Parent Questionnaire

As I have done this for a while, I have taken more seriously the importance of input from all stakeholders in the success of our students.  I like to hear what my parents and students think so that I can tweak things in the future. 

I have an evaluation that students complete for me each year which gives me good feedback on their experiences in our classroom.  This really helps me to know what my students really enjoyed, and where I need to make changes.

The last couple years I have gone to making parent questionnaires at the end of the year.  These questionnaires focus on a specific topic that I am considering for changes.  I then make my questionnaire, and ask parents to respond.  The information I get really helps me with my planning, and, I hope, helps the parents of future students.  A couple years ago, I asked for parent input about my website as I was preparing to revamp it.  They helped me by letting me know how often they used it, what information on it they found important, and what elements they thought were missing.  This information really helped to give me direction for my website changes.

Last year, I asked parents to evaluate the communication in our classroom.  Their input helped me to keep many of the things I had in place as well as to develop a Google Group for more instantaneous contact.

I spend a lot of time thinking about homework and its ?importance?.  I am lucky to work at a school where most students complete their homework, but I know that many of them are having a lot of parent help, and so then it makes it tough for me to gauge the student's abilities.  Besides that, I do not take grades on homework, and this is hard for parents to understand.  I could go on and on about my thoughts and questions about homework.  I can see its benefits, but I also question its effectiveness.  So, with that in mind, I made this MY QUESTIONNAIRE for the year.  I think I sent it home a week too late because I only got about a third of my parents to respond, but I still found some valuable information as I consider things for next year. 

What are your thoughts on homework?  How much do you give?  Do you give online homework?  I would love to know what you think, too! Click HERE for access to the questionnaire I used this year.

Professional Reading

While I spend A LOT of my summer reading kiddy lit, I also do some professional reading. A couple of books I am going to read and think about this summer are Readicide by Kelly Gallagher and Number Talks by Sherry Parrish.

I am also looking for some books to continue the development of my math workshop.  Do you have any recommendations?

A Recipe for our Classroom

As one of our end of the year writing activities, my students wrote a "recipe" that I will hang outside of the classroom at the beginning of the school year.

I divided the kids into groups of 5, and they had to determine four ingredients that they were an important part of our classroom.  We took the generated list and then discussed wording and additions.  We had to vote on whether we wanted the recipe's measurements to be cups and teaspoons, or more real for our classroom.  The kids decided on hours, and then they worked to figure out pretty accurate amounts of time for each thing.  We used 180 school days even though the kids aren't in attendance 180 days.

Here's how it turned out.  I think it will be a great welcome for my new students and parents.  :)

I'm alive and well, and ready for the LAST DAYS OF SCHOOL!

My break from my blog was somewhat planned, but certainly not for so long!  I came back from spring break ready to attack my final units, but I was tired.  We had a great end of the year, but I took a break from my voracious reading and my blog.  What was planned as just a couple of weeks off now leads me to today, when I have only 3 days left of school.  :)  I am excited to catch up this summer.  I already have some ideas for next year. 

Anyway, I am back.  Here are some quick things we did in April/May.

We ended the year with our space unit.  The unit first begins with information on  our sky, and above is our culmination of that learning.  On the sky, students wrote information that they learned in their research about the moons, sun, and stars.  The yellow papers are accompanied by a picture of a starry sky where the students created a constellation, named it, and told of its meaning.

During our targeted instruction time each day, I teach 35-40 3rd graders who exceed in reading.  We did a variety of things during this time (Greek mythology, Shakespeare, Holocaust), but this is the final part of our reading/discussion of discrimination/civil rights.  We read a bunch of books like The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, Jackie's Bat by Marybeth Lorbiecki, A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson, When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan, and Sister Anne's Hands by Marybeth Lorbiecki.  The collages were inspired by Sister Anne's Hands.  We brainstormed words, and then the students created the images.

We studied the economy in April and May.  As a final project, students brought in items to "sell" to classmates.  Some brought food, others brought used stuffed animals, bookmarks they had made...They had a great time doing this!  After the simulation, students wrote a report for me about the experience using the vocabulary of the unit..producer, consumer, supply, demand, human resources, raw materials, profit. 

Finally...

Every year, I give my students a list with all of their classmates names on it.  They then use a brainstormed list to write one word to describe each classmate.  I then compile the words and present each student with the list of words that their classmates said about them.  This year, I am taking the compiled list and turning it into a Wordle for each child.  With Wordle, the words that are used the most often will be the largest showing the student what words their classmates most think about them.

Thanks for coming back.  I'll post some more end of year activities in the next week or two.

These Books Kick it up a Notch!

Two of the  books I have read this spring break really "kick it up a notch!"  The first one I read was by John Grisham, Theodore Boone:  Kid Lawyer.

I do not typically read books written for adults, but I am aware of John Grisham, so I bought this book earlier in the year because of his name on the cover.  I ripped through it over break.  It was a good story, and really broke down the law system for kids.  It reminded me a lot of Encyclopedia Brown (he was always one of my favorites!) but had a much more serious crime that Theo pursued.  Throughout the story, Theo's classmates came to him for law advice, and his knowledge was enough to set them on the right path.  I liked it so much, that I headed off to the bookstore to see if there was a 2nd.  They didn't have the 2nd one in.  It is called Theodore Boone:  The Abduction.  I will have to look for it this summer!

The second book that I read was very short, but pretty intense.  It was called On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer.



This is not a new book, and you may be aware of it because it was a Newbery Honor Book.  It is a book that really spotlights character vs. himself conflict.  The entire book is told from the point of view of Joel who "gave his honor" to his dad that he would ride his back right to the park and back, but he doesn't, and tragic events incur.  It really made me sad to think of how this boy struggled with this one little decision and the effect that it had.  This book really emphasizes "Wrong is wrong even if everyone else is doing it and right is right even if no one else is doing it."  Serious book with a strong message about our actions and how they affect others.

Two of the books that I have read this break.  Life is good.  :)

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

The winner of the $25 Target gift card is Miss B., Alysia Battista! Thanks so much for following this blog!  You forgot to get me your email address, though!  Get it to me, and I'll send you your giftcard!

Now, it is off to the rest of my spring break!  :)

Solar System and last day for Giveaway!

I am spending parts of my spring break getting ready for my units when we return.   I have had a student teacher the last couple of years at this time, so I haven't taught the solar system myself.  I am using the student-interest model for this unit.  I will teach core lessons/activities 2-3 times per week, but on the other days, students will be able to drive their own learning by exploring what interests them.

I am going to use ClassConnect to post a variety of articles and activities for them to access during this time, plus I will have a lot of books for them to use, too.  All of it will end with in-class projects which have clear guidelines but allow them to focus on the material they found most interesting.

Anyway, I'll give more specifics later.  Today, I wanted to share this awesome resource that I found today. 

KidsAstronomy.com offers games, interactives, teacher resources, and online classes for kids!  It covers all of the material that I am asked to cover (moon phases/constellations/the planets) and more!  It is a great starting point for students and is written in an easy way that they will be able to understand! 

I'll post more as I put together the details of this unit. (in between books and naps.)   :)

Finally, don't forget my Target gift card giveaway ends tomorrow morning.  I plan to pick the winner by 10 am, so get your entries in before then!