The Value of Time

What a whirlwind.  In some ways, it always amazes me how fast each marking period ends.  I have such high expectations for myself and my team, and yet I can never be satisfied because our time is so precious.  I am sitting here hoping that I have enough data to properly assess each student and I am thinking about how there are students who I don't know their whole story yet.  It makes me quite sad to think about that, but there is some sobering reality to the amount of time we have.

I was curious so I did some math today.  Our first marking period will consist of 41 days.  I took the amount of minutes that I would have for instruction if there were never any interruptions like fire drills or assemblies.  That number came out to roughly 10,865 minutes.  That sounds like a lot so I should have had time to spend with each child.  I then divided that out by 30 kids and then by 60 minutes to express it in hours.

If I only spent time one on one with a child and never did any whole group instruction.  I would have a grand total of six hours with each kid.  We do many things to make each child feel involved in everything that we do, but it is quite sobering to realize how much our time is stretched and how little one on one time we have.  This time is so very precious and is probably why one on one tutoring costs so much.  

I am not using this as an excuse, but I thought it was an interesting way to look at things.  I do everything I can to borrow every minute from the day and get as much small group and individual instruction as I can while still getting through all of our curriculum as a whole group.  

This is one of the main reasons that attendance is so important as missing those few moments that are carved out for your small group or individual time is tough.  I won't rest in what I do, but I am also going to understand that I will know my students much better in the third marking period than I do in the first marking period and we will be a better team every day that we have together.

P.S.  I also want to thank parents that send a quick note if something unusual is happening in your child's life as I don't always get to everyone in the morning beyond a quick hello and a smile.  It is always good to know when something could be having an effect on their attitude and performance.  Thanks for keeping me in the loop.

Friday's Proud Moments

Sorry I missed these on Friday.  I would love if parents highly encouraged students to be a part of this proud moment process.  I am not going to make students do it, but I would love to see more participate.  We will be working on the process and I will be modeling it more.  Thanks for supporting these kids.

Learning to Build People Up

Yesterday at the fire hall, the fireman did a great job this year of connecting working hard at school to being successful in so many ways in life.  I was really happy with what the kids heard from the captain.  He connected school subjects to the many facets of his job as a fireman.  It is a pleasure to be able to take the kids out into the community and meet the men behind one of our most important public services.  The students were extremely respectful and asked insightful questions.

That was a great experience, but the more important discussion happened after we got back to school.  We had a few teammates who struggled in gym again today so we met together at a team meeting.  I asked those teammates, "What can we do to help you?"  The discussion was very interesting because we learned that many of the ways we were trying to help were actually not helping.  When kids are asked how they can help, they often talk about the rules and say they would just tell people what to do or not to do.  One of our teammates was very honest and said that they know what they are supposed to do.

We then had to have a discussion about how everyone is working on different parts of their life and someone who may not be doing the right behavior is not any different from someone who is struggling on a math problem.  Sometimes it takes a different approach or a different technique to solve the issue.  People aren't trying to get math problems wrong and they are not trying to behave poorly.  We are each doing the best that we can and we sometimes need to try new strategies.  I saw some very understanding looks during this huddle.  We talked about finding ways to build people up instead of just trying to shush people or give angry looks.

I am hoping that this leads to some creative problem solving when it comes to character building and helping our teammates overcome all sorts of times when they fall short of their own expectations.  A classroom is a living organism that responds to different challenges in different ways and when we show acceptance to all of our teammates, we are more likely to have more successes.  I know it is frustrating when we fall short of our goals in the behavior department in gym or music, but if we invest in each other and find creative solutions we will have the best year possible.

Cultivating Compliments

I wasn't quite sure what to expect at the play today at the the Whiting.  We talked about being a respectful audience and I was hoping to see a nice performance that would also give them the experience of seeing live theater.  I was actually impressed with the story-telling duo that we got to see.  They told the story of a French man who spent his time planting trees in a run down area of the country.  He worked all through both wars and spent all of his time investing in the happiness of others by planting trees.

While the kids will probably remember the funny talking dog the most, the narrator spoke of how the man who planted trees was the happiest person he had ever known.  When we got back we talked about how someone could be so happy by spending all of his time doing something for someone else.  It was a great discussion.  Kids get these kinds of ideas at this age.  It shows they are coming from wonderful families.  I then challenged them to think about taking that story and imagining that instead of acorns, they could be planting compliments in the "ground."  I asked them to think about what would grow if we did that.  This is some of the ideas that they came up with.

Looks like a better world to me!

Overall it was a very nice trip and a great time with the kids.  As we move forward, I have been encouraged to send you some of our learning targets for the week and a schedule.  I will try to send it by e-mail and post it here.  I am sorry that this kind of slipped through the cracks.  Sometimes I get so excited about new ways to communicate and do things better that I forget about the tried and true methods.  Please let me know anytime that I can help you feel more informed and a part of our team.

Finally, it is so rewarding to hear the stories about how kids are absorbing the life lessons and taking them into their world.  I read about students taking on harder challenges in life from the playground to the classroom.  I hear about a positive word shared with a sibling.  I see a student take an idea and go home to work on publishing a class newspaper.  Supporting this type of work and following this motivation is worth the world to me.  I love seeing learners take the ideas we talk about and turn them into their own learning process.  Please help your children take on challenges, help them see through apparent failures to see the successes they had and the ways they can do things better next time.

We watched this last week: (Part 2) [please don't skip ahead, thanks]

Mr. Montgomery’s

Monday Memo

Learning Targets:

• I can solve number stories using clue words (in all, more than, etc).
• I can use fact extensions to solve problems (4+5=9 so 40+50=90).
• I can draw a picture to represent equal groups (3 groups of 5).
• I can read with purpose.
• I can summarize what I read in written form.
• I can support my ideas with evidence.
• I can revise and edit my personal narrative writing.
• I can select my best work to publish.
• I can use the five details (setting, physical description, dialogue, internal thinking, and character action) in my writing.
• I can observe seeds and make predictions based on what I see.
• I can identify my basic needs and where to get them in my community.
• I can identify the human and natural characteristics of my community.

Schedule:

10/10 - Field Trip to Whiting

10/12 - Bully Prevention Day (Wear Blue)

10/12 - Field Trip to the Fire Hall

10/14 - PTO Box Top Drive Ends

10/14 - “Pink Out” for Breast Cancer Awareness

10/20 - Stranger Smart Presentation

10/20 - Last Day of Marking Period

10/21 - No School

10/24 - First Intersession Begins

10/31 - Halloween Party (Parade 9:30 - Party to Follow)

11/9 - Parent Teacher Conferences

11/10 - Parent Teacher Conferences

11/11 - No School

Learning to Work with Everyone

I did an experiment yesterday.  After writing I asked students who wanted to share to bring their writing to the carpet and I sat down on the carpet.  The students are usually excited to sit around me so they came right over and sat down.  My goal was to see if they could function without me sorting everything out for me.  We sat for a minute or so and some students raised their hand politely.  Eventually one student stood up and went to the front to share.  What followed was about eight kids sharing and taking turns without being called.  One student would stand up and then they would see someone else go up and they would wait.  I think that was a great success at this point in the year.

We then went into some group brainstorming work about our community.  I use a website that makes random groups and so far the class seems to like that.  As much as group work bothers me even today, I do understand the importance of being able to work with different people throughout the year and hear different perspectives.  This was also a great success.  The volume level got a little loud with all of those groups working together, but the results of the work were very solid.

As I think about working as a team, it has been expressed to me that at least a few parents feel they would like to know more about what we are doing academically.  I hear that and I will adapt my Monday posts to cover the main points of the week so that you can have a dialogue with your students throughout the week.  In the same way I want my students to use all their skills to work together, I want to use every means of communication that I can use to work well with you.

In the end the old axiom that it takes a village to raise a child is played out everyday in the school system.  One of the most important things for me is that my students realize that I am their teammate for as long as they want me to be.  This is my passion.  I spend many of my planning periods popping into the third and fourth grade class to be their cheerleader and sounding board.  I have sixth graders who stop by after school to talk and occasionally do math homework with me.  This is my team and my family and I will do everything in my power to help these students realize their full potential for the rest of their time in Davison and beyond.

Getting Organized: Another Step to Success

I am not the most organized person.  This is a skill that I still struggle with today.  I try to support students who struggle with this skill, but at the same time there is a part of me that desperately wants things to be easier for them than it has for me.  I will never be the master of all things organized, but I will try to encourage them to keep a few things organized to help them out in the future.

I am sitting here with one of my sixth graders while she is doing her homework for the CAP classroom.  It is terrifying and inspiring to see the work they are doing.  I want to see all of my future students set up for success no matter what their school environment will be each year.  We are going to focus on morning routine, keeping a neat area all day, and keeping our cubbies clean.

Students did a great job of organizing their stuff today and taking ownership over their areas.  I hope this will continue and will be looking for leaders to step up and help encourage and help others in their cubby to keep a neat environment.  It is also very gratifying that we have gotten a couple compliments for having the neatest room in the school due to the work the kids do at the end of the day to show respect for our learning environment.

Finally, I have to share this exemplary work done by a student today in guided reading.  This assignment has been one that has not always produced the best results, but our focus on using evidence to support our thinking is evident in this student's work.  They not only chose three different traits, but they provided evidence for each claim.  You will hear a ton about evidence this year as this is something that is one of the keys to success that I am focusing on this year.

Your Brain is a Muscle

We watched this video today in class.  I watched it this weekend and was very impressed.  I felt like they produced a video straight from my heart.  The kids had fun watching Mojo learn a lesson and the discussion that followed was amazing.  We did some basic comprehension with the video and then we strove to go deeper.  I had been modeling how to build on someone's comments and acknowledge them before making your comments.  "I agree with what _____ said and I think I can add on to it by adding..."  The kids took off with that idea.

I wish I had videoed this conversation.  If this is a sign of things to come, this will be one of the most productive years of my career.  I couldn't believe the respect shown to people's comments and the insightful way that students were adding to the conversation.  I believed this was possible, but today was ahead of the curve.  It was indescribable to see some of the smiles from students when someone built on their answer.  The acknowledgement that your peers value your input is invaluable.

After we discussed what the video meant, I stopped them and said this last question is only for students who understand what a safe learning environment is about.  I briefly gave them an example and a non-example to compare.  Then we asked who has ever felt like Mojo and do you have a subject that makes you feel like this.  Do you want to share and tell us what you will do to feel more confidant.  Almost every student wanted to share with the class and the faces with those of empathy and support from their peers.

I AM SUPER PROUD OF THESE KIDS.

If you take the time to watch the video with your kids, I am going to insert some questions that you can talk about at home that came with the guide.  I think it would be a great conversation to have with your children.  The only thing I ask is that you don't skip ahead.  The kids wanted to watch the whole series today and I want them to slow down and absorb each lesson together.  Thanks for working at home and being part of Team 106.