number lines + rounding

To kick off our Math classes, I show this awesomely hilarious video (of course - it's a beginning of the year staple): 

The kids then talked together to help them figure out why I would show it to introduce math. It was a pretty great conversation and they hit on a lot of the major messages: there are many different ways to learn in math class; you can't just give up if you don't get it; instructions really matter to help our understanding; etc. Then as their first journal entry, I simply ask them to answer the question What is math? Their responses can be very telling!
(There are a number of these and they're great and simple little brain breaks!)

The next day, I stood in front of the class with a long strip of butcher paper with a 0 and 100 at opposite ends and asked them to simply work in teams to create a math tool. That's it. They worked freely together for about an hour (I was surprised it took this long and was happy I'd reserved two blocks for this very open-ended task!) as I rotated to listen in on conversations. Some of their responses:

They got pretty creative and used a number of strategies to make number lines. Afterward, I asked each group to casually present their work to the class. We were able to focus a lot on their work as a team, with two big topics of conversation being What went really well for your group? and What was challenging about this task? I definitely have a reflective bunch this year!

The next day I used more of the workshop model with a very mini mini-lesson (which wasn't really me actually teaching but more guiding the kid's conversations to help them understand rounding to the nearest ten and hundred). I handed out a page of numbers to each team and asked them to show me in some way how they could be rounded appropriately.

The kids looked at the work of other teams in a sort of gallery walk, which gave them a chance to revise some of their incorrect numbers. This was definitely a great start-up to our cooperative math and workshop model format!

on becoming a working mom

In thinking about heading back into the classroom during the summer months, I knew going back to work with a three-month old baby would be a challenge.
Challenge was right.
I feel run off my feet between the hours of 7am and 4pm.
I feel weighed down with responsibilities.
I feel majorly disorganized as I juggle lesson planning, meetings, and classroom activities.
But I also feel truly blessed (if blessed is the right word) to be back to work with a healthy baby who is right down the hall from my room in the faculty nursery, where I can continue to breastfeed and get all the best baby cuddles I need. Mara is also developing beautifully, right alongside her term friends, which is so amazing for a six-week preemie. My admin are thoughtful, kind, and so supportive, and have even made me exempt from yard duty. Living in a country with such a short maternity leave, our school has made all the difference in fostering a smooth transition.

Holy cow! I'm over eleven pounds!

(I started out at 5...)

When I afford myself the time to stop and think - getting better at this - I recognize that many many mommies go back to work and all their babies fare just fine. My students are smart, motivated inquirers, and with the right focused guidance will learn all our curriculum sets out for them to learn and then some. Plus Mara's got the very best daddy. I'm one lucky lady. (If busy.)

At any rate, here are just a few (rather poor) photos from our first 1.5 weeks back in the classroom:

working with number lines - an upcoming post

the famous sticky note questions

our Multiple Intelligences

sharing work while learning about Mathematical Practice 1

student definitions of happiness

our wall of happiness

Now if only we could get repair guys in to fix our broken washing machine and air conditioners. It's been almost two weeks and it's mighty hot in here and we're running out of clothes!

black, white, and neon all over! {some classroom pics}

A few classroom photos to tide me over in the too-busy-to-blog time :)
We have had some very dark and dreary Manila days here with the typhoon circling around us, but I tried to get the brightest shots I could.

We've just started up the 100 Book Club in class and I like the visual of tracking with beads. Plus the kids seem really excited about this "program."

We've done a lot of talking about active listening.

Yes, it drives me a little crazy that I didn't think to measure out the spaces between each set of coloured paper.

I have a few students already fluent in many Math concepts, so this is a board full of extension questions that focus on the standards being addressed during lessons.

MATH rotations. The white boards look ugly, yes, but it's so easy to switch students in/out of groups and to rotate groups through.

Jobs board

One of my new favourite parts of the room: Wonderings Wall. With the Inquiry curriculum I've started student I-Time (read more about that here - it's an amazing time jam-packed with student engagement), and this is a space where students will put up their Post-It questions. There are no questions up at this point because we hadn't yet talked about the difference between Thick and Thin questions - it looks a bit messier now with their ideas posted, but that's what learning's all about!

This is a shot of one of the courtyards at our school. It is such a peaceful place to be (when the high school students are not switching classes haha).

saving fred {a teamwork activity}

This first few weeks of school have been awesome.
I am loving my class!

Students can sit at any of five tables they feel like, as long as it is a smart place - you know, like not beside their best friend so they can talk about recess..! 
Each table has a team number above it. 
Students inquired as to why they were sitting in teams, and why I give them the choice to change seats as they wish.
We brainstormed "teamwork" and I got lots of definitions, examples, and real-life connections.
Great brain time!

Afterward, I told the class about my friend Fred, a gummy worm, who can't swim...

Fred went out boating one day in his generic plastic cup.
He made sure he brought his personal flotation device, a sour apple ring candy, because he knows how important it is to be safe.
He set sail. 
It was a great day. 
He was on the open seas...
When suddenly, a giant wave capsized his boat!
Fred panicked...he can't swim...
He managed, with all his gummy worm strength, to pull himself up on top of his plastic-cup boat.
He felt safe.
But how was he ever going to get back to shore?
Just then, he remembered his sour apple ring floaty!
But where was it?
As he peered around, Fred noticed it had gotten trapped underneath his boat.
Worried that he might sink with the boat and be lost forever, he knew he had to get that ring out of the boat and around his wormy waist before it was too late...

So that was the task: saving fred by getting him into his sour apple ring together.
But there was a catch: students could only use paper clips to touch and move things! 
No fingers, no hands, no other forces, just paper clips.

It was a really great time to see groups working together, strategizing, becoming successful, then setting the whole task up again and challenging themselves to try it again a different way.
With no teacher input!
I didn't ask them to try it again... they took that part upon themselves!
My heart soared.
Soared, I say!
Pretty confident this is going to be one great year in the Philippines.

- Amanda

m&m's mix & mingle {a getting to know you activity}

Today was the first day of school! 
It was super busy, but seemed to fly by.
We weren't able to get through half the things I had planned...
We were too busy getting to know one another!
One way we did this was through eating m&m's.
Yep.
It was awesome.
And the class Loved it.
{Maybe just because they got to eat chocolate!}
Here's how it goes:

M&M's Mix & Mingle

Assign each candy colour a meaning (i.e. red = favourite book and movie) and go over these with the class.
Hand out a small bag of m&m's to each student (and yourself, of course!).
{Now they're very excited!}
Students will mix and mingle around the room, finding someone to talk with.
When they find a partner, they take out a candy, and tell the person their answer for that colour.
Then they gobble it up and wait for the partner to share something.
Repeat until all candies are gone!

I loved this because it didn't even matter if a kid had already talked with someone....they could just choose a new colour and share a new piece of information.
This is one I will definitely use again next year!

Another freebie poster share

Since I liked making these one so much :)

Black, White & NEON all over!

Just finished two awesome new classroom decoration kits!
I think creating these things is therapeutic for me.
Right now I have a circus theme in our class.
I like it.
Moving to grade three next year, though, I want something a little more bold.
Because grade three is so much more grown-up than grade two.
You know?
Behold, Black, White & Neon:

One pack is a cupcake theme, and one is a stars theme.
Everything you need to fulfill your neon needs!
And on sale :)
Here on TpT and here on TN.

Now, I must learn how to make a preview page of all the slides included in my packs.
But it must be fast.
Because like I said yesterday, I'm a little lazy about those types of things.

:)
- Amanda

Washroom Worries Solved!

This being the beginning of the year, I'm not too fussy yet about my students using the washroom when they need. Last year, I had a strict emergency-only policy during class time, and it was a bit annoying constantly reminding my students of the most appropriate times to leave the room. So this year, I have a simple routine that looks like this:

My students use the W sign for washroom or water so as not to disrupt the class. (Basically, if it's a lesson, I turn the sign to "now now.") Since I know that sometimes kids just can't wait, we use the W turned sideways to show an E for emergency! It's working so wonderfully. Today I forgot to flip the sign to "not now" before I started the Math lesson, and when one girl put her W high in the air, I didn't break my talk to say "oops, sorry, not now..." but simply turned the sign around and she immediately put her hand down. I have three sets for around my room because I am often standing in different areas. I'm loving this! Click the picture to grab it.

Talking about solving problems

This is a tough topic for some little friends. Am I right? Really, it's no surprise - they are still learning to recognize, process, and understand their own emotions. I've found (in my 1.1 years of teaching - ha!) that children really need to be taught skills to solve problems with their peers. I had a lot of hands-on last year, a lot of tattling, a lot of miscommunication, a lot of misunderstandings, and a lot of emotional outbursts among my students. I took quite a few Social Studies periods to teach about problem solving. It started to work. Phew! Saved me. So this year, I have a plan to teach these steps - before the problems start. I hope to have my students follow a four-step plan:
1. Think - Is this a big problem or a small problem?
2. Say - "I do not like that because...." or "Please stop."
3. Ignore
4. Ask - a friend or a teacher for help.
If you're interested in this model, I made titles to create an anchor chart with my group. You can grab it here:

How do you teach problem solving in your class? I'm all ears for new ideas. This week we're doing a fun little activity using our clip chart to help students understand the types of behaviours that are expected at the top of the chart, and those that may get you placed near the bottom... I'm looking forward to it! Photos and credit to come.

And a small peek at my Saturday: 

A new year means a new batch of my scratch cards must be made. I'm looking forward to giving the first one of these out!

- Amanda