Statistics for the end of 2015.

Wow. I didn't realize how hard it would be to blog throughout the school year. To those teachers who keep up a blog site kudos to you!!!!! Closing out 2015, I did want to post my failure and passing stats for this first year teacher! In first quarter, my passing rate was 69% with 52 students. As of the end of second quarter, that rate has increased 15% to 84% with 55 students! (Deep sigh) Proud of my little workers getting their jobs done in the classroom! Can't wait to start third quarter next week. :)

Sharing Their Thoughts on Thankfulness and Community

Check out our school's webpage! You will find my fourth grade class presenting their opinion writing. :) 

http://collinsrhodes.mce.schoolinsites.com/

Taking Responsibility

This little guy here is very busy. With all the noise that can happen in a classroom, even three students crumpling up a piece of paper at the same time can cause him to get off task. Recently, he has found himself a new place to work without asking me. Of course, at first I wanted to ask him to return to his desk but after observing him, I said nothing. He sat quietly in the window seat and did his work. In a room with 26 students, he found his place of focus. I have a couple students like this who have to stand to work, or pace to stay on task. To one it may look like he is disobeying the rules, but to me, he made a way to get his work done. He took responsibility over his work. This is his calm spot. If it works for him, it works for me. 

Centers

It's funny how teachers in my past were the only ones allowed to use the globe. It was a visual for geography. However, I've noticed students really enjoy sitting and observing the globe themselves. They will get in groups and spin it a few times, land on a continent and begin asking questions themselves. Teaching one another. So I totally think a globe makes a great center for students to have conversations about and observe! They will amaze you with the talks they will have. They love it! 

AR Chart

And we're off!! Proud of the three students who have already joined the AR Chart wall! 😀 Malaysia, Jaylen, and Demorielle! 

First Book Report

This week we read "The Boy with a Thousand Faces" by Brian Selznik, considered to be speculative fiction. It was quick and the students were very engaged. (40 pages) Today we began our book report and I chose for them to do a Book Timeline. We created a timeline of events from the story as a class; very vague events because I wanted each group to go back and create three details for each event. My class has 26 students so I created 5 groups. Each group designated jobs (organizer, illustrator, writer). The picture below shows one student as he completes his work as the writer. I had a blast watching them coordinate, work things out and distribute ideas. I'm going to redo a couple groups but, other than that, this was a very success group work day! 

"TWT" This Week Today...

Every morning after D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read) I have started the morning off with a "TWT". There is this outstanding link attached to the history website that I have found and I google what happened in history each day. I scroll through and select two prompts that are relevant, interesting, and 4th grade appropriate. The students have thoroughly enjoyed this! Usually, I also try to have photos on the smartboard so they can have a visual picture of whomever or whatever we're writing about. I give them thirty minutes and they have to create a title and a paragraph about the prompt. Afterwards, they draw an illustration. If you're looking for ideas for writing, I suggest 'TWT'S!
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

Here's some of the things we have written about.

- Elvis Presley
- Hawaii becoming the 50th state
- The thief of the Mona Lisa discovered
- First victim of yellow fever fell ill in Memphis Tennessee
- Voyage 1 went to Mars
- First football player to be paralyzed in the NFL
- First balloon travelled from Maine to Paris, France
- Skeleton of a T-Rex found in South Dakota
- Black Out happened on the East Coast
- Earthquake hit Turkey leaving 250,000 homeless
- First African American graduated from Ole Miss
- First NASCAR race in Indianapolis
- First telegram sent around the world

These are the historic facts. I create a prompt to go with them :)! Happy Writing!

Teacher Wish List

People are always asking me what I need for my classroom and I decided to make a wish list! So all you giving individuals, here you go! :) 

Baskets 

Label Maker

Three-pronged folders

Spiral notebooks 

Magnetic Clips

Composition notebooks 

Scrabble 

Boggle 

Sentence strips! 

That's all for the moment! I'll come back to this post around 2nd Quarter! :) 

Week One: Wow!

WOW!!!!!

I apologize for being so slow to blog lately. It has been rather busy out here in this classroom! I mean, let me tell you! College doesn't prepare you at all for the opening school experience! How to put away supplies, how to organize binders, how to get information, send out information, the list goes on!!!!!

But, just to quickly give you an overview of how my first week went here it is: 

I started the week with a roster of 29 students. My first day I had 24 students. As of today, a week later, I stand with 26 students. Equally divided, thirteen boys and thirteen girls. 

It has been slow to get a routine because we were instructed to set procedures, rules and expectations down the first week. So, we are just now getting in the groove of a regular school day this week. 

Filing papers, finding space to file papers and stay on top of managing time has already been a battle for me. So I need ideas on how to quickly grade, check, and file papers!! (I'll take any!)

Then EVERYONE has a schedule that they want to get accomplished. The librarian, the art teacher, the computer teacher. I see now why my coordinating teachers in college said there's hardly anytime to teach because just as soon as you get started, it's time for lunch, or restroom break, or small group, computer class what have you. It makes sense. 

I have caught myself twice this week overjoyed in the fact that I have arrived. I was wiping down a table and I just stopped looked up and realized THIS. IS. MY. CLASSROOM. I've never been more content with my life right now. I'm doing exactly what I've always known I was made to do. It's the best feeling ever. I can't wait to see these children grow this year! I may be slap wore out when I get home but, I go to sleep saying I'm ready for tomorrow. :) 

Overall, great first week ever! It's in the books and I will ALWAYS remember it! 

Braswell Blurb: The Calm Before the Storm

WHEW!!!!!

What a few weeks it has been! Prepping for the first day of school has been nothing short of busy for me! With it being my first school year, I started coming to my classroom to prepare mid-July. Seasoned teachers came the week before school was in session. To them, I give mad props! I did not know how much work goes in to setting up a classroom, gathering resources and creating bulletin boards! I bet my Pinterest App is tired of me clicking it! I am beyond happy to say, as of right now, my classroom is set and I can begin teaching Monday! Over the weekend I am going to begin preparing lessons and such now that my room is in order. I just can't imagine starting Monday without a "ready" classroom. So! Just an update from my classroom! We are back on schedule for the weekly Braswell Blurb's! My next blog will be a rundown of the classroom dynamics that I will have this school year.  

Books Needed For My Classroom

A few people have asked me to send them a list of books I would like for my classroom. Well, YOU GOT IT!!! I'm always wanting more books! Variety makes my students happy! Here is the list that I have been building since a student teacher.

Beginning next week we are going to be reading Charlotte's Web. As of right now I have one book, however, I would love to have a class set of Charlotte's Web. (It's so timeless.) 24 books are needed!!!

Secondly, dictionaries. Kid friendly dictionaries. 20 would be great.

Here's the books!

Buddy - William Joyce

The Amazing Pop-up Multiplication Book

Cats - Amanda O’neill

Dinosaurs - Michael Benton

Hamburger Heaven

A to Z Mysteries : The Haunted Hotel

Derek Jeter : Surefire Shortstop

Dive! My Adventures in the Deep Frontier

The Big Buck Adventure

Cinderella Skeleton

Three Magic Balls

Giraffes Can’t Dance

Clarice Bean Guess Who’s Babysitting?

The Custodian from the Black Lagoon

Davy Crockett Saves the World

The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby

Can you See what I see?

The Hamster of the Baskervilles

ABC Math Riddles

Alice in Blunderland

Amber Brown is Green with Envy

Act I, Act II, Act Normal

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude

Walter, the Story of a Rat

Babymouse Beach Babe

Friends: Making Them and Keeping Them

Not Afraid of Dogs

The Secret Science Project that Almost ate the School

Animals in the House

Monday with a Mad Genius

I Lay my Stitches Down

Liar and Spy

Presidential Pets

Rebel Mckenzie

White House Kids

Goosebumps

Scary Stories To tell in the Dark

September 12th, We Knew Everything Would Be Alright

The Kids Book of Questions

The Book of Values

My Great Grandmother’s Gourd

Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes

Go Away Big Green Monster

Chrysanthemum

Thank you, Mr. Falker

My Red Headed Older Brother

When Lightening Comes in a Jar

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

If you would like to know other ways to help out our classroom please comment below. There are always students who are in need of supplies who are unable to have them provided for by their family. This would be a great way to show how community can impact the classroom :). We are better together!

Looking Back

This semester was very inconsistent for me. I started off as a 4th grade intervention teacher helping students who were struggling in math and reading. As much as we always like to talk about progress, we also have to recognize that there will be regress. We must know what to do in those situations as well. The fourth grade at my school was struggling terribly as a whole. If we were to have taken all the failing students and put them in one classroom, the total would have been the size of a regular class. From there, I was reassigned into a classroom that had major behavior difficulties. Students who normally did not struggle were struggling because of the behavior problems in the classroom. When I entered that class, 20 students had failing grades for the 3rd quarter. There were 25 students. It was a struggle. But, I am happy to say that as of today, that number dwindled drastically to just 9 students. It was work. It was hard but, I was amazed that after a behavior plan was put in place, students' grades slowly started to rise. It showed me how important behavior management really is. It can make a "D" student a "B" student.

Looking Forward:

Seeing, kind of, the worst of the worst situations, I have decided to make a goal for my classroom next year. 40% of this 4th grade class will fail this year. Not good. I wish I would have had the opportunity to move in sooner to assist these students and the teacher. But with that in mind, I have made a goal for next year's class. Here it is:

Quarter 1: No more than 5 E's.
Quarter 2: No more than 5 E's.
Quarter 3: No more than 7 E's.
Quarter 4: No more than 5 E's.

Seems as though 3rd quarter is the toughest for 4th grade. I think having this goal will help me closely monitor progress and regress. Would I love to have a class with NO failing grades? Why absolutely. That should be every teacher's dream. But, that's not reality. Granted, this next class won't be the size of the last one but, having goals is what I'm about. Sitting here typing this out also helps because now I feel accountable. And if students go over my goal I will know that there's something I need to do differently and I need to find more assistance for those students to get below my goal. Expectations. I want students to succeed so that they enjoy school and learning. So! We shall see! Hold me to it!

Class Awards

Class Awards were a success! 

Fall of 2015

Well, we are nearing the end of the 2014-2015 school year! Here in Mobile County students have till June 1st and teachers have till June 2nd to be finished. We have a lot of transfers happening so a lot of positions have been changing here and there. 

I'm happy to announce that in the fall I will once again be teaching 4th grade but, this time I will be teaching only Reading/Language Arts! Yahoo!! I'm excited and I can't wait to find resources and begin to really kick off this blog with student posts, teacher materials and other things. Here's to Summer 2015!

End of the Year Who's Who Award Ideas

I work in a low end poverty school and I wanted to something special for these students! I decided to do Who's Who Awards and let the class vote for their classmates. Here are some ideas we came up with:

1. Best Hair Award (Guy and Girl)
2. Funniest Student Award 
3. Best Dancer Award (Guy and Girl)
4. Nicest Student Award 
5. Class Clown Award 
6. Most Artistic Student
7. Coolest Student Award 
8. Friendliest Student Award 
9. Best Smile Award (Guy and Girl)
10. Biggest Helper Award 
11. Most Technologically Advanced Award
12. Best Student Award 
13. Pack Rat Award 
14. Most Athletic Award 
15. Best Behavior Award 
16. Most Handsome Award
17. Loudest Laugh Award 
18. Most Talkative Award 
19. Cleanest Desk Award
20. Most Dependable Award 
21. Quietest Student Award 
22. Cutest Award 
23. Brightest Student Award 
24. Top Reader Award 
25. Accerlerated Reader Achiever 
26. Early Worm Award 
27. Perfect Attendance
28. Best Conduct Award 
29. Late Worm Award 
30. Most Improved Behavior 
31. Most Improved Academics
32. Hardest Worker Award 

List anymore that you can think of! 

Teacher Talks: Classroom Jobs, a Headache Cured

Recently I have watched as classroom teachers tire of telling students what to do and try to honorably give students chances at doing things in the classroom. Kids sincerely just want to help. But, having five kids want to help do the same thing at the same time can get annoying. So what do we do? Most of the time we shut them all down and tell them to sit down and quit asking. Simple solution = Classroom Jobs. Start off at the beginning of the year with introducing that you have classroom jobs. Students will work extra hard to have these jobs! Then, at the end of each month, you can rotate jobs with students. I saw at one school the teacher allowed students at the beginning of the year to write down three jobs they would like to have and she would distribute jobs based off of their preferences. I thought that was neat giving students the opportunity to choose for themselves. This way, you don't have five hands go up to turn off the smartboard. Or in the afternoon, you don't have three students following you everywhere asking if they can sweep the floor. You have that assigned and those students know what responsibility they have. 

Headache Cured!!

Teacher Talks: Normal vs. Abnormal

This past Friday and Monday were two very abnormal days. One of the fourth grade teachers didn't have a sub for both days while she was out. I learned in that situation that, that can affect the entire grade level. Our only option was to split that class into all the rest of the classes. Needless to say, those two days were very hard for a learning environment. I also learned that students can pick up on when things are going to be normal and when things aren't going to be normal. Between state testing, visitors coming to a school, assemblies, data meetings, PST meetings, sometimes you question when do the teachers actually get to teach? I observed these two days that students know when their schedules are off. When schedules are off it throws them off just as much as the teacher. Students will work just as hard as the teacher to manage the day when things are abnormal. If the teacher isn't going to try, they aren't going to either. 

Students want normal days just as much as teachers.  

Summer Break To Do's

This week we have been having state testing and with state testing I have had a lot of time to ponder my summer break time while walking around monitoring students. 

I have made a list of some summer things to do. Please comment with more ideas! 

1. Get a Tan. 
2. Nap a lot. (Turn that alarm OFF!)
3. Travel (Idaho, Chicago, Panama City, Gulf Shores as of right now) 
4. Fix up the house.
5. Spend time with family and friends. 
6. Reflect on the past school year what worked and what didn't work. 
7. Copy and Create - So many times we'd rather copy ideas than create new ones. Spend time finding new ideas for the classroom as well as other successful ones. Bring new ideas to the table.  
8. Read the top children's books. (Know what your students like and use that as a tool for the classroom.)
9. Get into the school and get your classroom setup. (Around July)
10. RELAXXXXX. Stay outside in that beautiful sunlight! 

I'm sure there are more. Let me hear them! 

Teacher Talks: Parent Conferences

I sat in on one of my first official parent conferences this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between teacher and parent. It is so so crucial. Unfortunately, the conference I sat in on wasn't a well prepared conference. The teacher was late. The parent had been sitting in the office nearly ten to fifteen minutes before the teacher reached her. The progress report wasn't printed out so once the teacher had picked up the parent then the parent had to wait in the classroom while the progress report printed. As they sat down to discuss things they discussed her progress report as well as her behavior. This student is generically a good student but, on the last math test she failed it. The parent commended on of the teachers (this is a co-teaching classroom with two teachers) for texting her about her daughter's recent math grade because she had not been receiving any communication beforehand. The parent asked to see the test and the teacher stated that she could not find it. At this time, the parent looked at the other teacher rolled her eyes and said "See what I mean?" I could sense that this parent has been frustrated all year long with disconnected communication from the classroom to home. I watched as the other teacher tried make the parent feel assured that her daughter's grades would be monitored and they would stay in contact with her until the end of the year.

I learned MANY valuable things during this observation: Be prepared. Be punctual. Know your student's grades and where they are located. Have ideas for what the parent can do to help in preparation for the next test.

I don't ever want a parent to have to say to me to someone else "See what I mean?"

What are some experiences you have had during teacher/parent conferences? What are some useful tactics that made these conferences more successful?

Teacher Talks: Learning Without Teachers

Today I was observing a student take a writing test. The prompt read "Describe and Explain who your favorite teacher is and why." I walked by his desk to read his writing and he was explaining how much he liked his teacher and why. Then the next sentence read, "And without my teacher, I would never learn." Now, I completely understand what he was trying to get across but, that statement really made me ponder. Without my teacher, I can't learn. It's a crutch mentality. Please-feed-me-because-I-can't-feed-myself kind of statement. It really made me think on how we can show students and model to students that yes, a teacher is important and should be there to direct, assist, and present material (or else I wouldn't have a job) but, you don't NEED a teacher in order for you to learn. You don't NEED me to feed you when you are hungry you can feed yourself if I placed a plate in front of you. Case and point, adults are still learning but, we aren't in classrooms. Students need to understand that in all situations, not just in the classroom but, in every day life you can be learning something. His statement really made me reflect on what schooling is teaching students. To be a self-learner or to be a dependent-learner? I think I found a new philosophy that I am going to work towards as a teacher. Help students to learn and find learning in every area of their life independently.

What are some ways we can teach students to be independent self-learners?

Teacher Talks: "That's Not Fair!"

If there's anything I have been hearing so much it's the following line: THAT'S NOT FAIR.

Recently, I was positioned into another classroom with a teacher for coteaching. I have been able to sit back and see the dynamics of this class as well as enforce some new discipline tactics coming in with an outside perspective. I learned very quickly that students just want to be treated fairly. They want to have the same chances as every other student in the class to have good behavior and be rewarded for it. I think at times, as we near the end of the school year, when we have become tired and have had to deal with the same behaviors over and over again, we can tend to become annoyed with specific students. Even more, we can decide absent-mindedly, to write them off and choose not to give them chances any longer. Say for instance, you have a clip chart in your classroom for behavior. S is satisfactory, N is needs improvement and U is unacceptable. Student A acts out and she gets a warning for the next time she acts out. Student B acts out and because it is a recurring issue he doesn't receive a warning and his clip gets moved straight to U. How is that fair to that student? Now student B has gotten emotionally upset and causes a bigger disturbance to the classroom climate because he didn't receive the same treatment. These situations can escalate quickly and students can become disrespectful, defiant, and develop hatred towards their teacher because of being treated unfair. Consistency can help these situations. A developed successful discipline plan can help these situations. No student should go from S to U immediately. If one student receives a warning there should be a system put into place so that other students know without question they are going to be given the same amount of chances. 

Being fair in the classroom will make or break you as a classroom teacher. 

Teacher Talks: The Little Things

Second Nugget I've learned within the past four months. 

The Little Things Make The Difference

When I say the little things I'm meaning, having the pencils sharpened. Allowing students to go to the library so that they have books to read. Having desks in order. Having lessons plans printed and prepared. Having materials ready before class. 

Trying to find materials takes too long. Trying to get pencils sharpened wastes time. Students not having books to read creates chatter. Little things like these things can make a day go by so much smoother. And you will have less stress. 

Teacher Talks: Voice Lessons

The next three posts are going to be little pointers that I have recognized so far in four months of teaching. 

There is a time to yell and then there is a time not to yell. Some teachers feel like to express they are upset at a student or to get a student to get back in line with behavior they have to yell their heads off and scream to get the student's attention. That doesn't work in all situations. Picking battles and choosing when to get loud is key. Not every battle requires yelling. Screaming your head off the first time because a student's desk is messy isn't wise. They learn real quick that you get rattled too fast. Also, some kids live in hostile situations where no one talks at a calm level. So yelling doesn't affect them. Choose the right battles on when to yell. If you keep your voice level low majority of the time, the moment you DO yell, they will know you mean business. 

Opening Blog

Hi! My name is Katie Braswell. I am a fourth grade teacher at a school in Prichard, Alabama along the line of Eight Mile, Alabama. I graduated from college in December and received my first position here in January! Completely ecstatic doing what I've always dreamt of doing since a child.
I opened this blog to create a relationship with other classes and other teachers around the globe to teach students for one, that they aren't alone. Somewhere out there in the world there are other students their same age going through the same things they may be going through. To also show them that there is more out their than their neighborhood. That they could see the world and its grandeur at an early age to become aware of other cultures, communities, cities, beliefs, and opinions. Too long students are taught just about where they live and they never get to explore what else is out there.
I also created this blog to find new ways to bring innovative teaching methods, technology, and classroom creativity into my classroom. To see what other teachers are doing that is being successful and use blogging as a way to share ideas.
I'm looking forward to the beginning of the school year to fully blast off this blogging page and to get creativity stirred amongst my students and the teachers I work with.