Feedback, PLEASE!!! :)

So I realize this is a second post in one day, but I REALLY need you all's expertise!  As I have posted before, I have taken on a new job this year.  I am a Teaching and Learning Coach and will be working as an instructional resource to teachers grades K-5.  Starting this school year, my district is using a Balanced Literacy structure to teach reading and writing.  My schools are fairly new to this style of teaching so I want to provide them with as many resources as I can to help ease the process of this transition.

My district is providing all K-5 teachers with the units of study to teach throughout the year.  So their teaching points will be provided for them.  Suggested resources, instructional ideas, and student activities will be provided as well.

The piece of reading and writing workshop that appears to be the most difficult and/or intimidating is conferring.  So after talking with one of my principals, we decided that in the beginning it would be helpful to provide them with a conference form.  As they gain experience, they can tweak it to best fit their needs.

So I created a form at work today and want feedback from all of you.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me out with this.  I am always open to suggestions.

Here is the form I created!  You will notice I included the TAG acronym from my earlier post.  Click here to read that post.  I thought if all else fails, they could at least remember that. :)  My principal wanted it short and sweet at first!  So here it goes...

Click here to access the document.

For some reason Google Docs separated the book title and focus lesson into 3 cells.  The original document looks like the image above. 

Thank you so much for your help with this!  :)

My New Office, More Pinterest Finds, and Target buys!

It feels so weird to not have a classroom to decorate!  You would think with an office it would be a whole lot easier... not so much!  At least not for me.  My classroom was always colorfully decorated.  I had a sports theme, but it was very kid-friendly.  I used primary colors and some of the decor was based on ThistleGirl Designs and the Sports Theme Set from Clutter-Free Classroom. In my head, an office shouldn't be so kid-friendly as I will be working with teachers, but I very much want it to represent an educational environment.  So I had all these cool ideas brewing in my mind until... I was reminded of the Fire Marshall Codes!!

First I'll show you pictures of my office which is exciting.  Then I'll explain the codes which completely limit what I can do.

     

My name outside my office!!

View looking in through the door.

Cabinet area in back right.

There's a blue book shelf behind the door and
that large space of white wall is where I can decorate!

My desk area!

To the right of my desk!

Now...  The books on the shelves are leveled readers and will be housed in my office.  The boxes around the room contain more books which will be organized and placed on shelves that will be added at a later time.

Fire Marshall time...  Anything hanging from the walls must be more than two feet down from the ceiling.  That eliminates above the shelves on all sides, almost all of the space above the white board, and the open shelf area above the file cabinet.  Also, we cannot hang anything on either side of the door.  So there goes that space.  I've heard we also can't hang anything on the walls outside the room either.  The space below the shelves will eventually have more shelves for the remaining books.

What does that leave me??  The cabinet area, my desk, the bookshelf, the file cabinet, and the dry-erase board.  The one area where I have a good amount of space to decorate is that section of white wall in the photo with the door.

Things I'm contemplating...  I love quotes and would love to either use stick-on letters or frames to put some educational quotes up.  Some quotes I like are "Mistakes are proof you are trying.", the Dr. Seuss one from the green frame below, and "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."  I would love to hear more ideas from you all!!  Remember I am working with teachers, and this year there will be a TON of change.

Here are some Pinterest ideas I found (click on the pics to connect to the site):

This one I thought might be cute because I am at new schools.

This website has ADORABLE decorating ideas!  Would love to incorporate some into my office; only a little less pink. lol  I like blue.

I raided the Target $1 section (which isn't all a dollar lol) along with the school and office section.  Here is what I bought:

Decorating adult things (like my apartment) is SO not my thing.  I would love any suggestions from you all.  Do you have any great office ideas for me with my limited amount of space?

I would like to leave you with one final photo.  This is what I see when I look outside the door of my office!  LOVE IT!!!

Rigor and Relevance: Quad D Moments AND a Pinterest Find!!

After 6 full days of Rigor and Relevance training, I should be an expert, right??  Not so much!  I learned a tremendous amount during that time, but it is a little intimidating to know that I am one of 4 responsible for training my schools in Rigor and Relevance.  I have a decent handle on it, but one area that has always perplexed me is Quad D lessons.  When people think Quad D, they think projects (which in part, it is) and cross-curricular.  That type of teaching is wonderful and I encourage it as often as possible, but let's be realistic here... you can't do huge cross-curricular projects on a daily basis.  So... When I saw a full day class offered on Quad D, I signed up.  I needed to know more about this quadrant that so many of us are trying to strive towards.

You know me... I love a good quote.  Unfortunately, I am not sure who it belongs to.  I tried using Google, but no luck.

"Teaching is only as good as the learning that takes place."

With that being said, we learned that Quad D moments are experiences integrated into daily practice through short, quick activities.  That's just what I wanted to hear; incorporating Quad D into our daily teaching.  We also learned that it is instructional activities that raise the level of rigor (thinking) and relevance (application) and are aligned with the Rigor and Relevance Framework.  Click on the link to read Emily's post regarding this.

So I'm sitting there thinking, "Give me some examples.  I need to see some examples of Quad D moments."  Ask and you shall receive... Here are some quick activities to boost the Rigor and Relevance in your classroom:

A few others I liked:

Write to learn

Fix It

What if?

(What If? is my particular favorite because it is so quick and easy to use with everything.)

I consulted my good friend Google to see what I could find on Quad D moments.  Google is my friend because it has the answers to EVERYTHING (Well maybe except for the author of that quote. Or maybe it was just me searching the wrong things he he)!!  Google is also where I find a large percentage of what I teach in the classroom.

I stumbled upon this video clip which goes into Quad D moments briefly, advertises a resource which I am interested in finding more information on, and gives some examples.  Click on the image below to watch the video.

So I am out to learn as much as I can about the wonderful world of Quad D; especially the short, quick moments.  Do you all have any tips for me and the followers of 4321Teach?  What helpful information do you guys have on Rigor and Relevance and Quad D?

A PINTEREST FIND!!!

Still feeding my addiction to Pinterest, I found a poster of the writing conference acronym I posted about the other day.  Click here to view that post.  It was TAG with a very slight variation.  Click on the image below to go to the Pinterest page.

Thanks,

August Currently and B2S Must Haves!!

It is time for the August Currently from Oh' Boy 4th Grade.  Be sure to check out Farley's website because there are many blogs linked to hers.  One thing I love about the Currently is that Farley encourages her followers to check out other blogs.  It is such a great way to get ideas for your classroom and your blog.


My Currently and B2S Must Haves will be in blue and Emily's will be in red.

So here is my Currently! :)

B2S Must Haves!!!

My first Must Have is Launching the Writing Workshop: A Step-by-Step Guide in Photographs (The name in my currently is actually worded incorrectly. oops)  This was introduced to me by a fellow presenter (thanks Sarah) in one of my classes.  She is a demonstration room for our district and said this book is her go to for writing workshop.  It not only has photographs as the title states, but has launching mini-lessons with a planning template, conferring resources, rubrics, etc.  Definitely a MUST HAVE!!!

Click on book for more information from Amazon

My second Must Have is The Common Core: Clarifying Expectations for Teachers and Students.  If you have not seen these flip books and your district is going Common Core... check them out ASAP!  They are an amazing resource that provides SUPER useful information such as the standard, vocabulary, student-friendly I can statements, etc.  Click on the Math image for more information on these FABULOUS tools!

  

Here is a glimpse of a sample page from the ELA...

My final Must Have is Pinterest.  It is one of the best teacher resources EVER!!!  You can find bulletin board ideas, lesson plans, anchor charts, behavior management ideas, etc.  It is a teacher MUST HAVE for back to school.  Click here to view my boards. :)

Antoinette's B2S choices are awesome.  At every district meeting

I sing the praises of those flip books to who ever will listen.  They ROCK!

What are your preferred B2S shoes?

I am in love with these:

Fergie makes some CUTE flats.  (Click the pic to shop for more of her shoes.)

I swear by flats.  All that standing and sitting on the floor is just easier in flats.

I am a Pinterest junkie too.

I love all the bulletin board ideas, organization ideas, and cute projects that would work great at the beginning of the year.  (Click here to see what I have been pinning.)


Lastly, I am in the final stages of prepping my classroom.  Hoping to have pics next week!


Share what you are Currently up to at Oh Boy 4th grade.  


Antoinette & EmilyK

On the "Write" Track

Why would a person like myself who is completely NOT a morning person take 8:30 classes every day this week?  My first thought is because I'm an idiot! lol  To be honest... there were too many great classes offered during those time slots and I couldn't resist.  My writing class through The Leadership and Learning Center would be the perfect example.  I walk in with my large coffee and knew right away I was going to enjoy this class because the instructor had me laughing not only throughout the entire class, but more importantly before 9 o'clock in the morning.  Takes a lot to accomplish that. :)  He sang songs, told jokes, asked us trivia questions, and kept us involved in the activities.  Three hours of learning about writing went by in no time at all.


We began the class with a self-assessement on our level of comfort in writing across the curriculum on a scale of 1-10.  I tend to be my own worse critic and gave myself a five which meant that I manage a workshop environment and offer some writing opportunities outside that time.


Along with that, we did a quick write about how we use writing in our daily lessons.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that I do it more than I realize;  definitely have room for improvement, but not as bad as I thought.  I am a HUGE advocate of journals.  Last year, my students used journals in every single subject.  So at least they were doing some form of writing across the content area.  In an earlier post, I wrote about my social studies journals and shared some examples.  Last year was my first year doing this and the students really enjoyed it.  Click here to view that post.  I also use science journals, but definitely need improvement in the writing part because a lot was note-taking and recording data from experiments.  We did some writing with the scientific process though.  I believe I am on the WRITE track. ;)


I am totally into quotes, so I want to share some based on writing, from my class today.  With this activity, he had us underline the words we felt were important to successful writing.  You can see in the quotes below what I felt were important.

"Students need to write every day, for a variety of purposes and audiences, in order to become fluent, competent writers."  -Graves, 2004

Volume of writing also matters.  Students should be writing in every segment of the day, rather than only a designated writing workshop time."  - Hoyt, 2006

"To pass high-stakes writing tests, students need fluency and endurance, which they can attain only through daily writing practices that includes free writing, lots of choice, and writing across the curriculum.  Students who write extensively develop high-order thinking skills that translate into high achievement on all types of tests."  - Routman, 2005

NOW... for a part that I thought was a fabulous idea.  He had us come up with an acronym for writing.  He mentioned the idea of creating numerous ones and displaying them in our classrooms for the students to see.  How cool is that?  Here are some examples that I came up with:

W- writing and                            I- Ideas that use

R- reading                                   D- details which are

I- in all subjects                           E- expressed with clarity

T- teaches us to achieve              A- and are focused

E- excellence with our words     S- so message is clear

                         V-  voice

                         O- our

                         I- individual ideas to

                         C- create writing which is

                         E- expressed in our own unique way

Another great idea was the SACREDQQF.  This was created by a student of my presenter.  I wish I would have written her name down so I could give her credit.  The SACREDQQF is a way to expose students to the various ways to start a story.

  Setting

  Action

     Character

      Reflection

Event

    Dialogue

     Quotation

    Question

Fact

An acronym for writing conferences-

       T- tell something positive

                       A- ask a question (with a positive tone)

G- give a suggestion

And last... An acronym for assigning writing

T- topic

     A- audience

    P- purpose

I hope you enjoyed the information from my writing class.  What are some ways you use writing across the curriculum?  Do you use journals/notebooks?  If so, what are some tips for those of us who are fairly new to this?

Common Core: Rigor and Relevance

I don't know a teacher out there who isn't gearing up for the Common Core.
Antoinette and I work in a district that is offering many professional development opportunities to prepare us for the upcoming standards.
This week we are attending a district sponsored Summer Academy.  (Antoinette mentioned it earlier this week.)
Teachers sign up for classes, and I couldn't resist signing up for a class on Rigor and Relevance.
It seems to be a new "buzz word."

Our presenters were part of the International Center for Leadership in Education.
Many of the resources will be linked from their website.
Here is the Framework.

The presenter spent time talking about what rigor is and what rigor isn't:
Rigor is:
-scaffolding thinking
-planning for thinking

Rigor isn't:
-back to basics
-more or harder worksheets
-about high-order thinking

The presenter focused on the idea that you need each quadrant to be used in instruction.
You can introduce content by posing a Quad D (real world/ complex) question, and the student's can figure out what Quad A (facts) they need to know.

He said in all his years, he had never seen a lesson that would be stuck in a certain quadrant.
(Don't just live in Quad A or Quad D!)
Focus on applying skills in real world types of situations (Quad B & Quad C).

Relevance:
Speaking of real world, when is the last time you finished reading a book or watching a story on the news and did a worksheet to show what you comprehended?

That's right, NEVER!
So, if this is what our kids are doing most of the time, is that helping them prepare for the future?

What are some topics that kids find interesting:
-Cell phones (The presenter mentioned in all his time in classrooms around the US K-12, this topic was universal.)
-Entertainment (movies/music/video games)
-Sports
-Fashion

Does this have to be all you talk about?
No, but sometimes including it can't hurt!

From the teacher perspective:
Consider building in tasks that encourage character virtues (honesty, responsibility) and career skills (technology, ethics).

Though you may want to work for the present, think about the future and how this may be presented.

This is also a great document the presenter used info from.

What have you learned about Rigor and Relevance?

EmilyK

Summer Learning, Picture Books, and Building classroom Library FREEBIES!!!!

Emily and I are taking classes this week through the Summer Academy that our district has provided for us.  Although it does cut our summer a bit short, the resources and information we gain are definitely beneficial.

We were lucky enough to be in the same class where we had the opportunity to peruse a variety of picture books and discuss various ways they can be used for instruction.  I love when presenters give time for teachers to share out ideas.

As you probably noticed in the Picture Book Linky we participated in, Emily and I absolutely LOVE using picture books in our daily instruction.  So we want to share out some of the books discussed in our class today.

A great book to teach the purpose of  punctuation
and what happens if we didn't have it to use.

A book about a dog which is
written as Haikus

Great for connections and is SO appropriate
with our current weather conditions

A book of idioms and some history
behind them.

Also, the lady presenting (my friend Cheryl) shared a bunch of resources for building a classroom library.  They are book lists to go along with many different reading skills and she was oh so gracious enough to share them with us.  Some documents list books which go along with one specific skill while others have various skills combined into one file.  There is also a document which lists picture books to use across the content areas. :)  Click here to access these documents.  We hope you find them useful in building your libraries! :)


In the class I taught today over launching units for reading and writing, a few people asked me if I had recommendations for organizing libraries as well as keeping track of the books.  I gave some suggestions like grouping them by authors, genres, and/or topics.  In my amazing friend Tracy's library, every book has a card containing its information.  She takes a picture of each of her students sitting in a reading chair and attaches those pictures to pocket envelopes which are glued to poster board.  When a child checks out a book, he/she takes the card from the book and places it in his/her envelope.  I think that's a great way to keep track of books.


We would love to hear your amazing ideas.  What do you recommend for organizing and keeping track of books in your classroom libraries?  Also, we are always looking for picture books to use. So any ideas are always more than welcome!


Antoinette and EmilyK