her so she did not look at the list as much. Before recess, I asked her to come to me before she went outside. I was nervous! Part of me didn’t even want to address the situation, but the bigger part of me knew I had to teach her that doing so was not okay. I wanted to ensure I did so in a way that she knew I was not angry at her at all, but that cheating is not allowed. I told her that when we take our pretests, we need to do it by ourselves and with no help. I handed her test back to her and told her that’s why she can’t get a vacation because it’s not fair for the other students that did it on their own. She said she was sorry and I told her it was okay, but just not to do it again and I understand she wanted so badly to help out her classmates and be one to get one of the 8 spelling vacations. That was a hard thing to do, but I am glad I addressed it.