What's Your Color?

Classroom management is one of the most important components of a successful classroom. In my class, students are on a color system. There are 5 color zones through which a student can progress in a single day. Each student's name is written on a clothes pin. They begin each day in the Blue-Excellent Zone.

Because everyone deserves a second chance, afer they break the first rule, students move their clips to the warning zone. This also enables me to keep track of who has already gotten their warning for the day.

Once their clips are in the warning zone, a second rule violation means that they move to the Time Out zone. In this zone, depending on the time of day, students either receive a 5-10 minute time out from class or recess.

If there is a third rule violation, the student receives a lunch detention and a note home. Lunch Detention means that the students has to eat lunch silently and is not able to sit with any of his/her friends.

The fourth rule violation results in a Phone Call Home and an office referral. Ususally, most students do not make it this far through the color zone. If they do, I call their parent(s) from our classroom phone. After introducing myself and giving the reason for the call, it is the student's responsibility to explain to their parent(s) what behavior they have been engaging in and why. An office referral is also completed and sent to the main office. Only the referral goes to the office: not the student.

Our Class Book Fair!

In February, our class held their first book fair. The students had been working on revising the rough drafts of personal narratives that they had in their writing workshop notebooks. Each student then selected the narrative they wanted to publish. Using peer revision and peer editing, they worked diligently to prepare their stories. They created and illustrated book covers, wrote reviews, and decided on a selling price. On the day of the book fair, they were able to buy each other's stories and sell their own. The goal of this lesson was for students to understand that what they write, someone will read; at the same time, it was designed to reinforce math TEKS involving their ability to count money and make change.

Overall, the impact made was positive and lasting. There stories have taken on new personality; they have included more voice, organization, and coherence. The students themselves have taken more pride in their writing. The students have since begun preparing stories for our next book fair, to be held in April. The attached video is a sampling of our book fair. It is approximately 5 minutes long. Enjoy!

Classroom Webpage

How would you like to visit our classroom webpage??

maysclassonline.pbwiki.com

Please click on the link above to be redirected to our classroom webpage. It is a wiki that we use to communicate, share notes, and ocasionally post homework.

Every Day Counts Calendar Math

This video shows an excerpt my class doing Every Day Counts Calendar Math. Every Day Counts is a program designed to reinforce math skills through the use of a daily calendar. We complete the calendar everyday. The students lead the session and discussion, and I offer support when and where it is needed. The students make predictions, look for patterns, and count money. They also add numbers to a number line and determine whether or not these numbers are multiples of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 using what they know about divisibility rules. Each month, something new is added to the calendar. This month, we are buying items and making change to practice adding and subtracting decimals. We are also practicing elapsed time.
This video is approximately 5 minutes long.

Workstations

The following video is about 3 minutes long. It is a sample of how Language Arts workstations run in my classroom. It shows me with a small group, and the rest of the students working in groups and independently at stations throughout the classroom. All of the centers are mobile; the students do no have to be in any certain area to complete the required activities.

I am working with a small group refining writing skills and strategies to prepare for the TAKS-Writing Exam. The other students are working on different reading and writing skills.