October Blog

Hello Fellow Bloggers,
I realize that this post is in November but it it my best attempt to fit blogging into teaching. I felt that this quarter went quickly. I can't believe we are already 1/4 of the way done! This is going to be super difficult this year because after two years my kiddos are ready to move up (literally since they have been down on the first level since first grade) to 5th grade. Stay posted! But I brought up the closing of the quarter to bring home of point of regular assessment.
These are something I have been doing to keep up with my goal:

1. Students record their spelling grades each week on a sheet of paper in their spelling notebooks. This allows them to be accountable for their own grades (keeping immediate feedback) as well as making them more responsible students.
2. We are starting an easier Math for Today for my math class. At first, I tried giving the 4th grade students the 3rd grade math for today but it proved to be two challenging for there level and I was teaching too much and not reviewing skills. I have found some 2nd to 4th grade math minutes and we are trying them out. They complete one row each week and on Friday we quiz on what was taught the week before.
3. We have graded grammar in 4th grade. Each week, we have a new skill introduced on Tuesday. We review it on Thursday and test on Friday. This is instant feedback for the students and it allows them to get plenty of practice before being assessed.
4. I am having daily conferences with my struggling readers and writers. I use the forms from the Cafe. We set small goals for either reading or writing and then I meet back with them to see what goals they made or ones we need to modify.