Evolution in the Classroom

As teachers we tend to go through a constant evolution, at least many of us do.  There are still some teachers who are comfortable and set in their methods that trying out new ideas is difficult.  Perhaps it's because of the direction my teaching career has taken, going from teaching pre-teens to teaching 8 and 9-year-olds, that haven't allowed me to remain stagnant.

Yesterday I went to my classroom to do some organizing and starting talking with one of my new colleagues.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been thinking of using developmental spelling with my students.  As we talked more, bouncing ideas around as to how to manage it in the classroom and track student progress, we got on the topic of math facts.

Just like I was raised with having a list of spelling words and being expected to spell them correctly at the end of the week, I was also raised with practicing my math facts and being expected to keep up with the rest of the class.  Well, my conversation with my fellow teacher enlightened me on the idea of developmental math as well.  I left school yesterday excited about a new tool I can use to help my students increase their math facts skills at their pace, rather than expecting them to keep up with the rest of the class.

Two new tools!  I felt hopeful with the idea that my new kiddos will have an opportunity to do some aspect of math and language arts at their pace, which is the direction I really wanted to take this year.

With one week left before school begins, I feel that I'm ready.  My plans are made, my room is organized, and I think I'm organized (maybe) and ready to go.

Trials in preparing a new class....

Since school finished about 2 1/2 weeks ago, I've been moving my things to a new building and setting things up.  There have been lots of organizing, too.  I went for the third time today to work in my room, and like I'm sure may teachers working in their room experience, you don't get much done.  I did get a lot accomplished, but I'm also getting to know my new colleagues.  So far they've all been so helpful, informative, and welcoming. 

Here are some pictures of my new classroom, as a clean slate.  Right now a lot is set up, but I'm in the "making a mess" stage, just trying to get things organized.

Here's the wall with new windows that overlook the playground.

Turning toward the left, this will be a larger whiteboard area...

Again going to the left, where my kiddos will hang up their jackets and bookbags, the entrance from the hall, and a closet.

Last, but not least, the back wall with two display areas, a sink, plenty of storage, and....a bathroom!  I've never had one in my room before.  Hope I don't regret it.

I've worked a lot in my room, in fact, I've been told by many that it looks like I'm ready to begin class tomorrow.  They wouldn't say that after today, though, I have lots of unfinished projects going on.

Some of the recent conversations taking place, during my breaks, have been about using the Developmental Spelling method, like I wrote about in my last posting, and apparently we have a guru in the building.  I'll definitely be picking her brain before school begins in the fall.

Other teaching strategies that I've been looking into this past week is student-centered classrooms, and flipped classrooms.  I had thought that they were the same thing, but through the research I've done this week, there are some similarities and differences.  I found that although the learning for both is student driven, a flipped classroom is when a teacher provides the lesson through a video that the students watch at home for homework, then they're ready to learn in class.   As for student-centered, I understand that to mean that students have choices as to what topic they want to focus on and create their own projects showing their new knowledge, which I think may also be similar to flipped classrooms.  I'm still learning....

I came across a great video of a 4th grade teacher in action.   http://youtu.be/c2zTz8eOfuI

Her name is Ms. Kelly, and I was intrigued by how well her reading class went, especially the strategies she used.  What excited me most was that there were some times that my classroom looked like that last year, at least in regards to the collaboration that took place.  This video not only gave me great ideas, but also gave me confirmation that I have done some things right last year.

If anyone has any advice regarding student-centered classrooms or flipped classrooms, I'm willing to learn more.

Until next time!

Traditional Spelling vs. Developmental Spelling

All my childhood career, until I reached high school, I had to learn a list of words and spell them correctly.  Sometimes my teacher would have me and my classmates write sentences using the spelling words, too.

As a middle school teacher, I struggled with my students learning how to spell specific words.  I was more concerned about them learning the meanings, and using them properly, than knowing how to spell them.  However, I was encouraged to have them know how to spell them, too.  This is where my students failed most, and I felt it was so unfair to them.  Mainly because at this point in the game, I felt that my students were passed the point of needing to learn how to spell the words, and that it was more important for them to learn their meanings instead.

Last year, as a first time 3rd grade teacher, I followed what most of my colleagues were doing, which was having students study 25 words and spit them out after a week of studying.  I was comfortable with this because this is how I had learned my spelling words.  

Last week, while talking to my new colleagues in my new building, I was introduced to the concept of Developmental Spelling.  I looked it up, and learned that it's basically learning how to spell using phonics.  Now I'm looking at the Whole Language vs. Phonics issue.  In all honesty, I didn't realize that there was still a debate.  However, as much as I love having the choice to take the approach I feel is necessary to meet my student's needs, I do feel that I should at least take a closer look at what Developmental Spelling is and how to approach it with my 4th graders.

This leads me to my question.  If anyone has any advice or suggestion as to how this works, I would love to hear from you.  I will be meeting with my colleagues soon about it, but would like to have more insight on the topic, and at least sound like I know what I'm talking about.