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Home : 2001 : June : 16
2) We have the Accelerated Reader program at our school so early finishers always have something to do--read a book and test on it at the computer. 3) Our state (Texas) defines how much time we are supposed to spend each week on a subject and then we break it down daily. I spend about an hour on math, 30-40 minutes on science OR social studies (I do 3 weeks of science and then 3 weeks of social studies), 30 minutes on journal writing and Daily Oral Language(DOL)--grammatical skills, and the rest on reading. Your reading TE is a great resource to plan what you want to do for that. 4) I grade what I tell the kids I will grade. Often we trade papers and the kids check one another's work. The checker writes his name at the bottom of the student's paper so we know who checked it. What you grade depends on how many grades your district requires and how well the students know the skill. If you just introduced cause/effect, I wouldn't take a grade on the first paper they did. Also, you may find after grading that you need to trash that pile, not record the grade, and reteach. That's what it is all about! 5) I have a rolling cart for papers. The yellow tray is for work needing grading, the red tray is for homework, and the blue tray is for works in progress. Some people have a tray for each subject. It depends on what you like. I assigned my students a number according to their number in my gradebook. They write that number on EVERY paper in the top right hand corner. I have a mailbox center with their numbers on it and my student of the day files all paperwork for me by that number. 6) WoW! Parent volunteers! I'm jealous of that question! If you have a student who is struggling (you'll know almost immediately!) a parent volunteer could work one-on-one with that child daily to read aloud, do vocabulary, sight word cards, whatever they need. Have parent volunteers cut out your laminating or make things for upcoming projects. This frees you to plan wonderful lessons! Have parent volunteers read their favorite book to the class. I have parent volunteers do anything I can think of. 7) The first few days, I give my students a welcome to second grade packet. They write in it about their summer, do basic addition and subtraction, math patterns, read a small story and answer questions, do an ABC order dot-to-dot, and a couple of phonics pages using vowels. This lets me kind of know where I stand and where I need to start with the kids. I don't do spelling for a grade the first week, but after a couple of days, I jump right into teaching. You will get to know them by doing the usual routine that will be expected all along. You also may not get to everything you had planned at first. You are teaching them how you want things done all year. Take the time to show them from the very beginning. If something you taught them is not working, tell them you want to change it. They will appreciate your honesty and will work with you to make it better. I always make it a point with everything I do or give them, to express my expectations by giving examples of a good paper, and non-examples! Don't be scared to give a paper back and say that you believe this child can do better. What you EXPECT at the beginning is what you will get all year! 8) I have my rules and consequences posted side by side. We go over them the first day and when a child is not behaving correctly, I refer to the rule number and have the student go over to the chart and re-read what is expected. I have a wheel that I made out of a cardboard pizza box. It is half green, 1/4 yellow, and 1/4 red. All the kids have a clothespin with their name. If they get in trouble, I move their clip to my clothes (I wear it on my sleeve)for WARNING! Later in the year, I attached a rectangle of blue paper and put the clothespins on it for warning. Next problem moves you to yellow which is divided into 3 sections--5 minutes, 10 minutes, and all of recess missed. The clip continues to move and at red there is a parent contact. I usually make that immediate by going in the hall and calling the parent at work, but sometimes I will just send a note home. We also have an agreement on our grade level where we can send a misbehaving student to another teacher for time-out. This is time for the child and YOU to cool off and think about what can be done. ALSO, make sure you have a positive reinforcement system in your room. I have marbles in a jar for good behavior/attendance/homework. If all students are present--10 marbles. If all students did homework--10 marbles. If anyone compliments our class, especially in the hall--10 marbles. Of course, this works in reverse. If the class is not on task, lose 5 marbles. Use it how you like. Those marbles make a distinct noise and those students will respond to it. When you fill the jar, you get whatever you decide--extra recess, a short movie, free time, etc. I also have a basket for individual rewarding. Put your name in the basket for good answers, setting an example, doing what you should be, bringing an important note back to me that I sent home--whatever. At the end of the week I have a drawing for prizes. 9) We do journal every morning while I am doing my morning paperwork. Of course, the first few days we did the packet mentioned above. I taught them how I wanted the journal to look and modeled my journal entry to show them what I expected. We choose 5 names out of the bucket daily to read their journal response aloud. When all the names have been chosen, we put them back in and start over. You never know when you will be called on to read, so the kids tend to write well just in case. Most often, I give them a prompt, but sometimes I allow free write. 10) By 2nd grade, these kids know procedure. If you have shown them how to do something and shown them well, expect it. The first week, I spend a great deal of time on my hallway behavior. It is important to me and I tell my class that it is important to us that we look respectable in the hallways. I have even been known to point out non-examples in the hall and talk about it later--not obviously of course. The kids develop an attitude of importance about it as well. Especially when they get those compliments for marbles! In 2nd grade, you can NEVER model enough. I was still reminding some of my kids at the END of the year some procedures I had taught them. I also had a list on the board of morning routine/expectations. The kids didn't have to ask me what to do--it was on the board. Sharpen pencils, turn homework in, copy homework assignment, put notes to me in my note bucket, do your journal. Kids love routine! I feel like I have babbled on for AGES! If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me. Hope some of this helps!
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