Day Two: The Syllabus

6th Grade Math Standards: From the Reading Informational Text Standards #6: "Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in a text." See the homework assignment to understand why this was the standard featured today (it's kind of a stretch - I know).

The Learning Objective: Acknowledge rules and demonstrate routines of the classroom.

Quote of the Day: From my syllabus and with the help of Harry Wong: "I am here for YOU - for you to succeed and to enjoy this class. I care about each of you and I am here to help each of you. In order to create a positive learning environment, we need to have a class where we will listen and communicate with each other with respect. All students must come to class without fear of being ridiculed or threatened. It’s going to be an exciting year of learning, so behavior that hinders learning in our classroom will NOT be tolerated. In order for us to create a positive learning environment, we have five rules to follow throughout the year.

1.      Be respectful.

2.      Be prepared.

3.      Be cooperative.

4.      Be responsible.

5.      Be the person everyone wants to sit next to."
The Agenda: Today was picture day. It was easily the best picture day in my six years as a teacher. It seemed fairly early in the year relative to when we have had it in the past, but that worked out great. The first two classes we had were shorter, so the agenda fluctuated somewhat throughout the day and I had to have more prepared than I actually was going to teach just in case the longer classes ran out of activities.

Class #1

1. Jumpstart: Welcome to Math 
2. Students write down their homework in the Agenda Books
3. Review the syllabus as a class

Class #2 

1. Jumpstart: Procedures and class information reviewed
2. Review the jumpstart as a class
3. Review the homework assignment
4. Begin the homework assignment
5. Check students supplies
6. Have students journal about how many ways there are to study (in past years I've had students that have had more than 70 ideas). 

*We never needed to do #5 on this day

The Assessment: I went around and checked the procedures jumpstart as students were working. One student added to the lesson by asking if it was ok for him to make changes on his jumpstart as I reviewed. I was ecstatic with the question because this is always an issue. Reviewing the jumpstart is where learning can take place as students recognize mistakes.

Homework: Writing a letter in the voice of your fifth grade teacher.

My Glass Half-Full Take: The students were following the procedure for starting class in each block. Developing this routine allows me to check homework and in essence do a formative assessment of the homework and the jumpstart. I also take attendance and if time allows put together packets for the students that are absent. Students responded positively to questions that we had not discussed when I told them to be creative or try their best.

Where I'd Throw the Red (Challenge) Flag: I made a bad call in the way that I had students start their homework. Some students did not have their notebooks. I should have told them where the loose leaf paper is kept sooner and encouraged self-advocacy sooner.

Some students told me that they preferred to wait until they got home to start. Given the new structure we have of 2 math classes starting homework in class will be much more common, so now I'm thinking I will call the time they have in school to start homework a different name so the students have a different mentality when it comes to doing it.

Several students asked me how many paragraphs they had to write. I gave the students two exemplars, but never read it through with them. Perhaps this could have saved me time.

Valuable Web Visit of the Day: 65 Ways to Check for Understanding in Math (Pinterest)

Day One: Learning the Procedures

For the first time in my teaching career I actually slept well before the first day of school. I was glad to wake up this morning with some butterflies and have some nerves. If those ever go away, it's a sign that the passion may not be there, and without passion I don't know if I can teach. Once the students needed help with their lockers and schedules, the rewarding feeling came back. 

 6th Grade Math Standards: MP.1 and MP.5. This may be a stretch, but the students opening their locks today would certainly go under the category of perseverance. Classifying the lock as a "mathematical tool" is also reasonable to me as the students need to adjust to a circular number line with intervals of five. Initially not all students can locate 38 on a lock. This video was rather helpful in adjusting to the procedure of clockwise, counter-clockwise, clockwise (although some students still started with counter-clockwise, clockwise, counter-clockwise). 

The Learning Objective: Recall the first five steps to entering the classroom.

Quote of the Day: "It's not that I'm so smart - I just stay with problems longer." - Albert Einstein

I've always given quotes as a way to begin my basketball practice, and have the intention of incorporating quotes frequently throughout this year. I have read in many educational literature that students are engaged with stories, and so often in mathematics I have chosen to ignore this. Einstein's quote is essential to my class (and the origins of this blog). 

The Agenda: 

1. Students entered the school in the auditorium.
2. The assistant principal reviewed the school's expectations and rules.
3. The students went to their homerooms.
4. The students were assigned seats (I like assigning seats - especially early in the year).
5. The students practiced saying my name (Sure - end - er)
6. We reviewed the classroom procedures.
7. If time allowed I reviewed my five classroom rules.

The Assessment: I quizzed students verbally on how to enter the classroom. They were able to tell me as a group the steps:

1. Get Hand Sanitizer
2. Get the jumpstart (warm-up problem)
3. Take your seat
4. Take out your homework
5. Sharpen your pencil (if necessary)
6. Start the jumpstart

I emphasized to students that I did not start class. They were the learners and it was their job to start class. 

Homework!?: No formal math homework today, I challenged all of the homeroom students to turn in more of their paperwork (health information, etc.) than the adjacent homeroom. The other teacher played along well. 

My Glass Half-Full Take: One student left his folder of forms that needed to be signed at his locker at the end of the day. Ten minutes later he came back and got it! Needless to say he got a high five and I loved the effort. 

Every student raised their hand when I asked if they wanted to be successful. I have defined success as reaching your own personal potential. This came from John Wooden, and I hope to reiterate this theme throughout the year in an effort to get students to forget about their peers and focus on individual improvements. I think they are going to buy into this and eventually see the rewards for this. 

Where I'd Throw the Red (Challenge) Flag: I wish I had used the word "strict" as a way to describe myself in all classes today. I did use it in one class. I like that word as a way of letting students know I take my rules seriously, and that like them I want everyone to be successful. 

I also wish I did a little less talking. I love Harry Wong's book The First Days of School (even though my version is about 15 years old), and in it Wong talks about the importance of resisting teaching content or a fun activity. He emphasizes that the first days of school are the most important days because students learn routines and procedures that will help them focus and utilize the maximum amount of classroom time to benefit their learning. I agree with him, but I presented these procedures in lecture format today, and just by looking at the class I sensed some boredom and disengagement.

 

How to Right the Wrongs: Sensing the disengagement, tomorrow I have a jumpstart problem. This will give me an idea of what students remember to get the jumpstart, and ultimately who came away mastering our objective today. The jumpstart is all about the rules and procedures of my classroom, which will serve as another assessment and reenforcement from the first day. I also will use the word "strict" as I review the class syllabus in describing how I intend to carry out rules.