MATH VS SCIENCE

     I've noticed lately that when people ask me how my dual-grade (combo/bridge/etc...) class is going, my first thought is something negative.  Sure, there are good things going on in my classroom, the children are learning.  Things are going ok!  But "ok" isn't really good enough for SUPER TEACHER!  Super Teacher has super high expectations of herself and her students.  Sadly, it takes time to achieve/surpass those expectations, time that a dual-grade class just doesn't have.  Take Math, for instance....

     I have had a very difficult time with teaching Math.  Yes, I can teach first grade Math, and I can teach second grade Math.  However, my district has a long list of things to teach/do that requires 90 minutes EACH grade level.  I only have 90 minutes TOTAL.  I have dropped some important parts of Math because I simply do not have time to do everything.  Then I discovered that if you drop even ONE little thing that the district requires, that ONE little thing will be on the district's assessment.  So, I had to go back to the drawing board to figure out just how to do everything.

     Over the last few weeks I have reached out to some people above me to help me figure out how to give MORE time to each grade level in Math.  I have worked very hard to give them equal time, but it is not ENOUGH time to meet their needs.  I had a great plan!  Hire a Math Tutor!  My school usually has a tutor come in for 3 hours a day to work with the 1st/2nd graders who need extra help in Reading or Math.  I asked to have that person come into my classroom for one hour each day during Math.  Between the two of us, we could get both grade levels the instruction that they need.   However, from current funding issues, it seems unlikely.

     Apart from that, there is only one other viable option.  I have to drop Science time for awhile and use that time for Math.  (moment of silence).  Yes, I actually said that.  Me, the teacher with the Master of Education in Science Education degree, just said that I have to stop teaching Science for awhile.  After talking with some of those above me, I really have no choice.  Math is absolutely vital, whereas Science can be fit into centers periodically, sent home as homework, fit into class when we have an extra 10-15 minutes, etc....  We already do that now with Health and Social Studies.  (Now I just need to spend time actually planning how and when to fit Science in, rather than having a regular time....)

     While my fingers are still crossed hoping for the Math Tutor, I will still work very hard to be SUPER TEACHER!  That's just who I am.  I can't give up, I just have to work harder and smarter while trying to hold on to my own sanity.   Oddly enough, someone recently asked me if I would be interested in a better job elsewhere for next year.  I said no, thanks! (That answer even shocked myself!)  Despise the dual-grade craziness, I am surrounded by awesome people at my school.  I couldn't do this job without their friendship and support. And most importantly, I am happy to be where I am, Dual-Grade Super Teacher and all!

CANDY CORN

My students have been working very hard, and needed more fun in their learning.  I came across the idea of  using candy corn to teach contractions, as my second graders were working on contractions.  But then I realized that the candy corn would fit perfectly into what both my first and second graders were doing in Math!  It turned out to be a great informal assessment as well.  It was easy to see who understood the concept, and who would need more practice.

First Grade worked on making parts of ten.  First they had to count out 10 counters, and decide how they wanted to make two parts of ten.  Then they decorated their candy corn.

Second grade was working on ordering two-digit numbers.  They were each given different numbers on three post-it notes.  They had to put the numbers in order, and then decorate their candy corn.

Both grade levels enjoyed making the candy corn.  I gave each student some real candy corn to try, as some of my students had never eaten any. That was a real hit!  

COMBO CRAZINESS

We are 7 weeks into the school year as a First and Second Grade Combo Class.  The routines are in place, and most days are good.  The most frustrating part for me is the lack of time.  Because I am teaching two different grades, I have to teach them both in the same amount of time that traditional teachers have to teach one grade.  

Last week I was faced with the most challenging part of this job.  My first graders were struggling with subtraction (a new concept).  They were all engaged and really wanted to "get it".  I glanced at the clock and realized that we had already gone over their time, but we still weren't finished with that day's lesson because they needed extra time to understand it.  I was faced with a difficult choice.  I could stop teaching and try again the next day, lose the teachable moment, get behind from where the district says we're supposed to be, and send them off to the Math Centers so I could teach the second graders their lesson.  Or, continue to teach them and cut short the lesson for the second graders.  Ultimately I decided to give them a little more time until we came to a better stopping place, we would continue that lesson the next day, and my second graders did have a much shorter lesson that day.  I face these decisions more often than I like to.  It is a constant struggle to be fair to both grades, to make sure that both grades get the instruction and attention that they need.  I guess it all balances out in the end, as some days the second graders need more time.  I would like to think that most days they get equal time, as long as I am organized and stay on my toes.

By the time summer comes, I may be completely and utterly exhausted, but I will rest assured that I did what was best for my students.  I pray that it will be enough to make them successful not only this year, but the next year as well.  As for me, I am planning a fantastic summer vacation to the "Happiest Place on Earth".  I think it will be a very well-deserved vacation!

PET PROJECTS

It's been awhile since my last post.... the joys of being a Dual Grade teacher means so little free time these days.  :)  And then there's my new "little" pet projects on top of all that!


#1- Math Committee Chairperson.  We are in the midst of planning Math Night.  Thankfully I have a great Math team and all of the pre-planning is done.  Date set, rotations set, volunteer list 1/2 way complete.  Just need to do the purchase orders for the food and the door prizes, as well as gather the materials for my assigned rotations.  Whew!  It's going to be a fun night!


#2-  My biggest pet project is our United Way After School Reading Camp!  I am really passionate about getting this program up and running.  It's a 2.5 hour x 3 days a week program after school for struggling readers in grades 1-3, using the Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention program.   It is highly organized, and designed to increase the student's reading level each 10 days of instruction (every 3 1/3 weeks!)  Incredible!  First, the students get a snack, and then they go through 3 rotations: Intensive Reading instruction in a class with one teacher for 3 students at a time, a homework rotation, and a Literacy Activity rotation.  It's very exciting!  The only drawback is that it lasts sooooo long! The students are released at 5:30 pm (school starts at 8:00am)  It's a long day, but hopefully it will produce the results we are hoping for.  Today was our first day, and I ran the Homework Rotation in the Computer Lab.  While I helped get it up and running, now I can relax and just sub when they need me to.  I knew I couldn't handle teaching it every day with everything else I have going on right now, but I'm more than happy to help out when I can.  I can't wait to see the growth in my own students who are attending the program!


So, now that my pet projects are underway, I really do need to spend more time planning and prepping for my own class.  But that's a post for another day.  :)

DONORS CHOOSE

Last year I was introduced to the website of DonorsChoose.org.  Teachers can request items for their classrooms, and people (known and unknown!) will donate!  It's an incredible resource for teachers!  Last year my students were blessed with an iPod Touch with case, listening center with headphones, and a set of K-1 Math Centers.  This fall, my new class not only can use those items, but they also have access to my 2 year subscription to Raz-Kids.com, courtesy of the fantastic donors at DonorsChoose.  It's a truly wonderful Reading website.  Each student has their own log-in, and reads books at their assigned level.  They take quizzes on each book, and I am notified if there is a problem (such as  "______ failed the last 6 inferencing questions", very good information to know!)  The students love Raz-Kids because they accumulate points to spend for their virtual room (Raz Rocket).  I love watching their growth and seeing their excitement over Reading!

     This week I found out that KIA Motors is matching gifts at DonorsChoose, so I went ahead and requested Math Slams for my classroom.  They are an electronic flashcard game.  My students have to memorize their Math Facts (First grade had addition, Second grade reviews addition and then moves to subtraction).  Memorizing Math facts has long been a boring activity for my students, and flashcards are soon lost.  I hope this will help them master their facts quickly!  I know they will have a fun time learning them this way!

FINALLY AND MATH

Finally I found a desk configuration that meets my needs!  My first graders are in their groups of 5, and my second graders are in rows surrounding them.  Now everyone can see the board, and there is plenty of classroom space left over for the various centers!

Today I also received a great gift!  I have not received my First Grade Math consumable worksheets as of yet.  I had the first 2 units left over from last year, which came in very handy!  Unit 3 starts on Monday and I do not have the new materials yet.  However, I was given 3 boxes of partial worksheet sets left over from previous years (yay!), though not in any order (boo!).  I simply haven't found the time to organize those boxes.  Well, today, the District Math Specialist came by and asked if I needed any help.  I asked her, "How much time do you have?"  he-he!  She very graciously offered to help.  I only asked her to find Units 3 and 4 to get me by, but she went ahead and put everything in order!  Everything!  I was so thankful that I gave her a hug!  She saved me countless hours of work!  Talk about a great gift!

Hubby is coming by the classroom next week to organize my 2nd grade leveled readers.  6 boxes of books out of order.  That will be a great gift too!  :)

DESKS/COPY TIP

This week I rearranged my desks several times for different reasons- a new first grade student, first grade district Math assessment on one day, second grade district Math assessment on another day.  I didn't think much about it until a teacher friend stopped in and laughed about how every time she visits, the desks are different!  I still haven't found the "best" way to arrange my desks, to keep grade levels together, but apart from each other.... but I feel confident that first grade is finally perfect:

(well, almost perfect in the picture- the desks on the left have since been moved to be straight!)

  Second grade is farther from the board, and now that their testing is complete, they need to be moved into new groups on Monday, while still having a clear view of the board.  I had them in one large group before, but some students were too far from the board, which made Math more difficult.  I have two ideas to try out, so hopefully one of those will work and we won't need to keep moving!  (picture coming next week!)

On a random note, I discovered a new trick to keep myself sane with the two grade levels of copies!  I now write a small "1" or "2" or "all" in a corner of the original.  This way, once my copies are made, I don't need to waste time trying to remember what copy was for which grade!

SUB PLANS

Can a sub take on a dual grade class?  Sure!  I made THREE plans in case I am out!

PLAN A:

     I never leave for the day until the next day's work pile is 100% ready to go.  I had a college professor instill in me that you never know what's going to happen- you could get into a car accident on the way to work, or get sick during the night.  Always be prepared!  So, if I am out one day, the sub will do my Plan A sub lessons.  Basically just doing the work piled up on my desk, with detailed instructions on how to follow the schedule the best they can.  Hopefully by the time I need a sub, my students will really know the routines and can help the sub follow the plan.

PLAN B:

     If I have to be out a second day, I would be unable to make my wonderfully organized pile of work for a second day's absence.  So I created Plan B Sub lessons!  Instead of the regular reading lessons, there are instructions under the reading block to "Choose a book activity from the Sub Tub to do whole group", same message for all the subjects.  In my "Sub Tub", I will leave many different activities (almost all based around a children's book) for the sub to be able to pick up and use. 

PLAN C:

     Several times during the year, my district faces sub shortages and my class will have to be split up among the other first and second grade teachers if I am sick.  In my Plan C section of the Sub Tub, I will leave enough class copies of work for the students to do during the day (some of them will be sent into SPANISH SPEAKING classrooms, so they really must have their own work to do as they cannot participate much in those classrooms).  This is a great time for color, cut, and glue activities.  There is also a note to have the students take their Reading Books with them so they can continue to improve with the current story. 

Planning for subs takes extra work, but the smoother the day for the subs, the better the day for the students!  

GARDEN

One week down!  35 more to go!  Overall, the first week of school went quite well!  I've made a few adjustments to my plan already, and will make more next week I am sure.  I am thankful to have a good class!  Yay!


We ended up with 10 minutes in our schedule between lunch and specials (PE, Music, Art).  It's not enough time to go back to the classroom, so we found a perfect spot for reading: the school garden!  I bring a book and read it aloud to the class.  It's a beautiful setting! There are real grapes growing here!  (Next week I plan to try one!)






 Here are my first graders hard at work in Math (while my second graders are at Math Centers):

I CAN DO THIS!

Being the teacher in a "Dual Grade Classroom"  (Thanks KM for the term, I like it better than split or combo class!)  is a lot of work!  Ok, so I knew that going in, but it's still true!  Today, however, I actually feel good about it! Thankfully, I had half of my 2nd graders last year.  Having children in the room who already know my routines has been extremely helpful!  Especially for tech support!  They have really jumped in and helped other children get on the computers and on the iPod touches.

Many of you have asked, "How in the world are you supposed to teach two grades?"  Excellent question! (That was my first thought as well!)  Here is a glimpse:

For the Reading block, I explain the seatwork to the 1st graders and get them going. Then I take all the 2nd  graders to the rug/promethean board for their lesson.  After that is my usual Literacy Center/Small Group Instructional time. I can do both grades during that hour easily. We tried out the centers today and it went well.  I will start the small groups next week.  After that time, it's back to Reading Lesson for the 1st graders, and seatwork for the 2nd graders.

The Math Block is somewhat similar:  send the 2nd graders to Math centers first and teach the 1st graders their Math lesson.  Then switch! Send the 1st graders to centers, teach 2nd graders their lesson.

It has been nice to work with only half the class at a time on these vital subjects.  I can check for mastery much faster and provide more individual help as we go along.  It's a lot more work for me, but this way each grade level gets what they need.  After only the second day, I can see how smoothly it will all work once the routines and procedures are down pat.


The key to making this all work is ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZATION!  Having the Literacy and Math centers ready is vital, as well as being super organized with the planning.  I keep folders for everything : 1st Grade Reading, 1st Grade Seatwork, 2nd Grade Reading, 2nd Grade Seatwork, etc....(I will actually color-code the folders this week: everything 1st grade in blue folders to match their Reading program, everything 2nd grade in green folders to match their Reading program, and anything that is whole class like Science/Social Studies/Health in another color).  Before I leave for the day, I have always piled the next day's work in a stack on my desk (in order of use). This year, that stack is extremely high!  Good thing I have a nice big desk to spread it all out as I need to!

THE NIGHT BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED

'Twas the night before school started....and all is finished!  I am officially ready for my 12th year of teaching! And the classroom is ready for my first and second graders!

 

I love the open cubbies.  Each one has a magazine holder for the student's reading books: library books, leveled readers, and books for fun.  

This is what the students will see on their desks when they arrive!  An owl desk name tag, an owl cup holding a sharpened owl pencil, owl bookmark, several erasers (not owl, sadly), and a package of tissues.  I created a Welcome to School work packet (featuring owls) to keep the students busy as they arrive.  

(teacher note: the Owl work packet is available on TPT- just click the picture)

This is the Writing Center, which seats two students at a time.  Writing paper on the top, clipboards in the middle, and small dry erase boards on the bottom.  The 2nd graders will use the green instructions, and the 1st graders will use the blue instructions.  The centers are already differentiated to meet student needs.  

Now just need to add pencils and it's ready to go!

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!  It will be the start of a great adventure!  

DESK

Today a teacher friend commented that I had not updated my blog this week.  While I was sparing my readers the details of random Staff Development meetings, I remembered that I did finish my desk area!  I found a really cute pencil bookshelf to help organize my smaller things (far left in the picture).   Most of the back counter top in the picture is filled with the teacher materials for my two grade levels of Reading (that's not even all the Reading materials, just the TE's in 3 crates and 2 boxes!)   The back cabinet is still a bit cluttered for me, but when you combine your decade of things, with another teacher's decade of things, and then two grade level's materials, it's bound to be a bit cluttered!  As I go through the year, I will purge things I don't need.  Today I gave away several large piles of books to my hall buddies!  (you can rest assured that there must have been an outrageous number of children's books in my classroom for me to give up so many!)    Actually, there is still an outrageous number of children's books left, but my students will still be very happy!

  I love having a desk this big!  I like to conference with students individually at my desk, so now we have lots of room!  Next to my desk is the Writing Center.  More pictures coming this weekend.  I need to finish putting up the Reading Focus Wall(s), and then I'll take pictures of the finished room!  

CLASSROOM CURTAINS

Last year we made cute gingham covered seat crates for my Reading Table, so this year we made curtains to match!  They turned out great!

Under the sink

  Front of the Teacher Desk (it was open before)

*the desk clutter has since been removed.  It's nice and clean now!

Valance at Window

Another view of the window

CLASSROOM DAY 5

Today was a very productive day!  My wonderful husband was a great help!  He hung the number line, the phonics ABC cards, the handwriting ABC cards, and two bulletin boards!  Awesome!

This is the corner that I worked on most today.  Ready to see the almost-completed New and Improved Classroom Library behind the pocket chart?  Here goes:

My new colorful book bins look great!  (Dollar Tree!)  The chapter books on the bottom are new to me (I inherited them with the room- yay!)  I will eventually get around to organizing them too, but for now, things look great!  A bean bag chair for the corner will be a perfect touch!

This corner will get my attention tomorrow.  I still need to put away my files/books, as well as organize the various First and Second Grade Curriculum.   This is the "before" picture.  The "after" picture will be posted soon!

CLASSROOM DAY 4

When I packed up my old classroom a few months ago, I very carefully put everything back in order- all the books, materials, wall alphabet pieces, the leveled reading books by unit and week, and even all the sight word cards (by unit and week too!).  I did this so the next teacher could just walk in and not have to worry about getting it organized first.  Boy am I thankful that I did that then!  Today I went back to my old room and made two piles of materials that needed to be moved upstairs to my new room.  When I saw the sight words cards still organized, I was very happy!  One huge task I don't have to do now!   I'm also thankful that I didn't have to move these things myself!  Whew!

  

 First Grade materials to be added to my new room

 I did get a great deal done in my room today!  Check out my progress:

Tomorrow will be a big day- pictures of the room coming soon!

CLASSROOM DAY 3

Not bad for only 2 hours!!  First, I had to take apart the mountain of furniture in one corner.  I found 5 pieces of furniture that belonged to the classroom next door (Hi L!).  That happens when non-educators decide to take all of the upstairs furniture down to the first floor in order to replace the upstairs ceiling tiles, without labeling where things came from.  LOL!  I'm only missing 2 things, but I have hope that they will be found!  Here is one thing that I hope to find:

This is a leg to a shelf that would really come in handy this year.  It reminds me of a vacuum part.  I hope it turns up soon!

I had some help today, so we set up the desks/furniture.  I will probably change it around later in the week, but it'll do for now!

I really should erase the random writing on the board left over from the previous year's class.  But first I need to unpack an eraser!  Tomorrow's another day!

(if you look just in front of the window, you can see my upside down 3-legged shelf)

The pile on the cabinet isn't so high today (yes, that's because the boxes are now on the floor), but still- it makes it look like there's been progress made in this area!  :)

My project for tomorrow: set up my Awesome Classroom Library!  I had used the same book baskets since my first year of teaching, but this year I decided to upgrade!  

Just wait and see! 

Just had to share.  I have a strange addiction to plastic containers.  

Target's dollar section and Dollar Tree have been fun places to shop this year!

CLASSROOM DAY 1 & 2

August already! Time to start on the new classroom.  Here's what it looked like on Day 1, from the door:

So much to do!  But before I can unpack my things, I must finish going through all the cabinets/counters to see what was left from the previous teacher, and make room for my things!


Here is the progress I made on Day 2:

Doesn't look much different you say?  Try a close up...

Still doesn't look much different?  Try the hallway....

Success!  For today, anyway!  Next time- unpacking and setting up the furniture!

WHO'S ON FIRST, WHAT'S ON SECOND

This fall, I face a very interesting challenge of teaching a first and second grade bridge class!  Some districts call them "combo" or "multi-age" classes. I'm going to have 1/2 a class of first graders, and 1/2 a class of second graders. It's going to be a great adventure!

Part of me thinks it will be a piece of cake! I've taught first grade for 11 years, so that part is easy. I've spent a great deal of time this summer preparing for second grade, so that part isn't so bad either. The hardest part for me is figuring out "HOW" it's all going to work. How will I work with one grade at a time on the important things like Math and Reading, and how can I combine things like Writing, Science and Social Studies to meet both grade level's needs. I have spent much of the last few days thinking about it (ever since I found out about this new adventure!), and I have some plans in my head about how it's going to work. I'll try them out once school starts and make adjustments as we go. I am a big planner, but I'm also flexible enough to try different things, and work to make things better. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure.

I've heard from several people who have taught in multi-age classrooms, and I observed quite a few during my college days. Those teachers all state how much they enjoyed it. I have one friend in California who will be teaching a 2nd/3rd combo class this fall.....with 38 students (yes, you read that right!). That makes me count my blessings that I will only have about 20!

So the focus of my blog is shifting from my journey into Second grade, to my journey into a 1st/2nd combination classroom!

Here are some things I have done already to keep myself organized. I color coded my binders for the Pacing Guides (aka Scope and Sequences), and the Curriculum. My district's curriculum is all online, so printing it is very helpful!

I also decided to color code the Take Home Folders. First and Second graders will have different homework, so this will make it easier on me to manage it all.

After I made these labels, I decided to go ahead and make labels for everything, particularly all the folders and journals the students will use.  The students will have journals for Math, Reading/Writing and Science. Having labels will make it easier for them to find the right one.  Since I am using an owl theme this year, I added a cute owl to each label.

                                                                 

I put the labels on my TPT page (click on the blurry picture above for a better view). Oddly enough, I used Comic Sans font to make it easier for the students to read, but the jpg of the file shows a different font! No worries! The font is saved as a .doc, so it can be changed to whatever font is available.

So, thanks for coming along on my new journey!  I'd love to hear tips on how to run an effective/organized combination classroom.  Feel free to share tips, or share where to look for tips!  Thanks!

BABY SHOES

I am having a very crafty summer! I am almost finished with my huge painting/room make-over projects: two kids bedrooms and their bathroom. But I'm also tackling some projects that I've wanted to do for a long time, like what to do with the kids' first baby shoes. My parents had my baby shoes bronzed, mounted on a display with an 8x10 photo of me at that age. These days bronzing is hard to deal with because you have to mail your precious baby shoes far away and hope they don't get lost, hope it gets done right, and the cost is pretty pricey.

I decided to put their baby shoes into a shadow box. Sadly, I just couldn't find a shadow box with enough depth for the shoes. This week I discovered that the small flag display box just might work! Check it out!

Noel's shoe is a 4W and fits great. Sam's shoe is a little bigger (6XW), but it was also able to fit well enough. I was only able to get 3 of the 4 back clasps to close due to the width, but it's still secure.

What you need...
- small flag box ($15 at Hobby Lobby after 50% sale discount)
- 1 large piece scrapbook paper (59 cents)
- Alphabet Stickers ($1.19, though if I had to do this again, I would use a larger/bolder font)
- Baby Shoes

That's it! Very easy to do, and will look nice on display! Another project completed!

HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW

Over the past several years, I have endeavored to grow out my hair to donate to Locks of Love, in honor of my mother's valiant and successful fight against cancer.  This year marks her 5th year of being cancer free, so I donated 11 inches of my hair today!

        BEFORE

                                                           

DONATION TO LOCKS OF LOVE

                                      

AFTER

GINGHAM

Now that it is summer, I have a lot of things to tackle around the house, as well as get ready for my new classroom.  I am making valances for my classroom window.  I am thrilled to have a window in my new room, something I had always taken for granted before last year when I didn't have one.  I am also making a curtain for the back of my desk that faces the room, and under the classroom sink (something else I am excited to have again!)  This is going to be my first year having a real theme.  My wonderful husband made me some wonderful crate seats for my Reading Table in various gingham colors, so I will continue that theme with the curtains, valances, and bulletin boards.  These crates are cushier than ones seen on Pinterest, because he felt my students deserved cushy seats.  :)

WELCOME!

Just a Second......welcome to my blog!  I have taught First Grade for 11 years (in Illinois and Texas), but I will be moving up to second grade in the fall.  It's an exciting change!  A great principal once told me that a teacher shouldn't spend more than 10 years in one grade.  At the time, I couldn't imagine ever leaving First Grade!  Going to Second will be a wonderful adventure!  This blog will share my thoughts and ideas as I make the move, and misc things throughout the year.  Thanks for joining me for a second!  :)