Today marked the 30th day of school for me. I have to say that I am really enjoying my bunch of kids this year....most of the time! When speaking with a first grade teacher this past summer and telling her about implementing daily 5 this year, her reply was "oh boy, these kids coming to second grade this year are a handful, good luck!" Even with that said, I really wanted to try the daily 5. So I figure I'd try it.
These kids have done awesome with it. They know how to do all five dailies and pick three to do each day due to our schedule. They still need reminders at times but so far they are doing pretty well with completing each one.
When I began teaching each daily, we discussed, modeled, discussed, modeled, discussed, modeled, over and over again! I do have to say that I am so glad that I put the time in to do that. I know everyone's time frame is different for how long they introduce each one and practice, but I have to say my kids caught on pretty quickly after they mastered the first one I introduced, read to self. Once they knew how to do that one, the other four came pretty easily.
I'm very pleased with how things are going. I can definitely see making this a part of my classroom year after year. I'd love to hear from other teachers on how the daily 5 is going in your classroom!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Open House Week: Meet the Teacher
So, I have to say that I am not an experienced bloggger. I am actually just getting started, but I am loving reading others' posts and I have gotten so many ideas! So I thought I would give it a try to be apart of TBA's Open House Week!
Meet the Teacher:
My name is Lindsay and I am a second grade teacher. This is my fifth year teaching. I began teaching right out of college. Teaching has always been a passion of mine. I began teaching second grade for two years, then taught first grade for one year and looped those students into second grade. I loved the experience of being able to teach the same students for two years! What growth I saw! And I grew so attached to these students, it was hard to say good bye at the end of the year last year! Now, I have a whole new group of second graders this year and I am loving them so far!
My teaching style is student centered. I want to make sure that students in my class are always actively engaged in learning! To do this, students work independently, in small groups, in partners, as a whole group, and one on one with me. Students get the opportunity to explore on their own in subjects like math and science. With different programs (like daily 5), I try to create independence within the students so that they are learning all of the time! I have a lot of procedures and expectations set in my classroom so that students know how they should be acting at all times. I always set high expectations for my students so that they can succeed. When I taught first grade, it was an eye opening experience because they couldn't do as much as second graders that I was used to. But, I set high expectations and expected a lot from them and they rose and met those expectations! I do have a fun and silly side that I incorporate into my teaching as well because I want my students to love learning and want to be at school!
That is me in a nutshell. I am excited to learn about other teachers and their teaching styles. What a great way to make connections and share ideas!
Meet the Teacher:
My name is Lindsay and I am a second grade teacher. This is my fifth year teaching. I began teaching right out of college. Teaching has always been a passion of mine. I began teaching second grade for two years, then taught first grade for one year and looped those students into second grade. I loved the experience of being able to teach the same students for two years! What growth I saw! And I grew so attached to these students, it was hard to say good bye at the end of the year last year! Now, I have a whole new group of second graders this year and I am loving them so far!
My teaching style is student centered. I want to make sure that students in my class are always actively engaged in learning! To do this, students work independently, in small groups, in partners, as a whole group, and one on one with me. Students get the opportunity to explore on their own in subjects like math and science. With different programs (like daily 5), I try to create independence within the students so that they are learning all of the time! I have a lot of procedures and expectations set in my classroom so that students know how they should be acting at all times. I always set high expectations for my students so that they can succeed. When I taught first grade, it was an eye opening experience because they couldn't do as much as second graders that I was used to. But, I set high expectations and expected a lot from them and they rose and met those expectations! I do have a fun and silly side that I incorporate into my teaching as well because I want my students to love learning and want to be at school!
That is me in a nutshell. I am excited to learn about other teachers and their teaching styles. What a great way to make connections and share ideas!
One week down!
Okay so I've got the first week of school under my belt. And I have to say, I am loving my second graders! I just hope they continue this for the rest of the year! I have a feeling I haven't seen the true colors for some yet. But hopefully they will continue to show me such great behavior in the classroom!
I feel a new confidence this year teaching. It is my fifth year teaching and I just feel different as a teacher. I feel more established and ready to take more risks. I am more confident and consistent with my expectations for my students. I guess this is just the new teacher in me!
My students have such different personalities but they all seem to go well together so far. They are so caring and seem to share the same passion towards learning that I do! I can't wait to see what this year brings!
So my past few posts have been about the Daily 5. I started the daily 5 in my class the very first day of school. Right now we are building stamina for read to self. The students are up to almost 10 minutes and are doing so well with it! I'm thinking this week I will introduce work on writing and start building stamina for that! I don't want to rush introducing each daily 5 but I also do want to start guided reading as soon as possible! I know my principal wants me to too! I also started the CAFE in my class too. I am loving that as well. I am finding that my read alouds are so much more meaningful when I have a CAFE strategy that I am focusing on. These two programs (daily 5 and cafe) are really providing great structure to my literacy block in my classroom. I just hope that as my students and I continue on with the daily 5 and cafe, it continues to go so well!
Anyone else just starting with the daily 5 and/or cafe?
I feel a new confidence this year teaching. It is my fifth year teaching and I just feel different as a teacher. I feel more established and ready to take more risks. I am more confident and consistent with my expectations for my students. I guess this is just the new teacher in me!
My students have such different personalities but they all seem to go well together so far. They are so caring and seem to share the same passion towards learning that I do! I can't wait to see what this year brings!
So my past few posts have been about the Daily 5. I started the daily 5 in my class the very first day of school. Right now we are building stamina for read to self. The students are up to almost 10 minutes and are doing so well with it! I'm thinking this week I will introduce work on writing and start building stamina for that! I don't want to rush introducing each daily 5 but I also do want to start guided reading as soon as possible! I know my principal wants me to too! I also started the CAFE in my class too. I am loving that as well. I am finding that my read alouds are so much more meaningful when I have a CAFE strategy that I am focusing on. These two programs (daily 5 and cafe) are really providing great structure to my literacy block in my classroom. I just hope that as my students and I continue on with the daily 5 and cafe, it continues to go so well!
Anyone else just starting with the daily 5 and/or cafe?
Friday, July 20, 2012
Lovin' Daily 5
I am loving reading and learning about the daily 5. I can't wait to try it out in my classroom next year! I have to admit that I am very controlling in my centers. For the past few years, I had 8 centers set up around my room and would change them every 6 days. The students would go to two centers a day. I know you are thinking, well that's only enough centers for the kids to go to for four days. The other two days, the students would catch up with centers that they either missed or didn't get to finish. I had a chart that told the students exactly which two centers they were going to each day. I like to be able to know where every student is at every moment. You could say I am a little controlling about it. Well, the freedom of students picking which daily 5 to do is a little terrifying for me. I do think that choice is very important in implementing the daily 5 so I do not want to tell the students which ones to go to and in which order. I do think I am going to tell them that they have to do read to self every day. They are only going to be able to do 3 dailies a day. So my next thought is, how am I going to keep them accountable for the dailies they do each day and do I record their choices every day? That's a lot I feel, but I do want to know which ones they are choosing. Do I make them choose at the beginning of the day or as they are doing it during our guided reading time (which is when I am going to be doing the daily 5)?
I have started my lesson plans for the daily 5 and I have comfortably planned 4 of the dailies. The only one I am not exactly comfortable with yet is reading to someone. I feel that is going to make my classroom loud. So I think I am going to leave that one to last to teach so that I know my students better and we can practice and model a lot. And I haven't figured out how it is going to be successful in my classroom because I will not be checking in with my students between each daily. Since I am doing it during my guided reading time, I am going to use some sort of noise (chime or bell) to signal changing of groups and when students should be going to the next daily. So many unknowns right now!
I am finding that I am starting to answer some of my own questions about getting started and organizing the daily 5, but I would love more input. I don't know if anyone is actually reading this, but if you are and do the daily 5 in your classroom, any tips would be greatly appreciated! I am a little nervous about doing this next year, but I really want to do it. The daily 5 sounds so beneficial to the students.
I have started my lesson plans for the daily 5 and I have comfortably planned 4 of the dailies. The only one I am not exactly comfortable with yet is reading to someone. I feel that is going to make my classroom loud. So I think I am going to leave that one to last to teach so that I know my students better and we can practice and model a lot. And I haven't figured out how it is going to be successful in my classroom because I will not be checking in with my students between each daily. Since I am doing it during my guided reading time, I am going to use some sort of noise (chime or bell) to signal changing of groups and when students should be going to the next daily. So many unknowns right now!
I am finding that I am starting to answer some of my own questions about getting started and organizing the daily 5, but I would love more input. I don't know if anyone is actually reading this, but if you are and do the daily 5 in your classroom, any tips would be greatly appreciated! I am a little nervous about doing this next year, but I really want to do it. The daily 5 sounds so beneficial to the students.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
My Hobby Hunny!
My husband is always telling me: you need to find a hobby! He has so many different hobbies, from cars, to home theater, to photography. And I do have hobbies but that are just not as extensive as his. This summer I am finishing my masters degree but have found that I have had a LOT of free time. A little too much time sometimes! I've actually started missing being at school teaching my little second graders! Crazy, right?! Well, I've started putting some thought into my classroom for next year and what I want to change and implement next year and have found so much JOY out of researching, and planning, and thinking, and creating! So, hubby, I've figured out that teaching is my hobby! How great is it that my career is my hobby?! Okay, so maybe all this free time is getting to me a little bit, but I think it is so true.
I have spent so much time these past few days learning about The Daily 5. It is such an interesting idea and I really want to try it in my classroom next year! I'm reading the book right now but The Sisters and just love the idea. I've also found some blogs that have been so helpful in getting started. But I still have so many questions! I've read so many people have implemented this in their classroom in such young grades and that was one of my main questions -- can my second graders handle this?! Well, so many kindergarten teachers have tried it and loved it, so my kiddos must try it! Will my principal approve? How can he not if the kids are reading and writing! That's what we want them doing right? Okay so I guess I'm able to answer some of my questions but there are still so many more! I wanted to use this during my guided reading block which is around 60-75 minutes so I can pull my four guided reading groups. How long should the kids stay at each dailie? Do I really need to check in after each dailie? I don't have time for that in my schedule. I have 60 or so minutes to meet with all my kiddos for guided reading and that's it! And that's not a lot of time! I don't have any books on tape. Are they easy to find or can I substitute something else in place of that? How many dailies can be done in 60-75 minutes? All of these questions I am just not sure!
So I still have a lot of figuring out to do for implementing the daily 5 into my class for next year, but I am really excited about it! It sounds so beneficial to my kids and for me as a teacher! For now, I'll just keep reading and hope all the answers will come to me! If not, I guess I'll just give it a whirl and figure it out as I go!!
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