Friday, August 30, 2013

The End to a Wonderful First Week

 Today the class and I received a wonderful gift! A parent made these old key book marks for us.  The kids and I loved them!!  I love old keys and so this was extra special for me too!
 
 
 
 The creativity that kids hold never ceases to amaze me! Today we played a game where I gave them some dice and told them to play the game (I did not say what game or give any rules).  Some where confused, some where frustrated, and some just created their own game!  This is a picture of a table that started playing their own version of chutes and ladders using materials they had available. I then walked around and started giving a little rule here and there and it made some students more upset because it changed what they were doing.  I then talked to them about the importance of rules and expectations of knowing what to do in the beginning of any situation.  We then took that idea and started working on our classroom mission.
 
 
To end the week we also learned about ourselves and took some learning style and brain preferences test.  They seemed to really enjoy learning about their brain and how they think.  I think it is interesting myself!
 
 
 
 
These last few pictures are examples of some of the procedures the students wrote and presented earlier in the week.  I love them! 
 
We had a great first week!  I am so happy and excited about the potential of this class!  I did tell them that next week we will be focused more on academic learning and setting our expectations and goals.  

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Second day of Fourth Grade

I couldn't be more excited about my class!  We have already accomplished many things!
 
Yesterday they worked in groups and wrote procedures for doing different things in class. My goal for them was to write everything so if a sub came in they would know exactly what to do.  This was of course after we discussed the procedures.  I then had one person from each group stand up and present their procedure to the rest of the class.  They all did great! I will try to post pictures of their outcomes tomorrow.
 
Today we applied for our classroom jobs.  They seemed to have fun with this and really took it seriously. I told them I would have to go through their applications so it would probably be Friday before they found out their job.  We will be changing jobs every nine weeks.
We also went over the 30 boom challenge today.  I put a chart in their binders for them to record their books.
 
I am truly thankful for the experiences we have already had and looking forward to all the adventures this year is going to bring!!!