Teaching Procedures: A MUST

Going into my first year of teaching, I assumed I'd spend the bulk of my time teaching and my students would spend the bulk of their time learning.  By and large, that is how it went down.  But what I didn't anticipate was what would go down the rest of the time.  I thought I was ready.  I thought I had it all figured out and I would be a killer teacher. I had decorated my bulletin boards, planned my first nine weeks lessons according to the school curriculum, stocked my desk with Post-It notes and Ticonderoga pencils and drank my coffee.  I was ready.  Prepared to teach.

But not, evidently, prepared to manage a class of 27 fourth graders! As I attempted to deliver my carefully and thoughtfully planned lessons, the little rugrats kept interrupting me and needing stuff. Like, they don't just sit there! They want to go to the bathroom in the middle of your lesson, or sharpen their pencil, or run out of paper, or, or...so many issues! Needless to say I grossly underestimated what it would be like. By Christmas break, I was a wreck. I knew I needed to do something, and FAST.

I remembered a required reading from my classroom management course in undergrad: The First Days of School by Harry and Rosemary Wong.  As a student I remember feeling like this book had all of the answers and it was one of the few I didn't sell back at the end of the semester.  But evidently I hadn't listened well enough because I failed to do one of the main things the book recommends: Teach procedures. Sure, I had told my students to raise their had before speaking but there were so many other little things I hadn't anticipated and therefore hadn't developed a set of procedures to address.  Since I hadn't taught my students that I wasn't comfortable with several of them on the floor at a time, they didn't know that. So I had kiddos running amok around my room. Since I didn't have a system or procedure in place for sharpening pencils, the pencil sharpener ran 24/7 and it Stressed. Me. Out. To this day I can barely tolerate the sound! We'd be in the middle of a great classroom discussion and somebody would raise their hand to sharpen a pencil. What!? Dude, we're TALKING. You don't need your pencil right now, mmkay? Collecting homework was a clumsy and time-sucking ordeal each day. SO many things about my classroom weren't going as smoothly as I'd hoped, and I couldn't stand it much longer.

Read (or re-read) this book! 

So, I dusted off my First Days of School and made a plan. I listed all of the little things that I felt distracted myself and the students from the real business of teaching and learning, then developed a set of procedures to address each. I went back to school in January, prepared to turn things around.  I approached the classroom as I should have done in August, and spent a solid two weeks teaching classroom procedures using direct instruction.  Just like you would a lesson plan.  Students want to do the right thing, they want to please you... they just have to know how.  And it was my job to let them know how, to set them (and myself) up for success. I created anchor charts and posted them around the room to remind students of the procedures.  We made T-charts and identified acceptable and unacceptable examples of classroom behavior.  I made sure they were aware of my expectations and you know what? They met them.  

Click this link for a GREAT blog post and freebie on teaching procedures from Brook Brown of the blog Teaching Outside the Box!

My classroom started working like a well-oiled machine.  Instead of random restroom requests in the middle of a lesson, students used hand signals that I could reply to with a quick nod or shake of the head.  Instead of the pencil sharpener making my ears bleed all day, students each sharpened two pencils in the morning and I provided a cup of freshly sharpened pencils for them to exchange broken pencil for throughout the day. Only two students at a time were allowed on the floor (unless we were doing something requiring more) and my students actually waited until somebody sat down to get up.  It was like MAGIC.

But I'm no magician.  I just did what a good teacher is supposed to do: I set my students up for success.  I created an environment of clear expectations and so, my students could easily meet them. Sure, it wasn't perfect.  There were some stumbles along the way and some refinements to be made.  For example, I thought that having a tray by the door for students to turn in homework each morning would take care of that issue, but I quickly found I was having more zeros this way... there was no immediate accountability for not turning in work because I was simply unaware of it until that evening. I think some kiddos felt they were "getting away with it" and so I switched up my game.   Instead, I had students place their homework in the top right corner of their desk when they arrived and at 8:15 I quickly walked by and collected each paper without saying a word. Nobody wanted to get the stink eye from me and feel the shame of not turning in their work, so they did.  It worked out!

Long story short, teach procedures.  Review them throughout the year.  Read and reread, every summer, The First Days of School so you can recalibrate yourself and refine the procedures you want in place to make your classroom the learning environment you know it can be!

Open Number Line Strategy: Addition & Subtraction

The math strategies we teach today probably feel like a foreign language to most parents.  Most parents were probably taught to use the standard algorithm for multi-digit addition and subtraction. That's pretty much the only strategy we used back in the day.  It worked, right?  Well, like I've said before... when you know better, you do better.  And we know better now.  We know that teaching students number sense and strategies based on place value before going to the shortcuts of borrowing and carrying is the way to go.

Side note: if ya DON'T know that yet, or if you are new to teaching math, you should probably read this book! It's amazing! The authors go into detail with the research behind the math, and why the shortcuts and algorithms (when used too early) we were taught don't lead the the deep kind of long-term understanding necessary for continued success in math.

But how do you explain that to parents? How can they help little Johnny with his math homework if they have no idea what we've taught him?  Communication is key! For each new strategy taught, I would send home a note (doesn't have to be a full page... can just be a slip of paper attached to the homework) explaining and demonstrating the strategy.  Another option is to make short YouTube videos of yourself working out a problem using the strategy or using an app like ScreenChomp.  Upload the videos to your school webpage, send an email with the link, or embed the link in a text using a service such as Remind.

I have some great packets in my TpT store, including a FREEBIE, for teaching two- and three-digit addition and subtraction using an open number line.  Included in those packets are strategy pages you can share with parents and students to make using the strategy simple.

Check them out! Click the thumbnail image for a link to my store. Thanks for stopping by!

A Place for Drill and Practice

Drill and practice... how do you feel when you read these words?  Do you cringe? Do you, along with many educators these days, consider these "bad words" and bad form?

I'm sure we can all remember pages of drill and practice math sheets assigned to us as elementary students.... endless flash cards... addition, subtraction, multiplication, division... it was how were were taught.  I don't know about you, but somehow I survived elementary math and managed to get more than one college degree.  Our teachers were well-meaning and they did what they knew to do.  But when you know better, you do better, right? An administrator walking into an elementary classroom these days would likely frown upon seeing students completing drill & practice type pages, expecting instead to see hands-on activities to develop a strong sense of numbers and conceptual understanding of operations.  That's great and certainly the expected goal.  But... does drill & practice have a place in the modern classroom? I think yes.

The problem with drill & practice is not the use of the strategy itself, but in the timing.  Pages of addition & subtraction math facts have no place in a Kindergarten classroom. Those students should be developing number sense, modeling addition and subtraction with objects to develop an understanding of the operation, and should be fluently using strategies to actively solve addition and subtraction within 10 (not memorize the answers and regurgitate them). Flash cards or math fact worksheets won't accomplish that learning in this case.

But in second grade? After the concepts of addition and subtraction have been modeled and practiced for two years and the number sense is in place after two years of working in and with number quantities? Heck yes! Now it is time to become automatic with facts.

Enter drill & practice. CCSS 2.OA.2 calls for students to, by the end of second grade, "know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers." Drill & practice pages are, in my opinion, totally appropriate for students at this point in the game. The same applies to multiplication facts. 3.OA.1 builds the foundation for understanding multiplication the operation, but once that understanding is established, 3.OA.7 requires by the end of grade 3 that students, "know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers." In other words, multiplication facts.  A third grade teacher introducing multiplication by drilling facts would be not be using best practices in instruction.  But a third grade teacher who has established the conceptual understanding of multiplication with and in her students would be well within bounds using drill & practice sheets to accomplish automaticity.  Note: research doesn't necessarily support timed drills. That's an added pressure that just isn't necessary. Use the drill to see if they know the facts, and to practice answering problems quickly.  Don't time 'em, though.

Skills can be practiced in this way, as well.  Not just facts and sight words. I've coached both cheerleading and dance team, and once my girls learned the proper form when completing a skill the next step was always to drill the correct form until it became part of their muscle memory.  Incorrect practice is BAD, but once a skill is learned, drilling the skill repeatedly leads to automaticity.  Be it a toe touch, double turn, hip-hop stall (Google it), or long division....repeated practice leads to automaticity with a skill. It becomes a natural part of a student's skill set.

So what say you? Are you a fan of drill and practice?

Building a Raised Garden Bed

Happy summer! If you're out of school, I hope you are enjoying your break.  If not, hang in there:)  Since we sold our boat and thus won't be lake rats all summer, we have no excuse not to grow some vegetables.  We've been in our current house for three summers now and still hadn't bit the bullet on building some raised beds.  In our old house, we had raised beds for about eight years and loved them. It's the perfect way for a lazy gal (and guy) to garden.  No tilling, not a huge commitment, take up less space, and look neater than a random patch of dirt.

It's a simple process and takes less than an hour.  Not gonna lie, there is a bit of an upfront cost year one... especially if you use cedar boards and I HIGHLY recommend that you do.  Do not use pressure treated lumber because you don't want those nasty chemicals in your garden soil.  But after the first year,  you're only out the cost of your veggie plants.  We spent approximately $120 at Lowe's on everything we used below to build one 8x4 foot bed.  That size bed is perfect for a family of four.

The boards we purchased came in 8 foot lengths, so we had to cut one in half to make the short sides. Measure twice, cut once! The board was actually 8 feet and a 1/4 inch, so just be careful when you cut.  Our boards were planed on one side so there was a smooth and a rough side.  We built the box so that the smooth sides were on the outside and the rough inside.

Then, attach the corner pieces to the short boards. We found these little metal pieces on an end cap in the lumber section.  They are used when framing up a house and there are tons of options.  We just looked around and found some that fit our purpose.  The screws we used say they are designed for "metal" but those were the only ones we could find that were short enough! The wood is fairly thin and I didn't want screws sticking out.  Ugly AND dangerous! Yikes. Ain't nobody got time for tetanus shots.

Once we attached the corner pieces to the short boards, we attached those at a right angle to the longer boards.  I wanted the seams to be on the short sides so that the bed looks smooth from the front.  It literally took us about five minutes to build this box.  So simple.

Next comes the fun part! We moved the frame in place and then covered the ground in a layer of newspaper.  The newspaper will decompose, killing the grass that will act as compost in your soil. Bonus!  Filling a box this size (which isn't huge, to be honest) takes a lot of soil!  More than you'd think.  I used an online garden soil calculator and it told me we'd need 22 cubic feet to fill this 8x4x8in deep bed. Not entirely true.  It took about 18 feet, according to the soil we purchased.  18 cubic feet of high quality garden soil would cost a fortune, so we did the bottom half in inexpensive top soil and half in organic garden soil. 

It helped that I had some help with labor:) Those bags of soil are heavy! And I had to take pics, ya know. Couldn't get my hands too dirty....  I spread the newspaper, Shane poured the soil, I raked it smooth.  Then we were ready to plant! We spaced out our plants and dug little holes in the soft soil.  Much easier than working in traditional garden soil.  Unless it's been tilled to death, it's not as easy to work with.  These little beds are super simple to plant in and maintain.  They do tend to dry out more quickly than the surrounding ground, so you'll want to water frequently.  But it sure beats maintaining a large garden!

We ended up building two because, well, we like to go overboard with things.  And we like variety.  How do you choose just one or two different tomato types?! Not possible.  We're like kids in a candy store when we shop for vegetable plants:)  So we ended up with SEVEN different tomato plants! LOL. That's entirely too many and we'll never eat all that they produce, but I can sack em up and pawn em off on my sister and friends.  It's part of my job as a woman in the South.  Just call me Ouiser.

We planted an Early Girl, a beefsteak, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, yellow tomato, orange tomato and a Roma tomato... green, yellow, orange, habanero and sweet banana peppers, a row of green onions, straight neck yellow squash, Black Beauty zucchini, and two Straight 8 cucumbers.  I can't wait for everything to grow and produce some delicious, homegrown veggies.  Nothing like a garden tomato in the summer:)  

Do y'all garden? Do you prefer raised beds or a traditional garden patch? If you need some tomatoes, give me a call....

FREEBIE! Data Tracking Sheets

Data... the admin's favorite word, amiright? It's all about the data these days, and ya better be tracking it!  As part of our new teacher evaluation system, showing student growth is a huge component. To help keep track of pre- and post-assessment data, I created this freebie set of data tracking sheets.   The set includes forms for the classroom and for individual students. These can be used for a variety of purposes... PLCs on data, meetings with administration about student growth,  use in data binders or during parent teacher conferences...so many options!  Click the pic to check 'em out in my TpT store! 

Data Tracking Sheets

And can we talk about those Post-Its? I found that huge set marked down at Office Depot for 9 bucks! Had been $20.  Best. Day. Ever.

The "If You Loved Gone Girl" Summer Reading List

SCHOOOOOOOL'S OUT. FOR. SUMMER! At least it is for most of us here in the Southern U.S. And you know what that means to most teachers, right? Me time! Time to read a book, yo. Or several books. At the beach, at the lake, camping, by the pool, on the porch, curled up on the couch... it makes no difference where.  We just love to read. But not always educational research...I like my summer reading to be FUN. Can't be stuffy and serious all the time.

Okay, so I might sound basic when I say I LOVE Gone Girl but I don't care!  I'll read that sucker in the middle of a Target carrying a Coach purse whilst wearing Uggs and drinking Starbucks. #basic. Married to an English teacher, I often feel my literary choices should be just that...literary and scholarly and errythang.  I mean, I do love me some Jane Austen and Ernest Hemingway but I love a dark, twisty, thrilling little read as much as the next basic gal. 

I read Gone Girl before there was talk of a film and I could not put it down.  I devoured it.  Then I read it AGAIN because it was just that good and it left me wanting more.  If you haven't read it, READ IT.  If you have, here's a list of some other fun little reads in the same vein. I find it a bit lame that most of them have the word "girl" or "woods" in the title but nevertheless... this is all in good fun and I highly recommend you pick up a couple (or all) of these books!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (AMAZING.  I couldn't put it down either)

Luckiest Girl Alive (a recommendation from Reese Witherspoon's IG. So good!)

You: A Novel by Caroline Kepnes (creepy. just creepy.)

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison (another creeper)

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica (you won't believe who did it!)

The Girl With No Past by Kathryn N. Croft (not as thrilling as the others IMO but worth a read)

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (damaged heroine)

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (kinda crime-drama-ish)

In the Woods by Tana French (I hear ALL Tana French books are great!)

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware (still in the middle of this one...seems promising!)

Ahhhh, sweet summertime:) Porch readin' and day drinkin'

So there you have it.  That should get you through the summer.  I know these Gone Girl lists are a dime a dozen but still... I had to put in MY two cents! At some point I need to shift to some lighter, happier fiction but for now I guess I love reading about girls in the dark woods or something.  

Got any other dark & twisty suggestions? 

P.S. Check out the hashtag #rwbookclub on Instagram or follow Reese Witherspoon.  Her production company made Gone Girl into a movie and is making a couple of these books into movies, too.  She is a voracious reader and always has the skinny on the next best novel!