I hope everyone had a great Winter Break! It has been a while since I published a post, and I wanted to catch everyone up on all of the exciting activities that we have been doing. We hit the ground running when we came back with STAR testing. I know it was a very long break, but our students did great on the test! We saw some great from every class. Our first full week back, we celebrated the "King!" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that is! We had a ton of activities and events that took place throughout the week. We had a difference color for each day to highlight a different part of Dr. King's legacy. We also had school-wide activities to celebrate diversity. On Friday, the members of Alpha Phi Alpha came and helped us with our "Dream Parade." The students loved getting to high-five the members and talk with them about the legacy of Dr. King. Friday was also our 'Unity Day" as part of No Place for Hate. All students wore black to symbolize unity, strength, and power. Teachers held discussions about how Dr. King exhibited strength when he led marches and boycotts. The students came up with their ideas about their dreams and how they can unite the students of our school.
This week, we are extending our talks about unity and diversity through different guidance lessons. I am especially excited about the lesson I am doing with kindergarten and first grade. Our students participated in a discussion about crayon boxes and how the colors are different. I had students come up and hold their hand against a white and a black crayon. We talked about how we aren't "white" or "black" but that we are all shades of brown. Students got to pick a brown or beige crayon that they thought they matched the best. We also talked about how one crayon isn't better than another just because we might use it more. They are all unique in their own way. Students then watched a read aloud of the book "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt. The students then colored their puzzle piece to be put together in our "Unity Puzzle." Students really enjoyed getting to see the finished product. I got this idea after I saw this product on teachers pay teachers(https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Diversity-Lesson-The-Crayon-Box-That-Talked-1225189). I liked her original idea, but I wanted to incorporate the uniqueness of the crayons. I can't wait to see the rest of the puzzles from our teachers! We are so blessed this year because Academy Sports and Outdoors choose our school to donate 30 bikes and helmets to our deserving students! The 30 students with the highest Accelerated Reading (AR) points were selected to receive the bikes. They have worked so hard and they were so excited to get their new bikes. I loved watching the kids light up and get excited to take their bikes home. A few were even selected to be interviewed for ABC 31 News! A big thank you to Mrs. Robertson for all of her help and a even bigger thank you to Academy Sports and Outdoors and their team member David for all of their help and donation to our school. Congratulations to the following students for being selected to receive a bike:
2nd Grade: Ja'Vian Sellers, Lakarol McEroy, Ja'Karee Leslie, Layla Napier, Kyreeion Collings, S'Niya Moore 3rd Grade: Jordan Kelley 4th Grade: Maria Espinal, Alila Meyers, Torriano Cosby, Johnathan Yates, Alyssa Mitchell, Stashia Hayward 5th Grade: Dashia Hampton, Makayla Conner, Ganiya Robinson, Aileeney Vorn, Mackinzzi Washington, Randy Baker, Kendra Yates, Makenzie Stanford, Tahjee Nelson, Myles McCrary, Khiala Spears, Jeremiah Matthews, Precious Oliver, Amanda Balko, Cordasha Watkins, Renia Sterling, Antonious Powell Recently, I taught a lesson that I wanted to share. I first heard about We Do Listen Foundation (www.wedolisten.org) a few years ago at a counselor's meeting that I had with my district. We were sharing resources that we loved, and I thought I would check it out. I am very happy that I did. Our character word for November is "Courage, " and I was very excited that We Do Listen had a book to correlate with the term. I love using this website with my younger student, so I had my kindergarten, first, and second-grade students participate. One thing that I love about We Do Listen is that they already have a lesson plan for you to use. I try to use it as a guide, but they have some excellent discussion guides available. I started our lesson with a discussion about courage and what it means to have courage. The students then watched the video about Howard B. Wigglebottom and how he learns about courage. In the story, a bird helps his overcome his fears. We learn in the story that Howard has "real" and "make-believe" fears. After the story, I had the students participate in the Yes/No lesson to check for understanding. We then discussed our "real" and "make-believe" fears. I then had the students decorate their bird with a fear of their own. I cut these out and placed them on "Our Courage Tree" to serve as a reminder to the students that they do not have to be afraid and that they can have courage. I enjoyed this lesson, and I hope the students did too. It is an exciting time in our country right now. We are deciding our next president! As a kid, I remember getting to vote at school for Bill Clinton or Bob Dole in 1996 and being so excited to cast my ballot and get that "I Voted" sticker. I had no idea how important the presidential election was or what it would mean for our country.
During my practicum, I got to be a part of the 2012 election voting at school and seeing the excitement on their faces reminded me of when I was a child. I knew that I wanted to do the same when I worked at my school. I collaborated with the science and social studies teachers to develop a plan to have our whole school vote in our mock election. I designed the ballots and distributed them to the teachers. Our third-grade science and social studies teacher is friends with a former teacher who works the polls and she was able to get us "I Voted" stickers for the students. We gave each homeroom their ballots and stickers and let them cast their votes this morning. After all the votes had been cast and tallied, the results were in. Trump had 66 votes, and Clinton had 312. It was quite a landslide. I am pretty excited to see if our election is representative of the country's votes. I guess we will just have to wait and see! We are starting to gear up for Red Ribbon Week here at MLK. Below are the days and themes for each day.
Monday, October 24 Your Choices are the Key to Your Dreams (Pajama Day) *Dress up in your favorite pajamas to show everyone that you are not going to let drugs and alcohol keep you from achieving your dreams. Tuesday, October 25 Give Drugs the Boot (Western Day) *Show off your Western wear and use those cowboy boots to kick drugs to the curb! Wednesday, October 26 Have the Power to Say NO (Superhero Day) *It doesn’t take superpowers to tell someone that you’re not going to drugs or abuse alcohol! Show off your best superhero outfits (no masks please). Thursday, October 27 We’re too Smart to Start (Nerd Day) *Display your smarts with some glasses, suspenders, and even a bowtie to let others know that you’re too smart to do drugs. Friday, October 28 Our Character Counts (Book Character Day) *Dress up as your favorite BOOK character to end the week showing off your good character (no masks please). I had so much fun this week teaching the students about self-control during our guidance lessons. I've wanted to do more hands-on activities, and this was an excellent way to try one out. I did some research on Pinterest about self-control, and I came across this post about "The Marshmallow Test." It was originally a study done by Stanford Univeristy in the 60s and 70s where they studied delayed gratification in young children. Long story short, they found that the children who waited longer for the reward were more successful later on in life (read here for more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment). After I had done some research, I was curious to know how to apply this to a classroom setting. I found a post on Teaching in Blue Jeans (http://www.teachinginbluejeans.com/blog-swap-sunday-with-corrina/) where she had done this with her classroom. I followed her format, except I had a discussion at the beginning about what self-control is and how we can show it. I used a flipchart on ActiveInspire to help lead the discussion. I then gave the kids one marshmallow and told them they could have it now, or they could have two if they waited. I told them they could not eat it, lick it, or bite off part of it to get the second one. At first, I told the kids they couldn't touch it, but I didn't see the results as I wanted. I changed it to where they could pick it up and play with it, thinking that it would make it harder to resist. Once I told them that, then I had students in each class eat the marshmallow. On average, the younger kids found it more difficult to resist the marshmallow, which I expected. After I had waited about 10 minutes, I gave the students the second one. We had a discussion about what they did to resist the marshmallow and how they distracted themselves. We also talked about if we thought it would be harder or easier to do this if they were by themselves. I then showed them a video of some younger students who did this experiment by themselves (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ). We followed it up with a review about self-control and what we learned from the lesson. Overall, this was a pretty fun experience, and I think the kids enjoyed getting a sweet treat during the day. They wanted to do it again so they could get a third marshmallow!
When I got my classroom, I knew there were just a few things missing. I needed some rugs to brighten things up and make my room more inviting. I posted online that I was in search of some rugs and furniture. One of my teacher friends posted that she uses "Donors Choose" to look for donations. I did some research and thought this website was a great way to get the word out. Donors Choose is a website that is specifically for educators to request materials for your classroom. It is a pretty lengthy process, but so worth it in the end. I had to fill out information about my students, my project, what I would be using the supplies for and how they would affect my students, and information about myself. I found that it was a little difficult to come up with the right way to talk about my project. I realized though that I wasn't just asking for rugs. I was asking for help creating a space that my students feel welcome in and comfortable coming to see me. After I had filled out all of the information, I was able to go to their sponsors' website and look for the products that I needed. There were so many options, and I knew that I needed to stay in a particular price range. They give you some advice about what range to stay in so that you're more likely to get donations. After I had found the items I wanted, I added them to my cart, and they were added to my project. After that, it was time to ask for donations. I posted the link to my personal Facebook account, as well as my counselor's Twitter account. I thought that would donations would come flooding in, but boy was I wrong. I was lucky that my friends and family wanted to donate, but I felt so blessed when people I didn't even know donated to my project. It took about a month and a half to get the word that my project was fully funded. I was so excited when I got that email. When I arrived today back from Fall Break, my rugs were waiting for me in the office. It felt like Christmas Day. I could not wait to open them and put them out. They truly bring my classroom together and it makes it feel even more inviting and comfortable. I highly suggest if you need items for your classroom or office that you look into Donors Choose. It is an excellent organization, and I am so happy that I used them and their services. If you have any questions, I would be glad to answer them for you.
It has been a while since I have posted, and a lot has happened since College and Career Week. For the month of September, we focused on our character word for the month, Citizenship. Students in Kindergarten through second grade learned about rights, responsibilities, US symbols, and ways to be a good citizen. We had a lot of fun talking about the ways we can help our community. Students in third through fifth learned about the Preamble and ways we can help our neighbors. For the week of the 19th through the 23rd, our students participated in our No Place for Hate kickoff. The students read the Resolution of Respect and the five promises. We discussed the importance of being respectful of other students and ways we can get along with others. After our discussion, the students came up and signed their class pledge. These are hung up in my classroom now, and I am so happy with how they turned out. If you would like to learn more about the No Place for Hate program, feel free to visit their website (http://atlanta.adl.org/npfh_/npfh/).
This week we are celebrating College and Career Week. This is a Huntsville City School initiative and we are in our fourth year. This week teaches the students about the importance of being college and career ready. Our activities for this week are as follows:
*March to Success Monday, August 29th To kick off College and Career Week, discuss with your students about ways they can be successful as they “march” towards a successful college and career readiness experience. *Talk it Over Tuesday, August 30th Throughout the school day, share your college and career stories to show students how they can work toward success. Share your story to help them make smart, informed choices! *Wear Your Colors Wednesday, August 31st Everyone will show their school spirit! Teachers, wear the school shirts of your alma mater, and students can wear shirts of the college they hope to attend. *Throw What You Know Thursday, September 1st Discuss with your students about extracurricular activities offered at your college. We will have volunteers from various Greek organizations come and eat lunch with the children. If you were involved in a Greek organization, wear your letters or jersey. *Finish Big Friday/Career Day, September 2nd Career Day! Did you want to be a teacher when you were your students’ age? If not, talk to them about what you wanted to be when you grew up. You can wear an outfit that shows them what you wanted to be. We will also have various speakers coming to talk with your class. I will give you a schedule later next week with more information. Stay tuned for pictures and more information! |
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