Another opportunity to share this topic that is so close to my heart as a teacher and as a learner.  The world is so full of information!  We are bombarded constantly with input that can be so overwhelming as to cause us to produce very little!  I go into shutdown mode.  Self-preservation dictates that I stop and step back.  So many of our students in our classrooms are doing this every day.  The more we give them, the more information that we throw at them, the more they distance themselves from thinking and learning what we want them to.

Here is an overview in Google Slides of what I presented today.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TmWJb-NCbSBE7zkdeOKgnpLlld5ePVoX2L9eDJJ1CgU/edit?usp=sharing

Each week, I post the TEKS on my daily schedule.  It helps me focus on the main thing I am teaching.  It helps me to connect all that we are doing in the classroom to the main objective of the week. It gives the students a goal for learning as we work towards mastery.

In the first few weeks of school, we will be focusing on summary and paraphrasing of fiction. 5.9A: Read independently for a sustained period of time and summarize and paraphrase what the reading is about, maintaining meaning and logical order.  I will be posting the TEKS for about four weeks as we strive for mastery. As we talk about our lives, read books, write ideas and learn about citizenship and government, we will be practicing summary and paraphrasing.

The goal is to connect as many of our daily activities to the TEKS.

Every year I try and add something to my classroom and to my teaching that will stretch me as a learner.  This year, after much reflection and research, I jumped into alternate seating in my language arts classroom.  Most of what the students are currently sitting on is scavenged from my own house; a few things are scavenged from thrift stores.

I have 25 kiddos in my class and so I removed three tables completely (including my small group table) and lowered two tables to the floor.  I found that removing the legs completely was too low, so I jimmy-rigged some using PVC pipes which makes them perfect for “criss-cross-applesauce”.  Then I added three bean bags, a director’s chair, two gaming rockers, and a Big-Joe.

At the end of each day, I pull popsicle sticks with the student’s class numbers and they get to choose their seat for the next day.  They move their clip to that chosen seat on the chart.

There have been many more changes than just seating however, and it is these changes that have made me a believer in this kind of classroom.  Here are just a few of the many great things so far:

1. The students have not chosen to sit exclusively with their friends.  They have sat with students that share their choice in seating.  Subsequently, the class has mixed more, kids have not been left out, and they have made more friends.
2. The freedom of choice has helped in classroom management.  The students have made some great choices to start off the year.  Several times someone has taken upon themselves to move seats because they are “unable to do their 5th grade best” where they sat.
3. Students have been generous about sharing their favored seating. If they get their first choice, they are often giving up the right to choose for a day to allow their friend to get to choose a seat for the first time instead.  It is lovely to watch.
4. The students are taking care of the classroom without it being a “classroom job”.  Because it is their room and their seats, they are cleaning up and getting it set for the next day without prompting.
5. They took their benchmarks on the floor and loved it. More comfortable and less stressful.  A completely different environment to tables and blockers.

I will be sharing updates as the class and I work on this throughout the year, but so far we have a very happy class and a very happy teacher.

There is an unlimited number of ways to encourage creativity in your classroom. At the beginning of the year, one way I develop a creative environment is to start each day off with a conversation starter.

Videos

I might show an interesting video that popped up on my facebook feed, a news clip from NBC learn, or a video from YouTube or Reddit that is trending and appropriate for my students.  I love to use the Google add-on “Clipgrab” that allows you to show just the clip with no other advertising, or to use “edpuzzle” to create something that my students can respond to.

Other great website resources to check out: Futurism, literacyshed

Photos

I like to show pictures from National Geographic or BBC wildlife photographs of the year.  There are some stunning pictures. Sometimes we discuss verbally what we see – I usually ask for 5 observations and 5 inferences.  They find the straightforward observations the hardest. I may have them create a poem or suggest what will happen five days/ five months/ 500 years in the future from when the photo was taken and discuss what is happening then.  We have written stories, poems, persuasive letters, drawn pictures… depending on how much time we have and the conversations that are birthed that day.

Artifacts from home

I am always on the lookout for things that fascinate me.  If I find it interesting, I will at least be able to model that curiosity to my students, and at most have them find it fascinating as well and add it to their own collection of interesting things. I bring bugs, pictures, old tech, books I love, even my writing from when I was 11 (I throw nothing out!).

Great websites

https://wonderopolis.org/    A fantastic website full of 2000+ questions and wonders.  Questions are posted each day and investigated several different ways.  Kids can post their questions too.  I use this website as one of my starters for Genius Hour.

https://diy.org/  A place to discover new passions and develop new skills.

I would love to hear some ideas that you have to get these conversations started in your own classrooms as well.