Reading Partnerships in Breakout Rooms

The primary way I use sharing screens on Zoom is in reading partnerships in breakout rooms. Students join their reading partner in a breakout room, and one student goes to getepic.com and shares their screen. Both students are then able to read a shared text together. Before we went to remote instruction, students would be able to share a book from my class library and sit side by side, or read a set of duplicate books that I had several copies of. This is no longer possible now that students do not have access to shared texts at home. Sharing their screens allows students to access shared texts online and read together like they did when we were in person. 

Now, I set up breakout rooms ahead of time with 2-3 students per breakout room, and send my second graders to their rooms with instructions to read together. They spend not more than a minute or two on Epic choosing a book, then take turns reading pages, and help each other with difficult words. I go from room to room, listening in and offering immediate feedback before I move on to the next group. I jot notes on each group like I would as if I was conducting my in-person reading groups, and eventually pull everyone back to the main session to debrief. My kids love to give "shoutouts" to their partner for reading well and helping them sound out words!

This is one of my students' favorite activities on Zoom. As soon as you can teach at least half the class to share their screens (remember, you only need one student in the partnership to be able to share their screen to get started!) you can begin using the free website getepic.com for reading partnerships online. 

Teaching Students to Share Their Screens on Zoom

Teaching your students to share their screen while on Zoom will open up so many possibilities for you and your class. Screen sharing can help you to troubleshoot for students, (e.g.,"Just share your screen with me!") in addition to opening up doors for activities students can do with one another in breakout rooms. 

It may take some time teaching your students how to do this, especially if your students are all on different types of devices (this is the boat I'm in). However, depending on the activity you're doing, you may only need one student in the group to know how to share their screen in the beginning.  I actually utilized my students as fellow teachers when teaching them to screen share! I'd ask, "Who else has a Chromebook? Help me walk the class through the process for sharing on a Chromebook."  Some of my students were better than I was at teaching each other how to share their screens on devices that I didn't have!

Here are some links on how to share your screen on several different devices.

iPad/iPhone: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115005890803-iOS-screen-sharing

Laptop/Desktop: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362153-Sharing-your-screen-content-or-second-camera

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Thanksgiving Bulletin Board

This Thanksgiving bulletin board took several hours to complete (most of it was cutting out the letters and hearts), but I'm so happy with the way it turned out!  

Drawing the turkey body: 

First, draw a large and medium heart for the body and head, a rectangle for the neck, triangle for the nose, and a tear drop for the waddle. The trickiest part for you if you're not feeling artistic will be the legs.  Just do your best!

Cutting and Arranging the Turkey Feathers:
The turkey feathers are simply 3" wide rectangular strips of paper in red, yellow, and orange, along with hearts glued to the tops of each strip.  I wrote the names of each student on the hearts (yep, this is a big class this year!).  I arranged the paper strips on the rug to practice the spacing before stapling them onto the bulletin board.  

The Final Bulletin Board: 

I used a black background to make the colors pop, and finished the turkey with a red heart!

I regret that I don't know where I found the original inspiration for this bulletin board!  To whoever you are, thank you! 💛

Teaching First Graders How to Apologize

Teaching children how to manage and resolve conflict with their peers is just as important as teaching them to read.  I find that I spend at least 1/4 of my class time on SEL issues.  Because it won't matter much how brilliant a child is, if he/she cannot navigate the social dynamics of working and playing with others.  We need children to learn how to establish and maintain friendships as a part of their social and emotional learning (SEL), and part of that includes learning how to take responsibility for wrongdoing with a sincere apology.  

HOW TO GIVE AN APOLOGY:

Here are the steps we use in my classroom when a child apologizes to another student in the classroom: 

1. Look the person in the eye the entire time.  

2. Say you are sorry: "I'm sorry . . ."

3. Say what you are apologizing for/what you did wrong: "I am sorry for_________________."

4. Say what you will do differently next time: "In the future, I will ________________."

5. Ask for forgiveness: "Will you forgive me?"

HOW TO ACCEPT AN APOLOGY:

We also talk about and learn how to properly accept an apology as well.  However, there are different ways that I teach my students to respond to an apology, depending on what the apology was for.  

If the apology is being given for an action that was both deliberate and mean, I do not allow students to respond with, "That's okay."   Because mean behavior (such as saying something hurtful in anger, or deliberately pushing someone) is not okay.  Intentionally hurtful behavior is NOT okay in my classroom (or anywhere), and to say "That's okay," sends the wrong message to the student who has done so.  Instead of saying, "That's okay," I give students choices that they may respond with instead, such as, "I accept your apology," or, "I forgive you."  

Now, on the other hand, if a student is apologizing for something that was an accident, then it is appropriate to say, "That's okay."  Mistakes happen, and accidents happen, and both are okay.  

Surprisingly, it doesn't take that long for students to grasp the nuance between each type of situation, and what responses are appropriate for each.  For some students, I still need to help them through each step of giving and receiving an apology (looking the other student in the eye is my most frequently given reminder), but most students can do it independently after the first 6-8 weeks of school.  

More posts will be coming soon on the social and emotional learning issues that I address in my classroom, and strategies for helping students to master them!

Treasure Box Alternatives: Sitting at the Teacher's Desk

Sitting at the Teacher's Desk

Let's get real for a minute.  Who ever sits at that desk, really?  Other than the occasional "Let me look for that Pinterest picture" moment, or the times you grade papers on your lunch break, no one sits there. Seriously. So why not put that space to some use during the day?

I know there's a whole movement about getting rid of your teacher desk to make way for more student space, but I'm not quite there yet. I'm willing to admit that I rarely (if ever) sit there, but I still like having a space to spread papers, toss To-Do-Later items, and display office supplies in pretty jars. So, until I jump aboard the no-desk bandwagon and get rid of my desk entirely, I'll continue use it as a student incentive. 

Teachers that I mention this idea to nearly always respond the same way: "I'd be afraid they would touch my things!"  Now, know everyone's class is different, but my experience in letting kids sit at my desk has always been positive. 

First of all, this is not a first month of school option. I make sure students know me and my expectations very well before introducing my desk as an option for students' work space.  Letting kids sit at your desk is not the time to practice defining boundaries!  (Granted, there will always be a student that you would give your car keys and ATM card to from Day 1, but I'm talking about the entire class in general.) 

I would only begin letting students sit at your desk after they have demonstrated the ability to show respect for the rules and procedures of your classroom. Once that happens, my students are in awe of how much I trust them, and even my most wild child will work extra hard to show that he/she is worthy of sitting at this place of honor. I've never once been afraid that a student will take or break something from my desk. Like I said, it's an honor they want to prove themselves worthy of, and they will most often do their very best work while sitting there! (This could also be because they are separated from other distractions, like chatty table mates.)

Depending on the size of your desk chair (last year I used a director's chair at my desk), you can often fit two kids behind your desk at once.  Two first graders on the smaller side fit easily in my director's chair. 

Once the lesson/independent work time was over, I'd tell the student(s) at my desk, "Okay, time to go back to your own desk!" And they'd quietly gather their notebook and pencil box and happily trot back to their own desk again. A single student will rarely sit at my desk for the entire day, but I will rotate different kids, allowing a handful the opportunity over the course of a morning or afternoon. 

Even if you have reservations about it, I would urge you to give it a try. Start with your most responsible student, and let him/her model respectful behavior.  But given the chance, I bet even your most troublesome student will thrive and complete his/her best work while sitting behind your desk. 

Tips for Positioning Bulletin Board Letters

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Test to make sure your painters tape will not tear your bulletin board paper when peeled off of it!  Some of the thinner (read: cheaper) bulletin board paper won't stand up against painters tape/masking tape.

1. Measure out a piece of tape the length of your bulletin board.

2. Remove the tape after finding the appropriate length, and then place it down on a table where you have room to lay out your letters.  (Here I've bypassed the use of my Cricut to use the pre-cut letters from Lakeshore.)

3. Arrange your letters across the tape, spacing them however you'd like them to be on your bulletin board.  Once you've found the correct spacing and positioning of letters, slide them under your tape (as shown below).

4. Gently peel the strip of tape off the table, taking your letters along with it, and carefully take it across the room to the bulletin board you're working on.

5. Position the painters tape on your bulletin board, to where where you'd like your letters to ultimately be affixed. Staple the letters to the bulletin board while everything is still taped to the wall.

6. After stapling your letters to the wall, carefully remove the painters tape, leaving the letters behind in exactly the right place!

Teachers' Back to School To-Do Lists

I know these types of Back-to-School lists are very different for every teacher, depending on the type of school you teach at, your grade level, your classroom configuration . . . I could go on and on.  But these are MY Back-to-School To-Do Lists, which hopefully will help you to create your own (or perhaps remind you of something you'd forgotten)!

Go Shopping:
✏︎ Composition books in specific colors (green for math, yellow for spelling) from Target ($0.50 apiece)
✏︎ Student Work folders (from whichever office supply store has them on sale the cheapest)
✏︎ Primary Writing Journals from Dollar Tree ($1.00 apiece)
✏︎ Extra boxes of Crayola Crayons and Glue Sticks (because we always need extra)
✏︎ Rolls of fadeless bulletin board paper from Lakeshore
✏︎ Rolls of corrugated borders from Lakeshore

✏︎ Name plates for desks

✏︎ New birthday poster 
✏︎ New "Who lost a tooth?" poster
✏︎ ALL THE THINGS in the Target Dollar Spot 😉
✏︎ Stress balls for students who may need help calming themselves down
(I usually also buy myself a new set of colorful Sharpies, and a new box of my favorite pens, regardless of how many I have stashed in a tub in my classroom already.  Just because it makes me happy.) 

Once I Have My Class Roster:
★ Update class website with students' birthdays
★ Write names on Birthday Poster
★ Pre-Write names on Happy Birthday certificates (keep in a page protector and hang next to
     Birthday poster)
★ Create Star of the Week calendar/schedule
★ Update class website with students' Star of the Week date assignment

★ Update ClassDojo with students' names

★ Create/look up student accounts for online programs:

          - Spelling City

          - Read Theory

          - Accelerated Reader (AR)

          - Mathletics

★ Create labels for workbooks and journals:
          - Writing Journals
          - Math Journals
          - Spelling Journals
          - Math Workbook
          - Handwriting Workbook
          - ELA Workbook
★ Create labels for filing tabs (for completed work bin)
★ Write names on desk name plates
★ Write names on die-cuts for Welcome Back bulletin board
★ Create new Class Jobs board with students' names
★ Print and laminate website password cards

★ 

More Getting Ready:
✓ Prepare Math Journals:
        ⚬ Pre-number pages (odd pages only)
        ⚬ Affix ruler tape to cover
✓ Prepare Spelling Journals:
        ⚬ Stamp top corners of pages with letter stamps
        ⚬ Cut dividers from card stock, glue inside

Classroom Set Up & Decoration

✓ Plan theme/color scheme

✓ Put up bulletin board paper and borders

         ✜ Star of the Week 

         ✜ Calendar

         ✜ Welcome Back to School

         ✜ Religion

✓ Arrange desks and tables depending on class size

✓ Clean tops and insides of desks

✓ Number desks with Sharpie Paint Pens

✓ Pull textbooks out of cabinet, lay on corresponding numbered desk

✓ Hang bunting banners across windows

✓ Hang "Lost a Tooth" & Happy Birthday poster

✓ Prep classwork folders with highlighters (see my post HERE on how I do this)

What do YOU do to get yourself ready for 

the first week of school???