Ms. Wink told me that two students were going to come in for help with Cartesian Coordinates. I offered my services right away - after all, it's math - and I love me some math! Two boys showed up - one who scored "advanced" in his 4th grade math MCAS, and one who scored "needs improvement." They were both confused with Cartesian Coordinates. I asked them what they needed help with and the both said "graphing." I told them that I understood how it could be a little confusing - CC graphs are very different from line plots and bar graphs, which are pretty similar. The big difference is that the intervals are marked on the x and y axis line, not in the space between the lines. I explained that this was because they were graphing individual points, not clumps of data. Stating this seemed to create an ah-ha moment for both of the students. The advanced student got it right away, while the needs improvement student needed a little more review with placing the interval numbers on the line instead of between lines on the x and y axis. It will be interesting to see how they do on the test tomorrow.
Rainy days and...Wedesdays? Yup, they still get me down. It's such a bummer to drive to work in the dark, start work in the dark, and go home in the dark. It's so gloomy. How do people in London stay positive?
We had two indoor recesses today - it's hard for the students to stay inside all day - they really do need movement breaks to get out all of then energy in their little bodies.
I've been helping more students find free reading books - one student in particular always seems to search me out when he needs a book. I set him up with some of my favorite Judy Blume books over the past few weeks: Superfudge, Otherwise known as Sheila the Great, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. He loved them all, but he wanted to move on to another author. I had just finished reading "Holes" by Louis Sachar, which I thought he would love, but both copies are being read by other students now. I found another book, "Dogs Don't Tell Jokes" by the same author. It's about a boy who wants to be a comedian. This student wanted a funny book, so I thought it might be a good fit. I asked him to tell me what he thought about the book - a few pages in, he came up to me and said, "Miss. Donahue, this is such a funny book!" Success!
Lunch was a debacle today. Students were out of control, were throwing items, and were rude to the lunch monitors. Ms. Wink and the other teachers had a discussion with the students about their behavior, and how it is not to continue.
I forgot my lunch today. Drat. I realized it on the way to school, but with an hour-or-so commute, there's no turning back. I ended up ordering pizza after school. It was gross and greasy, but I was hungry. Ms. Wink and I discussed which lessons I would take over in the upcoming days and weeks. Because the students switch classes and teachers, it's a bit of a logistical nightmare, but I still think that I'm getting the best deal by having three teachers to learn from. I also discussed the data I would need for my inquiry project on PLCs. MCAS scores from last year (this is when I found out where the students from this morning's activity fell in the bell curve), test scores from tomorrow's test, and the PLC assessments from last week. Not a problem. She handed me nearly everything on the spot. Love having a teacher who shares data willingly!
After we chatted, Ms. Wink and I decided that it was time to rearrange the room. We both felt that it was much needed. Her desk was in the corner of the room, and she found that when sitting there, it was hard to keep an eye on the students in the back. I totally agreed. Ms. Wink had told me in the morning to think of how to rearrange the room - and with my wealth of home improvement show watching experience (I wrote my Master's thesis on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - so I watched a ton of home improvement shows as "research"), I was ready for the challenge. I studied the room all day and came up with some ideas. We both agreed that her half-moon desk should be in the center back of the room by the windows. We placed that desk there first. We also wanted to create more space for the morning meeting area - which was pretty cramped before. By moving her desk out of the way, that opened the space up considerably. It also opened up the white-board, which was half-blocked by the original placement of her desk. Ms. Wink uses this area for writing and for overhead projection. It is now large enough where an overhead projection and written instructions can be placed on the board at the same time. We moved the hexagon table from the center of the room to the back of the room - which allowed for easier movement around the back exit, the light switches, and the pencil sharpener. All-in-all, it was a great switch! I'm excited to see how the students react!
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