Shuffling Those Small Groups

Y'all.  Can I just first say that I get abnormally impressed with myself when I blog twice in one day?  Like it's probably a little ridiculous.

From my excellent IG and Twitter creeping, I can tell that many teachers are preparing for their first round of Parent/Teacher Conferences (PTCs), or just recently made it through.  If you just made it through, way to go!  Self-five!  You did it!  Conferences can be hard, but you nailed it!  If you're still preparing, you've totally got this and you're going to do a great job!

I know that when I was in the classroom, PTCs generally occurred around the same time as a data cycle, which means that generally when we were prepping for conferences we were also assessing like mad(wo)men.  And generally, when we have new data we use it to make sure that we're still grouping students appropriately and meeting the needs of all our kids.  I'm here today to briefly talk to you about how you go about creating your small groups.

Now, when I first started teaching I felt really strongly that students needed to be ability grouped and that the groups students used for work stations (LWS) had to be the same groups they used to come to my table.  If that's how you feel comfortable, great.  However, I want to tell you about how I group kids now that has totally changed the way I manage LWS.  The short version is this:  I put students into rotation groups but those rotation groups DO NOT match the groups of students who come to my table.  When I started as a teacher, I thought this was stupid because I was doubling the work of group making.  However, as an older and wiser (ha) teacher I am 100% in favor of having rotation groups and teacher table groups not match.  Let me tell you why.  First, when you ability group your rotations you're essentially putting your highs, lows, and mediums in the same group, so all the lows are together, all the highs are together, etc.  What I LOVE about having unique rotation groups is that you can mix up the levels of students within the groups, which is great because you can split any potential talkers/misbehavers, and you can also make sure to have some kids that others can ask if they forget what the activity is.  Second, having different rotation groups means that there's never a work station that's totally empty.  It also makes it more likely that students are getting to every work station in a week.  Lastly, the thing that's great about having rotation groups and teacher table groups is that you can call an audible and flex group students if the need arises.  So if you notice that there are 4 students who need work on answering two-part questions, but who might not be on the same level, you can call them to your teacher table without really disrupting the flow of your rotation groups.

When I ran work stations with different rotation groups and teacher table groups, I used pocket charts to indicate rotations.  I had cards with group names and members on it, as well as cards that showed the work station.  Here's an example of what the rotation group cards looked like.

And underneath the group card would be the 3 cards showing their work stations for that day.  So, for example, underneath pumpkins it might show word work, read to others, work on writing.  Here's an example of the work station cards.

I planned for this to be more concise than this actually was, but I just really feel strongly about having different rotation and teacher table groups.  :/  If you try it let me know if you love it, too.  And if you don't maybe I can help you regroup your students so you do love it.

Happy Novvember!
xoxo

#teachertalktuesday

Yes, I know that's technically the hash tag that everyone is using on Instagram on Tuesdays, but I just feel like that's the most connected thread of this little blog post.  I'm just sharing 2 quick things, then I'm going to work on (FINALLY) creating a new product for the ol' store.

First, this happened today.

We were working on modeling word problems using pictures, and the small group at my table literally couldn't solve this problem because they did not buy into this "save the cookies for later" idea in the problem.  Finally, I asked them what they thought happened to the cookies.  They said I ate them all!  What?!  So that's how our picture ended up like this.  Not really the picture I was planning to draw, but hey.  That happens sometimes in the first.  

Secondly, I've been meaning to do this for a while, and I finally did it.  (victory fist pump here)  

It's a little hard to tell in this picture, but this is a graph of my student's current Lexia levels.  Honestly, I had never heard of Lexia until this year, when my school started piloting Lexia for our district.  Basically, Lexia is a research based reading program that hits all areas of reading (except writing).  What I really LOVE about Lexia is that it auto-places kids automatically the first time they log in, so they're automatically placed at the level appropriate for them, regardless of grade level, so it's inherently differentiating for each student.  It also highlights kids who need a specific lesson, and it gives you the exact lesson that they should be taught.  I would say the one thing that I love the least about Lexia is that sometimes my students have a hard time with the vocabulary activities, mostly due to exposure.  For example, Lexia will say something like "find the picture that matches 'enormous'", and they might choose the wrong picture, but if it had said "choose the picture that shows 'huge/large/very big" they would immediately know it.  In any case, I'm planning to add this to my Facebook Fan freebie page, in case you use Lexia, too.  (I figure I can't be the only one, right?)

Okay, friends.  My next goal is to show you how we're using math binders this year, but that means I have to remember to actually take pictures of said math binders.  Don't hold your breath, friends.  =)  

Enjoy your night!

xoxo

The drought ends here.

Hello, friends!

Well, as I'm sure you can tell, 2014 is not playing around.  These 20 days have been incredibly busy; we went right from the holidays into weddings, birthdays, and apartment hunting.  Currently, I'm back home in the glorious Midwest for a family funeral.  I have to email in my sub plans for tomorrow, but I REALLY hate writing sub plans, which is why I almost always haul my butt into school if it's at all possible, but since it's not possible tomorrow I'm taking a break to revive my little blog.

I'm here today to share with you 2 quick tips, if you can call it that.  To be perfectly honest, I generally feel that I'm not a very tricky teacher, and I sort of feel that organizationally I'm not really dazzling anyone, but just in case you're looking for new ideas here are two things that have been incredibly helpful for me this year.

The first thing that has been incredibly time saving for me is our work station rotation board.  Right now I only have one for literacy work stations, because those are the work stations I use daily.  (We generally do math work stations only about 2-3 times per week.)  Unfortunately, I'm going to have to just describe this work station board to you all since I don't have any pictures.  I'll write myself a note to take a picture and share it with you later.  =)

Basically, I have 5 groups and I give each group an icon (usually it's seasonal) and those are lined across the top.  Each card has the group's icon, the group name, and the names of each student in the group.

This is a mini-sample of how our group cards looked in the fall.  So these cards line the top of the pocket chart.  We only do two work stations each day (which was hands down the hardest adjustment I had to make in my literacy block this year), and I show the students which work stations they are going to by putting two picture cards underneath their group card.  We have 6 work stations in our classroom--word work, independent reading, fluency, writing, iPad, and inquiry and investigation.  Each work station has a corresponding picture card, which looks something like this.  

I made 4 for each work station so that 2 groups can go per day, plus there are a few extras.  So I stack the two picture cards under their group to show them where they're going.  What's really nice is that now, at this point in the school year, organizing the work station board is a job that I can delegate to more responsible kids.  I can generally have a kid organize the work station board during morning meeting.   What's also really nice about using picture cards is that kids who are coming back to the classroom during our work stations can find their group/activity much more easily than they could in the past.  It's really helped those students transition back into the classroom with minimal disruption.  

My other tip, in addition to picture based work station rotation cards, is picture based anchor charts with directions.  I'm part of a fellowship this year and technology is part of it, so I was able to receive a small group set of iPads for my classroom, which has been great.  As a school, we've been using 2 programs this year that I put my kids on during iPad time--Lexia and Reading A-Z.  We took time earlier in the school year to make anchor charts together showing the step-by-step directions for students to use both Lexia and RAZ Kids.  Adding small pictures to the anchor charts really helped kids integrate those directions into the routine.  My students know that they have the first 90 seconds of a work station to get their iPad and bring it to the Question Box to have it unlocked.  After 90 seconds they have to wait until I have a break in my group instruction.  Having the anchor charts has really helped the kids understand what to do, but it's also really helped me with redirection.  When kids don't follow the routine it's easy to point to the pictures and help them understand what the routine is.  

I promise to be back more this week with some peeks into my classroom, although this will be a short week--I'll be out Tuesday, with a field trip on Thursday, and an early dismissal on Friday.  

Enjoy the holiday!  =)

xoxo

I'm nothing, if not a woman of my word.

Even though the Cyber Monday sale was literally a week ago, I just now finished my unit 3 word work activities.  As promised, they are 20% off in my TpT store today and tomorrow.  You can grab them by clicking right here!  I'll also give it away to the first 2 people to leave a comment with their email address.

Happy (faux) snow day!
xo

What? Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK?!

Holy moly.  I can't believe this is the last week of school before Thanksgiving.  That means November is basically over, y'all.  I can't even handle it.  I've been cooking up this post for a while, and I finally feel semi-organized before 9:00pm on a Sunday so I'm here to share some ideas with you today.

First, before I forget I wanted to let you know that I just made some table points trackers, if that's a thing you're into.  You can snag them for a measly $1.50 right here.  My littles this year are having a hard time seeing the big picture.  They keep getting caught up on fussing at each other, and if we're being completely honest it's driving me NUTS!  I'm a teacher, not a referee, yo!  So I'm hoping that this will be helpful to us.  I'll make sure to let you know how it all shakes out.

I also wanted to get in on the work station posts that everyone does.  When I started this blogging experiment I talked a lot about how I teach math in my classroom, but I wanted to take a break from that and talk about how guided reading and work stations looks in my classroom.  First, they look REALLY different from last year for several reasons.  1.) My kids last year had a crazy high stamina and were great at working together, so I frequently did 3-4 guided reading groups in one day.  And 2) my distract revamped their expectations for guided reading and literacy work stations (LWS), so I'm trying to fall in line like to good little worker bee that I envision myself to be.  =)  Basically, the way that we're doing work stations this year is that we have 5 different work stations--fluency, word work, independent reading, writing, and inquiry and investigation (otherwise known as the work station that keeps me up at night).  The activities in each work station are up to you, but you should have all 5 of them up and running and kids should cycle through them each week.  The big change that's been giving me the 1-2 punch this year is that we're only supposed to pull 2 groups each day.  That's right.  Just 2.  I've also been having a hard time balancing that because I also have a Fundations Double Dose group right now that's supposed to meet 3 times a week (M, W, F).

I will say one thing that has really helped keep us on track this year is a visual work station rotation board.  I always kind of scoffed at them and had never used one before, but I have to say that I really am on board for it now.  So helpful.  It's also really helped me shift responsibility to my little nuggets.  Plus, it's great for kids who transition back into the classroom during work stations.  They just get their folder, check the board, and then go to meet their group.  The other tool that I'm in LOVE with is our Scholastic guided reading library.  DC bought it for all their elementary schools last year and it is amaze-balls.  It has reading behaviors to teach at each level, and it has a matrix that lists each book, the level of the book, and what the book is designed to teach for word work and comprehension.  It makes planning for guided reading a snap.

How many groups do you pull in a day?  What resources do you use to plan?
Happy Football-watching!  (Who-dey!)
xoxo
Rachel

Whaaaaaaa?! A Blog Update and It's NOT Friday?!

I have really great intentions every week of blogging more often, but somehow it always seems that all of the sudden it's Friday and I'm linking up with Doodlebugs for Five for Friday.  But today?  Today, friends, I'm coming at you on a WEDNESDAY!!

Previously, I blogged about how we use Responsive Classroom structures is in my school.  One important aspect of RC is that you take the first 6 weeks of school to establish routines and procedures, and then after your routines, expectations, and procedures are established you can generally move forward throughout the year focusing on instruction.  We're in week 4 of the first 6 weeks right now, so we're practicing our routines and structures daily, steadily incorporating more each week, and moving towards small group instruction and independence in 2 more weeks.  So far, we're kicking independent reading's tush, and  we're dominating Fundations.  This week, we launched partner reading, and I'm really surprised with how well it's going.  They l-o-v-e it!  So much!  We've really just been practicing sitting hip to hip, knee to knee, balancing our book, and taking turns as they read each page.  If I was better at remembering to photograph my nuggets I would insert a picture of partner reading here.  We've also launched writing workshop, using our new writing curriculum.

Another structure that I've started this year is calendar math.  It's something that I've never done before.  Right now, we've been adding the date on every day and tracking the days we've been in school, but that's it.  In October we'll start keeping a tally chart of the weather and using the tally chart to make a graph.  Is that all you do during calendar math, or do you do more?  (If we're being totally honest I feel like I always hear about calendar math, but that everyone does it a little bit differently.)  I'd love to hear about the way you do calendar math.

Have a great Thursday!  =)
Rachel

Short and Sweet

Hey, y'all!  I hope everyone's weekend is off to a great start!

I know some people are back in school already, but here in DC teachers go back on Monday.  I've already firmly vowed to myself that I will NOT go up to school this weekend...even though the mess I left in my room yesterday is threatening to give me an anxiety attack.  The weather here is beautiful this weekend, and I'm enjoying my last weekend of freedom.  =)

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm participating in the huge TpT sale starting tomorrow, and with 20% off my store you can get several items in my store for under $1!

I think that  my next TpT project is going to be some guided reading planning materials.  Would that be helpful, or do you think that market is pretty saturated?

Happy Saturday!  =)

Teacher Tips

Two blog posts in under 12 hours?!  I know, I know.  However, if we're being totally honest this less represents my extreme commitment to Teacher Week and the fact that in preparation for PD next week I refused to allow myself to get back into bed after the hubs left for work.  I even made the bed so I wouldn't get into it!  But no one will be at school to let me in until 8:00am.  Which means that I have about an hour and a half to fill.  So you're getting a bonus blog post!  Once again, I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week for their last day--teacher tips and tricks.  

Now, if we're being totally honest, I don't really consider myself a really tricky teacher, but I suppose I have learned a few things over the years.  I'm coming at you today with a really cool trick I learned last year from another teacher--data folders.  Previously, I blogged about my school's partnership with the Flamboyan Foundation in DC.  (You can check it out here if you missed it.)  Flamboyan has really been working with us on how to engage parents AND how to meaningfully share data with them. 

Last year, I went to a workshop after school hosted by Flamboyan about sharing data with parents and left with a ton of really great ideas.  The one that I liked the best and put into practice in my classroom almost immediately is data folders.  Here's the basic rundown:  You decide one day each week that these data folders will go home.  (I would not recommend Fridays because you really want them back the next day.)  I always do mine on the one day that we don't have a special because that gives us a little more time in class to get the folders ready.  So basically, you're selecting 2 goals that you're monitoring on a weekly basis and you're sending the data home to families each week, giving them information on how their students are progressing.  This is a little different from just sending home weekly assessment scores because you're really trying to track growth over time with these folders, so you're trying to assess the same skill (or group of skills) every week.  For example, last year I tracked my students' fact fluency scores because we took a fluency test each Friday and I also tracked their Fundations check-ups.  (I would give them a quick check-up, even if it wasn't in the plan for that week.)  Then, I can either grade them during a planning period or over the weekend and sort all the tests by kid so that they're reading to the put in the folder.  

There are 3 other really important pieces to the data folder that really bring this picture home to parents.  The first is the graphs.  You make a graph for math data, and ELA data.  You add in the benchmark line (where you want the kids to be; this is almost always 80% in my class) and then you have kids color in the graph to show their score.  This makes it really easy for parents to see where their students are, in relation to where we want them to be.  The second piece is the signature tracker.  Here, you're going to make a sheet with 3 columns.  One will be the date for each week when you send the folders home, the next will be a box for a parent to sign that they went through the folder, and last (and super important) is a comment box.  Parents MUST make a comment on the data.  They can really write anything in here that shows that they went through the folder.  I usually put a few suggestions at the top, like "So proud!" or "Way to go!" or "We need to practice short vowel sounds".  You just want to see by reading the comment that they went through the folder and looked at the data.  And the last piece (and the reason that I always do this on my no-special day) is that you have each kid fill out a form letter to their parents about their data for the week.  It's nothing fancy, just a little "Dear Mom/Dad/Grandma, I am feeling ____________________ about my tests this week.  Next week I want to ___________ (do better, do as well, study more, etc.) so that I can ________________ (get a treat, be smarter, know more math facts, etc.).  Love, ___________".  This whole process definitely takes some time to get rolling, but after the first few weeks this goes much more smoothly.  

Here's why I love the data folder:  you're sending home consistent information every week, so parents can't act surprised/won't be surprised when report cards come home.  I also love it because you can send extra information, like a note about increasing reading levels, but at the baseline they're getting weekly updates about the progressing their child is making in school in a really clear and easy to read format.  

Now, I've heard that there's a giant sale on everyone's favorite website this weekend, so I'm going to try really hard to have all the forms for this data folder up in time for this sale.  I wouldn't look for them before lunch time tomorrow, but that's the goal.  Have a great Friday!