Overall, this was probably my most favorite week so far! It seems like there were less lows than normal and the kids are finally responding to me and working together more as a classroom community. My behavior problem students had their ups and downs this week, but I did get to see some successes with them, as well. There is one student in particular that destroys the climate of the classroom on a regular basis and I got to see him take control of himself a little bit more on Friday. I was so proud of him and my class!
One thing that I tried this week with a behavior problem was sending him into the hall. This might have been a tactic I heard in 800s as well as the Fired Up Conference. I gave him a few minutes to think about why he was out there and then I asked him, "Do you know why you're out here?" He got argumentative with me again and started arguing and blaming me, so I didn't say a word and walked back into the classroom. A few minutes later, I tried again with the same question and he told me exactly what he was doing, "I was being a distraction to the class." I then asked him what he was going to do to change that, he told me, and then we walked back in the classroom. He was great for the rest of the lesson! Instead of engaging in an argument with him, I gave him time to think, me time to cool off, and we proceeded from there. He even made me a special green and white cupcake for his birthday party on Friday, so I know that there was no break of our relationship!
Another thing I tried this week was a form of Reader's Workshop. I had been talking about how I disliked the Reading Street stories and how my 5th graders hadn't read a single novel other than SSR for the entire year! My MT is awesome and lets me try things, so we talked about what I could do and she suggested one of her book sets, Hatchet. I used the same vocabulary, spelling words and skills for the Reading Street story, but I chose to teach them through Hatchet. I then assigned them three journal entries for the unit (a 2 week unit) to start them off. The journal entries would demonstrate their ability to use each of the three skills I taught, "context clues," "sequencing," and "summarizing." I think they surprised themselves with the stamina they displayed this week. They were able to read for over 30 minutes uninterrupted. I was able to pull my low students and work through Hatchet with them, and I was able to walk around and check on their progress. It was incredible!
My MT likes it so much that she is continuing it this way and even changing the vocabulary words to relate to Hatchet rather than the Reading Street ones. She is also changing the text that the RACE is covering to one that relates more to Hatchet, an informational text about the Canadian wilderness. I know that I know very little about Reader's Workshop, but a book about it is definitely on my summer reading list. I am glad that I decided to take this risk, even though we only had two more weeks of lead teaching left.
I can't believe that lead teaching is almost over. I am excited to finish up and have time to complete 800 stuff, work on my portfolio, and spend more time with my colleagues doing the convocation video. I have learned so much!
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